Wyoming Safe Homes Act.

WORKING DRAFT
2011
STATE OF
WYOMING
11LSO-0163

SENATE FILE
NO.
SF0030

Wyoming Safe Homes Act
.

Sponsored by:
Senator(s) Hastert and Cooper and Representative(s) Barbuto, Connolly, Craft
,
Davison
and Pedersen

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to
domestic
and sexual
violence; creating a
Wyoming
Safe Homes Act as specified; authorizing a victim of domestic
or sexual

violence
to terminate a lease as specified; providing an affirmative defense as specified; requiring a landlord
and authorizing a tenant
to change door locks if specified conditions are met;
amending existing provisions as specified;
providing
penalties; providing definitions; prohibiting waiver of provisions of act
by
separate agreement;
and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of
Wyoming
:

Section 1.
W.S.
1
‑
21
‑
13
01 through
1
‑
21
‑
13
0
6
are created to read:

ARTICLE
13
WYOMING SAFE HOMES ACT

1
‑
21
‑
13
01.

Short title.

This
act shall be known and may be cited as the
"
Wyoming Safe Homes Act
.
"

1
‑
21
‑
13
02.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(i)

"Domestic abuse" means as defined in W.S. 35
‑
21
‑
101;

(ii)

"Landlord" me
a
ns the
owner of a building or the owner's agent with regard to matters
concerning

the
landlord's renting or leasing of a dwelling;

(iii)

"Lock" means a
ny
fastening device operated by a key
or combination of keys or keystrokes
that allows access t
hrough

an existing
entryway,
door or window into
a dwelling
, but does not include locks to secure
common
entryways used by tenants of a building containing multiple dwelling units
;

(
i
v
)

"Sexual violence" means any act of sexual assault, sexual abuse or stalking of an adult or minor, inc
luding any non
consensual sexual contact or intrusion as those
terms
are defined in the Wyoming Criminal Code;

(
v)

"Tenant" means a person who
has entered into an oral or written lease with a landlord whereby the person is the lessee under the lease;

(v
i
)

"This act" means W.S.
1
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21
‑
13
01 through
1
‑
21
‑
13
06
.

1
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21
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13
03.

Breach of lease;
recovery of
rent; affirmative defense.

(a)

In any action brought by a landlord against a tenant to recover rent for breach of lease, the tenant shall have an affirmative defense and not be liable for rent for the
period
after which a tenant vacates the premises owned by the landlord
and covered by the lease, if by a preponderance of the evidence, the court finds that:

(i)

At the time the tenant vacated the premises, the tenant or a member of the tenant's household was under a credible imminent threat of domestic abuse or sexual violence at the premises; and

(ii)

The tenant gave written notice to the landlord prior to or within three (3) days of vacating the premises
stating
that the reason for vacating the premises was because of a cre
d
ible imminent threat of domestic abuse or sexual violence against the tenant or a member of the tenant's household
.

(b)

In any action brought by a landlord against a tenant to recover rent for breach of lease, the tenant shall have an affirmative defense and not be liable for rent for the period after which a tenant vacates the premises owned by the landlord and covered by the lease, if by a preponderance of the evidence, the court finds that:

(i)

The
tenant or a member of the tenant's household was
a
victim of sexual violence on the premises that are owned or controlled by
the

landlord
and the tenant has vacated the premises as a result of the sexual violence;

(i
i
)

The tenant gave written notice to the landlord prior to or within three (3) days of vacating the premises
stating
that the reason for vacating the premises was because of the sexual violence against the tenant or a member of the tenant's household, the date of the sexual violence, and that the
tenant
provided at least one

(1) form of the following types of evidence to the
landlord
supporting the claim of sexual violence
:

(A)

Medical, court or police evidence of sexual violence; or

(B)

A statement from an employee of a victim services or rape crisis organization from

which the tenant or a me
m
ber of the tena
n
t's household sought services; and

(
iii
)

The sexual violence occurred not more than sixty (60) days prior to the
date of
giving the written notice to the landlord, or if circumstan
ces are such that the tenant could
not reasonably give notice
within that time period
because of reasons related to the sexual violence, including, but not limited to, hospitalization or seeking assistance for shelter or coun
s
eling
, then as soon thereafter as practicable
.

(c
)

N
othing in this act shall be
construed
to be
a defense against:

(i)

A
n action for recovery of rent for the period of time before
the tenant
vacated the landlord's premises
and
gave notice to the landlord as required in this section; or

(ii)

Forcible entry and detainer for failure to pay rent before the tenant gave notice to the landlord as required in this section
and vacated the premises
.

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21
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13
04.

Change of locks
; procedures; immunity
.

(a)

A
tenant
who ha
s
signed as
a
lessee under a written lease
may request that a landlord change the locks of the dwelling unit in which he live
s
if
he
believes that
he,

any
othe
r

tenant
or a
ny
member of
his or another
tenant's household is under a credible imminent threat of domest
i
c abuse or sexual violence at the premises
.

If the threat of violence is from a

person who is not a lessee under the written lease, n
otice to the landlord requesting a change of locks shall be accompanied by at least one (1)
copy
of the following
type
s

of evidence to support a claim of domestic abuse or sexual violence:

(i)

Medical, court or police evidence of
domestic
abuse or sexual violence; or

(ii)

A statement from an employee of a victim services, domest
i
c violence or rape crisis organization from which the tenant or a member of the ten
ant's household sought services.

(b)

If the threat of
domestic abuse or sexual
violence is from

a person who is a lessee under a written lease, notice to the landlord requesting a change

of locks shall be accompanied by
an order of protection issued
by a court
, granting the tenant
who is
requesting a change of locks the exclusive possession of the premises.

(c)

T
he tenant
who
is a
lessee under an oral lease
may request that a landlord change the locks of the dwelling unit in which
he
live
s
if
he

or

ano
the
r tenant
believes that one (1) of the tenants or a member of the tenant's household is under a credible imminent threat of domestic abuse or sexual violence at the premises.

If the threat of
domestic abuse or sexual
violence is from a person who is a lessee under the lease
, the tenant requesting the change of locks shall not be required to obtain concurrence for the request from the person posing a threat who is a lessee under the oral lease, provided the n
otice to the landlord requesting
the
change of locks
is
accompanied by an order of protection issued
by a court
, granting the tenant
who is
requesting a change of locks the exclusive possession of the premises
.

(
d
)

Once a
landlord
has received
a request for a change of locks

that complies with the requirements of subsection (a), (b) or (c)
of this section, the landlord shall, within forty-eight (48) hours,
change
the locks o
r
give the tenant the
permission
to change the locks.
If the landlord changes the locks, the landlord shall make a good faith effort to give
to the tenant as soon as possible
, but not more than forty-eight (48) hours after the locks have been changed,

a key
for each of
the new locks
necessary for the tenant to access his dwelling
.

(
e
)

The
landlord
may charge a fee for the expense of changing the locks. The fee shall not exceed the reasonable price customarily charged for changing a lock.

(
f
)

If a landlord fails to change the locks within forty-eight (48) hours after being provided with the notice in
compliance with
subsection (a)
, (b) or (c)
of this section, the tenant may change the locks without the landlord's permission. If the tenant changes the locks, the tenant shall
make a good faith effort to
give a key
for each of
the new locks to the landlord within forty-eight (48) hours
a
f
ter
the locks
have
be
e
n

changed. In the case where a tenant changes the locks without the landlord's permission, the tenant shall do so in

a workmanlike manner with locks of similar or better quality tha
n
the lock which was replaced.
Nothing in this section authorizes a tenant to change a lock to a common entryway used by other tenants of a building that contains multiple dwelling units.

(
g
)

A
landlord who changes locks or allows the change of locks under this section shall not be liable to any third party for damages resulting from a person being unable to access the dwelling.

1
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13
05.

Penalty for violation
;
costs
.

(a)

If a landlord takes action to prevent the tenant who has complied with W.S.
1
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21
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13
04 from changing his locks, the tenant may seek a temporary restraining
order, preliminary injunction
or permanent injunction ordering the landlord to refrain from preventing the tenant from changing the locks. A tenant who successfully brings an action pursuant to this section may be awarded reasonable
attorney's
fees and costs.

(b)

A
tenant who changes locks and does not
make a good faith effort to
provide a key
for each of the new locks
to the landlord within forty-eight (48) hours
a
f
ter
the tenant chang
ed
the locks, shall be liable for any damages to the dwelling or the building in which the dwelling is located that could have been prevented had the landlord been able to access the dwelling unit in the event of an emergency.

(c)

A landlord who changes the locks and does not make a good faith effort to provide a copy of a key to the tenant within forty-eight (48) hours after the landlord changed the locks shall be liable for any damages the tenant incurred as a result of not having access to his dwelling.

(
d
)

The remedies under this section shall be the sole and exclusive remedies
available to the landlord and tenant under W.S.
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13
04.

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13
06.

Prohibition of waiver or modification.

The provisions of this act
shall
not be waived or modified in any lease or separate agreement between a landlord and tenant.

Section 2.

W.S. 1
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21
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1203(c) and (d) is amended to read:

1
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21
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1203.

Owner's duties; notice by renter of noncompliance; duty to correct; exceptions; termination of rental agreement; liability limited.

(c)

Exc
e
pt as provided in article 13 of this chap
t
er, t
he owner shall not be required to correct or remedy any condition caused by the renter, the renter's family or the renter's guests or invitees by inappropriate use or misuse of the property during the rental term or any extension of it.

(d)

Except as provided in article 13 of this chapter, t
he owner may refuse to correct the condition of the residential rental unit and terminate the rental agreement if the costs of repairs exceeds an amount which would be reasonable in light of the rent charged, the nature of the rental property or rental agreement. If the owner refuses to correct the condition and intends to terminate the rental agreement, he shall notify the renter in writing within a reasonable time after receipt of the notice of noncompliance and shall provide the renter with sufficient time to find substitute housing, which shall be no less than ten (10) days nor more than twenty (20) days from the date of the notice. If the rental agreement is terminated, the rent paid shall be prorated to the date the renter vacates the unit and any balance shall be refunded to the renter along with any deposit due in accordance with W.S. 1
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21
‑
1208.

Section
3
.

This act is effective July 1, 20
11
.

(END)

1
SF0030