Subcommittee backs fee-disclosure bill but members raise concerns about treble-damages penalty
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Summary
House Bill 80 — requiring landlords to disclose fees and treating certain charges as utilities — was moved out of subcommittee with amendments; several members expressed concern that the bill’s civil damages provision (treble damages and two-year lookback) could be onerous for small landlords.
The Housing and Real Property Subcommittee voted to advance House Bill 80 after adopting amendments clarifying that trash is a utility rather than a fee and removing criminal penalties from the measure.
Committee staff confirmed the bill’s penalty provision permits a court to award damages equal to three times actual damages plus reasonable attorney fees where a court finds a violation. The chair and staff clarified the remedy is civil and not criminal.
Several members, including Delegate Arentz and Delegate Adams, argued the civil-damage remedy and a two-year look-back period create an onerous exposure for small landlords and urged the committee to consider a graduated penalty or first-offense remedy instead of treble damages. Delegate Adams said the penalty would be punitive in ways that do not match the conduct the bill targets and signaled he would vote against the bill in full committee if the language is not revised.
Despite objections from some members, the subcommittee moved HB 80 as amended out of subcommittee for further consideration, with several members recorded as opposing at the vote.
