RHB/7/20
Sponsored by Jawad Tabaja, Owen Davis, Seth Wheeler of West High School
This legislation was filed in the Economic and Community Development category
Presented as part of the YIG Volunteer 2024 conference
| 1 | BE IT ENACTED BY THE YMCA YOUTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: |
| 2 | |
| 3 | Section 1: Terms in this act will be defined as follows: |
| 4 | Rental Fee Transparency - The open access to knowledge and information surrounding all fees |
| 5 | relating to rental application and maintenance. |
| 6 | Landlord- A person or entity who owns or leases rental property. |
| 7 | Tenant- One or more person(s) who temporarily occupy land owned or leased by a landlord. |
| 8 | Reusable Tenant Screening Report - A screening report prepared by a consumer reporter agency |
| 9 | paid for by the prospective tenant and made directly available to prospective landlords. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Section 2: All landlords in the state of Tennessee will henceforth be required to openly disclose in |
| 12 | all advertisements and lease agreements the following information prior to a prospective tenant’s |
| 13 | rental application submission: All fees charged in addition to rent in a billing cycle; all fees related |
| 14 | to the submission and processing of the application; whether the landlord accepts a reusable |
| 15 | tenant screening report; and whether the application fee is refundable or nonrefundable. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Section 3: |
| 18 | Any landlord in the state of Tennessee found to be in violation of Section 2 will be subject to legal |
| 19 | action by the tenant. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | Section 4: |
| 22 | If found guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction, the landlord must be fined the total amount of |
| 23 | the following: any fees paid by the tenant which were not properly disclosed prior to the |
| 24 | application submission or the due date of the billing cycle; attorney and court fees; and |
| 25 | compensation for damages determined at the discretion of the court. |
| 26 | |
| 27 | Section 5: This bill will be of no additional cost to the state. |
| 28 | |
| 29 | Section 6: All laws or parts of laws in conflict with this are hereby repealed. |
| 30 | |
| 31 | Section 7: This bill shall take effect immediately after passage, the public welfare requiring it. |
| 32 |