Panel hears tenant protections for water submetering; landlords push amendments
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Summary
HB 220 would regulate private water submeters in multifamily buildings — requiring transparency, maintenance standards, caps on administrative fees and billing rules — with tenants' advocates urging protection and industry groups proposing clarifying amendments on recordkeeping, fees and leak detection.
Delegate Charcuttian presented House Bill 220 to set statewide rules for private water submeters in multifamily buildings, mirroring the regulatory framework used for electric submeters. "When people are paying for their own water, it encourages more conservation," the sponsor said.
Maryland Legal Aid and renters advocates urged a favorable report, citing tenant destabilization from inaccurate meters and unregulated administrative fees. Zephyr Shaw (Maryland Legal Aid) described examples where submetering without strong regulation led to steep household bills and eviction risk.
Industry groups representing apartment owners and property managers supported the bill’s transparency goals but proposed friendly amendments: shorter record‑retention periods (e.g., 12 months rather than 24), an administrative fee tied to actual cost rather than a fixed $1 cap, flexibility for alternative billing methods when meters fail, and removal or revision of a mandatory leak‑detection requirement that they say is difficult to implement in multifamily plumbing systems.
The sponsor said she is open to many amendments and highlighted ongoing conversations with landlords and tenant groups; the committee concluded the hearing with an understanding that technical amendments will be drafted to balance renter protections and viable compliance standards for landlords and water suppliers.