House General & Housing committee advances wide-ranging H.772 rewrite on landlord-tenant rules

The House General & Housing Committee on Feb. 24 reviewed a strike‑all draft of H.772, a wide-ranging rewrite of residential rental-agreement law that would change how landlords deliver notice, cap some security deposits, limit rent increases and alter termination and eviction timelines. Counsel Cameron Wood presented draft 1.1 and said it incorporates technical edits and suggestions from previous witnesses.

The draft would require "actual notice," meaning the tenant must receive the notice, and creates a rebuttable presumption of receipt five days after mailing or email delivery in some circumstances. Counsel said the draft retains mailed notices and sheriff delivery options and flagged email notice as a policy choice for the committee. "The presumption is gonna be 5 days from the date you mailed it or sent it," Cameron Wood said while explaining the rebuttable presumption.

Committee members sharply debated whether email alone should qualify as notice. Some members argued email is unreliable; others said e‑mail is widely used and can be timely. After discussion and a hands-up preference poll, the committee left language in the draft that treats email paired with mailing as an acceptable route to establish the presumption of receipt, and flagged the policy choice for further drafting.

The draft also limits rent increases: "a landlord shall not increase rent more than once in any 12 month period," counsel told the committee. Members debated whether that limit should follow…