House advances water submetering bill after amendments, pauses for further floor work

The Maryland House of Delegates adopted floor amendments to House Bill 220 on the measure authorizing optional individual water submeters for certain apartment houses and mobile home parks and moved the bill to a special order for further amendment work.

The floor leader read the bill’s intent and the amendments, saying the measure "authorizes the installation of individual water submeters in certain apartment houses and mobile home parks" and "prohibits any unpaid submetered water bills from being treated as unpaid rent in an eviction proceeding." Amendment No. 1 made technical changes; Amendment No. 2 altered applicability, tenant remedies, landlord requirements and implementation processes, and the floor moved the amendments. The House adopted the amendments by voice vote and accepted the favorable report as amended.

During floor discussion the minority leader questioned practical enforcement and financial risk to landlords if tenants did not pay their submetered water bills. He asked who would ultimately pay water charges when multiple units share a single service line and cautioned that a water provider typically charges the landowner and that providers could cut service if the owner does not pay. "Who would pay the water then?" the minority leader asked. He argued that landlords could be left absorbing large unpaid water bills and could face service cutoff risks for entire buildings, presenting public-health concerns.

The floor leader responded that the bill is enabling legislation — landlords are not required to submeter — and reiterated that the bill "can't be used in an eviction proceeding" to evict a tenant for nonpayment of a submetered water bill. The floor leader also noted that "that does not mean that the tenant doesn't owe the landlord the amount of money for the water. They do," and that landlords retain a civil remedy to pursue unpaid charges.

Members pressed for clarification on how billing failures and malfunctioning submeters would be handled; the amendments add requirements for continued billing processes when a submeter malfunctions and clarify eligible costs that may be imposed on submetered units, and they establish a private cause of action as a potential tenant remedy.

After discussion the House adopted the favorable report as amended and then voted to special order House Bill 220 to the appropriate time tomorrow to allow additional amendment work and consultation between the minority leader and subcommittee staff.

What happens next: House Bill 220 will return to the floor at the appointed special-order time for continued consideration and any additional amendments. The committee and floor leaders asked members to share proposed amendments with the subcommittee chair and committee chair ahead of tomorrow’s floor time.