No. HB 107
Termination of Rental Agreement by Victim of Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Violence, or Stalking; Prohibits landlord from evicting tenant or terminating rental agreement because tenant or tenant's minor child is victim of actual or threatened domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking; specifies that rental agreement may not contain certain provisions; authorizes victim of such actual or threatened violence or stalking to terminate rental agreement; requires certain documentation & written notice to landlord; provides for liability for rent for both tenant & perpetrator, if applicable; specifies that tenant does not forfeit certain money paid to landlord for terminating rental agreement; requires landlord to change locks of dwelling unit within specified time period; authorizes tenant to change locks of dwelling unit; prohibits certain actions by landlord; authorizes filing of civil action & award of damages, fees, & costs; prohibits waiver of certain provisions.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDThis creates a new law letting a tenant break a lease immediately, without penalty, if the tenant or the tenant's minor child is a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking.
The tenant must give written notice, usually with documentation such as a protective order or police report, though a landlord can waive that requirement. The lease ends the moment the landlord receives it.
Landlords must change the locks within 24 hours of a victim's request, and can't refuse to rent to, evict, or retaliate against someone because they are a victim. Violating those rules brings civil liability, including a $1,000 penalty.
None of these protections can be waived or signed away in the lease itself. A co-tenant who is the abuser stays on the hook for rent even after the victim leaves.
AIA victim tenant, or a tenant whose minor child is a victim, may end the lease at any time by written notice. Termination takes effect immediately once the landlord receives the notice and any required documentation.
AIA landlord may not evict a tenant or end the lease because the tenant, or the tenant's minor child, was the actual or threatened victim of the listed forms of violence or stalking during the tenancy.
AIA tenant who terminates under this law less than 30 days before the lease's end owes rent for the rest of the term. One who terminates 30 or more days out owes only 30 days of prorated rent, then owes nothing further.
AIA landlord may not refuse to rent to, refuse to negotiate with, or make a unit unavailable to a prospective tenant because that person or their minor child is a violence or stalking victim, or previously terminated a lease for that reason.
AIA tenant may sue a landlord who violates the anti-retaliation or confidentiality rules, recovering actual and consequential damages, court costs, and attorney fees, plus a flat $1,000 in punitive damages unless it's a good-faith first offense.
AIIf a victim tenant wants to stay, the landlord must change the dwelling's locks within 24 hours of a documented request and give the tenant a key. If the landlord misses that deadline, the tenant may change the locks.
AIInformation a tenant gives a landlord under these provisions, including a forwarding address, is confidential. The landlord may not put it in a shared database or hand it to others except in narrow listed circumstances.
AIA landlord cannot use the lease itself to sign away any of these rights. Every protection in the new law -- termination, lock changes, anti-retaliation, confidentiality -- applies regardless of what the rental agreement says.