Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required.
Title
SECOND SUBSTITUTE - Amending Sections 32.07(5), (7), (9) and (14) of the Madison General Ordinances to require landlords to obtain, maintain, and provide or make available, upon request, photographic evidence of damage, waste or neglect being charged against a tenant’s security deposit.
Body
DRAFTER’S ANALYSIS: This proposal amends various Subsections of Section 32.07 of the Madison General Ordinances relating to Security Deposit Refund Procedures. This proposal creates a requirement under Subsection 32.07(14) that for a landlord to charge a tenant with damage, waste, or neglect from the security deposit, that the landlord must document this damage, waste or neglect with photographic evidence, which must be retained for a specified period of time and provided to the tenant upon a timely request being made. This proposal also creates a requirement that if the landlord makes a full or partial withholding of the security deposit that the landlord provide written notice to the tenant of the tenant’s right to request of a copy of the photographs, and that upon receipt of a timely request the landlord has a specified period of time to provide the photographs to the tenant. This proposal also provides that the landlord forfeits all rights to any portion of the security deposit if the photographs timely requested by the tenant are not provided. Finally, this proposal also creates a requirement that before a landlord accepts a security deposit, as part of the check-in procedures the tenant be informed of the tenant’s right to view the photographs documenting any damage, waste or neglect charged to the previous tenant. This proposal is designed to require landlords to obtain photographic evidence of damages charged to tenants from security deposits to ensure that any forfeiture of a security deposit is supported by evidence.
This is the form in which the ordinance was adopted. Please see the correct Drafter's Analysis...
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