Shortly before I came into office, the City Council voted for a law change that requires all residential landlords and tenants in Provo to sign a disclosure form. Since taking office, I’ve worked with the council to make a few changes to that law, including pushing back the effective date of the ordinance, so that people have time to get in compliance ahead of time. I appreciate the council working with me on that.
My purpose in writing this is to help you understand what your responsibilities are under this law. If you aren’t involved in a rental dwelling, the law probably has no application to you. The law directly impacts those who rent out residential space in Provo or those who are tenants in Provo. Commercial landlord/tenant arrangements are not impacted by the law.
Okay, here are some of the main things to be aware of:
Effective August 1, 2018, for each rental dwelling in Provo, the landlord must have each tenant sign a disclosure form and the landlord also must sign the form. The form will be personalized for each landlord by the City and will show the occupancy and parking limits for the property being rented. In time, this disclosure form will be incorporated into the rental dwelling licenses that Provo City issues to residential landlords. (In case you didn’t know, every residential landlord is required under city code to have such a license. Call one-stop customer service hotline, 311, from anywhere within Provo, for information on obtaining a residential dwelling license.)
How can you, as a landlord, obtain a personalized disclosure form for your tenants to sign?
If your rental dwelling license will be renewed between now and August 1, 2018, you should receive the form with your license (it will be combined into a single document containing the rental dwelling license and the disclosure form). Or you are welcome to contact our Community Development office at cwalls@provo.org or 801-852-6400, and a personalized disclosure form will be created and provided to you. If you forget that phone number, just call 3-1-1 and they can route you to the right person.
If you’re a tenant, how can you get a copy of the disclosure form?
By asking your landlord. In fact, if a tenant can show she requested the form in writing from her landlord but did not receive one, the tenant may be able to avoid penalties under the law. That’s another change I wanted, and the City Council was great to work with me on that. If a tenant has done what he can to get the form, he shouldn’t be punished just because his landlord refused to provide it. Unlike landlords, tenants are not able to receive the disclosure form directly from the City.
What should landlords and tenants do with the signed disclosure form?
Just hang on to it. There is no need to provide the form to the City, unless a member of city staff requests it, based upon reasonable suspicion that there is a violation of occupancy limits or other relevant law.
Again, this law goes into effect on August 1, 2018. I hope you can take some time before then to ensure you are in compliance.
While I have tried to give you a straightforward explanation, you should of course be aware that the actual language of the ordinance is what matters. The ordinance is found at Provo City Code Section 6.26.150, which can be accessed at http://www.codepublishing.com/UT/Provo/html/Provo06/Provo0626.html#6.26.150.
To address any questions about the new ordinance, we are holding a series of open houses, as follows:
Tuesday, April 10 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the Provo City Recreation Center in Classroom B
Wednesday, May 9 from 5:30 - 7:00 pm at the Provo City Recreation Center in Classroom B
Wednesday, June 13 from 6:00 - 7:30 pm at the Community Development Department Conference Room (330 West 100 South)
Wednesday, July 11 from 6:00 - 7:30 pm at the Community Development Department Conference Room (330 West 100 South)
So feel free to drop by any of the above events to learn more. And again, feel free to call 3-1-1 from within Provo for any questions about this.