Conference committee narrows eviction-expungement bill, defers habitability measure for separate hearing

A conference committee meeting on House Bill 2357 moved lawmakers to narrow and clarify the billso it explicitly protects the enforceability of monetary judgments while creating a process to expunge certain eviction records.

Jason, the committee reviser, summarized the bill as creating a path to expunge eviction records arising under the Residential Landlord Tenant Act. "You'd have to wait 3 years from the satisfaction of your judgment to seek those eviction expungements unless you get the consent of both parties," he said, and he noted the House and Senate versions differ on mediation: "The court shall consider mediation under the House version. The court may consider mediation under the Senate version."

The bill as discussed would allow someone with an eviction tied to a tenancy governed by the Residential Landlord Tenant Act to petition to have that eviction expunged from the eviction docket once time and any statutory conditions are met. Committee members repeatedly emphasized that the legislation should not be read to extinguish money judgments: the Senate amendment includes a provision explicitly saying that an order expunging an eviction "shall not be construed to satisfy, extinguish, or otherwise affect the monetary obligation owed" arising from the tenancy.

A senator asked the committee to consider folding Senate Bill 415 into HB 2357. He described SB 415 (sponsored in the Senate by Senator Doug Shane) as creating a violation when a landlord's intentional action or failure to act causes a dwelling unit to be declared uninhabitable by a government enforcement agency. The senator said SB 415 passed the Senate 37-3 but had not been heard in the House; committee members expressed concern about adding a new consumer-protection dimension to the conference bill without a separate hearing.

A committee member who had consulted proponents told the group that the Senate amendments created two separate tracks: eviction-only dockets and separate money-judgment dockets. That member warned the combined drafting could produce procedural confusion for landlords and courts, and recommended tightening the text. Jason explained the drafting choice: courts generally want expungement petitions filed under the eviction docket number, and monetary judgments often sit on separate dockets; the Senate language attempts to tie related monetary judgments to the eviction review while preserving creditors' ability to pursue or enforce money judgments.

To address the concerns, the committee agreed on a set of technical changes. Members proposed replacing the word "obligation" with "judgment" in specific lines to make clear the statute refers to court judgments, and to restore the House's phrasing that the court "shall consider" mediation (rather than "may consider") so there is a recorded showing the court considered mediation between plaintiff (landlord) and defendant (tenant). The group also agreed to change the bill's effective date back to July 1.

Lawmakers did not adopt Senate Bill 415 into HB 2357 at the conference meeting. A senator representing the chamber that passed SB 415 said the Senate did not want SB 415 to hold up HB 2357 and asked House members to help introduce SB 415 and hold a hearing in the next session; members expressed willingness to pursue that path next year rather than inserting SB 415 into the conference report immediately.

Next steps: the committee agreed to incorporate the drafting edits (change "obligation" to "judgment" where noted, reinstate "shall consider" for mediation, and change the effective date to July 1) into the conference committee report. Senate Bill 415 will be pursued separately with a House hearing next year rather than added to this conference report.