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Delegate seeks statewide landlord‑tenant hotline housed at DHCD to track repair complaints and patterns
Summary
Delegate Terry Hill proposed HB 1177 to create a centralized repair and maintenance complaint hotline and complaint repository for tenants, moving the eventual operation to the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs.
Delegate Terry Hill told the committee HB 1177 creates a single reporting channel for tenants to report unresolved repair and maintenance issues, with a repository of complaints the state and local agencies can query to spot patterns of neglect.
Hill said the bill grew from constituent contacts and follows the 2024 creation of the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs. He described the proposal as a companion tool that would direct tenants to legal services, local code enforcement or housing agencies, and aggregate complaints to reveal possible systemic problems by property managers or owners. Hill said the Attorney General’s office initially was considered as host but both the AG and the new Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs agreed DHCD is a better fit; an amendment at the hearing would move the hot line to DHCD.
Stakeholders raised three concerns the sponsor addressed: duplication with local enforcement and existing tenant resources, frivolous or malicious complaints, and ensuring landlords have an opportunity to remedy problems. Hill said the bill can be amended to require notice to landlords or to ask tenants to make reasonable attempts to notify landlords before filing, and emphasized the bill is not intended to bring automatic enforcement actions but to refer and compile information so other agencies can follow up.
Committee members asked whether the Office of Tenant and Landlord Affairs already planned complaint options. Hill said the office has plans to provide intake and referrals but not a publicly promoted complaint repository; HB 1177 would insure a central, advertised complaint line and create a searchable repository for state and local partners. The sponsor said some tenants fear retribution and need a place to report problems without risking immediate retaliation.
Why it matters: Witnesses provided narratives of repeated, unaddressed repair complaints and described tenants who lack knowledge of enforcement pathways. Proponents framed a centralized intake and data repository as a way to spot multi‑property management patterns and support targeted enforcement or outreach.
Discussion and next steps: The sponsor said he is open to amendments clarifying notice to landlords and the scope of referrals, and explained an amendment would relocate the line to DHCD. No formal committee action was recorded in the transcript.
