Senate Bill No. 133
(By Senators Bailey, Love and Oliverio)
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[Introduced January 10, 2002; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend article six, chapter thirty-seven of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
section thirty-one, relating to making the destruction of
a landlord's property which has been rented for residential
purposes a criminal offense; providing that damage greater
than three hundred dollars but less than one thousand
dollars constitutes a misdemeanor; providing that damage
greater than one thousand dollars constitutes a felony;
providing that tenants who leave trash when vacating a
premises may be guilty of a misdemeanor if it costs more
than one hundred dollars to remove it; providing that
damage deposits be used to offset ascertainment of value of
damage; providing for the determination of prima facie evidence under certain circumstances; providing that
tenants or others in privity of contract with landlords or
lessors have a duty to report damage not caused by
themselves; and providing a criminal penalty for failure to
report the damage under certain circumstances.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six, chapter thirty-seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirty-one, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. LANDLORD AND TENANT.
§37-6-31. Crime to destroy landlord's rented residential
premises; misdemeanor offense; felony offense;
requirement to use damage deposit as offset;
prima facie evidence; duty to report damage.
(a)
Misdemeanor offenses. -- In the event of the intentional
infliction of damage, or damage otherwise inflicted in reckless
disregard for the property interests of others, which equates an
amount required for cost of repair or replacement greater than
three hundred dollars but less than one thousand, to a
residential leasehold, or any part, fixture, structure or
appurtenance attached thereto, by a tenant or other person
present in the premises with the tenant's permission or authority, the tenant or other person shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than three hundred dollars, or confined in a regional jail
facility not more than six months, or both:
Provided, That the
court may alternatively order restitution in lieu of a fine, in
the event the court determines it appropriate to do so under the
circumstances.
(b)
Felony offense. -- In the event of the intentional
infliction of damage, or damage otherwise inflicted in reckless
disregard for the property interests of others, which equates an
amount required for cost of repair or replacement greater than
one thousand dollars, to a residential leasehold, or any part,
fixture, structure or appurtenance attached thereto, by a
tenant or other person present in the premises with the tenant's
permission or authority, the tenant or other person shall be
guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined
not more than ten thousand dollars, or confined in a
correctional facility for one to ten years, or both:
Provided,
That upon a first conviction under this subsection, the court in
imposing any confinement may, alternatively, confine an offender
in a regional jail facility up to eight months:
Provided,
however, That the court may alternatively order restitution in
lieu of a fine, in the event the court determines it appropriate to do so under the circumstances.
(c)
Failure to remove trash. -- Any tenant who, upon
vacating the premises of a residential leasehold, leaves trash
or other debris on the premises that reasonably causes or
requires a landlord, owner or lessor to expend in excess of
one hundred dollars to remove, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined an amount not to exceed
three hundred dollars. The court shall have the option, in lieu
of a fine, to order restitution in a like sum for which a
landlord, owner or lessor was reasonably caused or required to
expend in order to remove the trash or other debris.
(d)
Offset of deposit. -- For the purposes of this section,
any existing damage deposit shall be used as an offset in
determining value.
(e)
Prima facie evidence. -- For the purposes of this
section, prima facie evidence shall be determined to exist upon
the viewing by the court of video or photographic images of a
leasehold or a part, fixture, structure or appurtenance of the
property, as it existed immediately before a tenant took
possession of the property, in contrast to the condition upon
which any criminal charge made under this section arose:
Provided, That the court shall find to its reasonable
satisfaction, the subject damage was not caused by normal wear and tear or simple negligence:
Provided, however, That before
any finding of prima facie evidence of guilt may be made, it
shall be necessary to present, in conjunction with the video or
photographic images, credible and trustworthy testimony or
other evidence concerning the cost of repair or replacement of
the damaged property.
(f)
Duty to report. -- In the event of the infliction or
existence of damage, other than normal and reasonable wear and
tear, to a residential leasehold or any part, fixture,
structure or appurtenance to the property, caused by any person
other than the tenant in possession or other person in privity
of contract with the landlord, owner or lessor, or other cause
unrelated to any duty imposed in this article upon landlords,
the tenant or other person, upon discovering or receiving
trustworthy notice of the damage shall, within ten days of the
discovery or notice, provide notice to the landlord, owner or
lessor of the existence of the damage
. Any person who, without
good or otherwise justifiable cause, fails to provide the notice
required under this subsection, is guilty of a misdemeanor and,
upon conviction thereof, shall be fined up to one thousand
dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to make a criminal offense for the destruction of a landlord's property which has
been rented for residential purposes. The bill provides that
damage greater than three hundred dollars but less than one
thousand dollars may constitute a misdemeanor while providing
that damage greater than one thousand dollars may constitute a
felony. Failure to remove trash upon vacating a leasehold is
also designated as a criminal offense if the landlord is
required to expend more than one hundred dollars to remove it.
It further provides as follows: That damage deposits be used to
offset ascertainment of value of damage; that a finding of prima
facie evidence under certain circumstances may be made; and that
tenants or others in privity of contract with landlords or
lessors have a duty to report damage not caused by themselves
while additionally, providing a criminal penalty for failure to
report such damage under certain circumstances. This reporting
requirement takes into consideration the tenant or other
person's right against self-incrimination to the extent it does
not require the tenant or other person to report damage caused
by themselves.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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