Governor Wilson has recently signed two new bills (SB 2166 & SB 2217) into law.
SB 2166 (Costa) prohibits certain municipal and public utilities from placing liens on the property of landlords for the nonpayment of utility bills by their tenants, however the law does not address certain abusive collection and new service practices by certain utility companies.
SB 2166 will, among other things, make clear that utilities may not lien a landlord’s property for water and sewer bills owed by the tenant. The utility company must pursue the payment of utility services against the customer of record only and cannot condition the hook-up of the utility on whether or not the previous tenant has paid his or her bill.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District and several other utility districts opposed the bill, which goes into effect on January 1, 1999.
SB 2217 deals with "handymen" commonly used in connection with real property transactions used to make minor repairs prior to the sale or renting of real property.
Current law limits the use of handymen by prohibiting them from performing one or more contracts for which labor and materials exceed $300 and where the work is not "casual, minor or inconsequential in nature." Over that threshold a "licensed" contractor must be used.
This legislation increases the threshold amount from $300 to $500 and also requires handymen to disclose that they are not licensed contractors.