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Committee trims HB 512 to avoid overlap with similar bill, keeps municipal complaint authority
Summary
Representative Phelps’ bill to criminalize blighting of occupied rental property was amended in committee to avoid duplication with Representative Landry’s bill; the committee adopted an amendment that preserves a municipality’s authority to act on complaints and reported HB 512 as amended.
House Bill 512, offered by Representative Phelps, targets landlords who rent or lease blighted property that remains occupied by tenants. Committee members noted overlap with Representative Mandy Landry’s House Bill 234, which also amends the criminal-blight statute. To avoid conflicting statutes, Chair Bakula offered an amendment that narrows HB 512 to a unique municipal‑complaint provision, and the committee reported HB 512 as amended.
Representative Phelps said the bill addresses situations in which owners or managers of tax‑sale or adjudicated properties lease unsafe units and then fail to appear in court or take remedial steps after municipal or administrative blight findings. "There have been several situations across the state where these land owners did not show up to court," Phelps said, and the bill seeks to give municipalities an enforcement backstop for occupied properties.
Committee staff explained that Representative Landry’s HB 234 and HB 512 both amend the criminal-blight statute but use somewhat different language; Chair Bakula’s committee-originated amendment removed duplicative text from Phelps’ bill and left the provision that allows a municipality that receives a complaint alleging blighted property to take specified action (the text appears in the bill as proposed law subsection I). The amendment also made corresponding technical changes.
After adopting the amendment, the committee voted to report HB 512 as amended with no recorded objections. Representative Phelps asked for favorable passage and thanked the committee. Committee members said resolving duplicate language between bills is a common step to prevent conflicting statutes.
HB 512 as amended focuses on municipal authority to act when complaints allege occupied blighted rental property and clarifies who may be criminally responsible when owners or agents do not comply with orders or fail to appear in enforcement proceedings. The committee did not enact a final law; the bill moves forward to the House with the committee amendment in place.
