3.22.07

Landlords seek utility safeguards
by Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-Herald

Tenants who fall behind on their utility bills may find renting in Omaha a little tougher in the future.

Omaha-area landlords are asking public utilities to provide them with tenants' payment history, as long as renters agree in writing to the release of information.

The goal, say landlords, is to protect their property from damage, keep tenants safer and avoid problems with nonpaying tenants.

The Omaha Public Power District has agreed to the request. The Metropolitan Utilities District has not.

Terri Mainelli, one of the landlords leading the effort, said landlords want to prevent loss of life and damage to property that can occur when people live in a home that doesn't have functioning utilities.

Credit checks, Mainelli said, don't yield reliable information about delinquent utility bills. And landlords typically don't find out that utilities have been disconnected on a rental property until after the fact.

She acknowledged that obtaining tenants' payment history could make it tougher for some people to rent.

"This also creates a safety net," she said. "At least a landlord will know if tenants are putting themselves in danger by being without power. It may give the utilities a better chance of getting their money."

She and her husband, Jerry, described problems that can occur:

• When people don't have heat, they put themselves at risk of fire from candles and space heaters.

• When the electricity is shut off, gas furnaces don't work. Gas stoves still operate, so people use them for heat. The stoves, however, give off harmful fumes.

• In winter, water pipes can burst in a home that isn't heated. A family living without water can cause the toilet to overflow with waste.

Laird Moore, a staff attorney with Legal Aid of Nebraska, said he sympathizes with the landlords' concerns but is concerned the policy could be abused.

It wouldn't be fair, Moore said, for renters who struggle to keep up with their bills to be penalized for an occasional late payment.

The Mainellis say they decided to talk to the utilities in January after they came upon two mothers and four children heating one of their rental homes with a natural gas stove - at a time when overnight lows had dipped into single digits. The home's electricity had been disconnected.

Within a week of being contacted by the Mainellis, OPPD agreed to make changes, although some may take a couple of months.

Metropolitan Utilities District has not yet agreed to the landlords' requests and indeed may not agree, frustrating about two dozen landlords who have lobbied for the changes.

"OPPD was a pleasure to work with," said Jerry Mainelli. "(M.U.D.) would rather fight you and come up with 10 different reasons why they don't want to do something rather than work with you."

OPPD agreed to the changes without imposing an extra fee on landlords, but M.U.D. has said it's possible landlords will have to pay extra.

Tim Burke, the OPPD vice president who signed off on the policy for that utility, said he considered the landlords' requests straightforward. The utility, he said, is only providing information that individual tenants agree to release.

"We treat (landlords) like any other customer," Burke said. "We have the ability to do what they're asking, and we're not compromising on any issues."

Tom Wurtz, president of M.U.D., said when a tenant's name is on the bill, the tenant -- not the landlord -- is the customer. In those cases, he said, the utility is accountable to tenants, not landlords.

Some M.U.D. board members have said it appears landlords are asking the utility to do the landlords' job, while others believe the policy changes may be justifiable.

In OPPD's case:

• The utility will provide tenant account information to a landlord if the tenant signs a permission slip. Wurtz said M.U.D. is considering this change.
• OPPD will transfer an account to a landlord's name if a tenant is in default, without requiring the landlord to pay the tenant's past-due amount. M.U.D. says this practice would deprive it of leverage to compel tenants to pay.
• Effective in May, OPPD will notify landlords 24 to 48 hours before electrical service is disconnected. M.U.D. has said it is up to the landlord to keep track of the disconnection status of a tenant in arrears. This is one of the changes M.U.D. said would cost money to provide.
• OPPD will notify the landlord if the tenant changes the name on the account. M.U.D. will do this only if the landlord calls in each time.

M.U.D. will meet with landlords Friday to discuss their requests.

The Mainellis said they will use the advance shut-off notice to contact Child Protective Services or other social service agencies if a child or elderly person is living in the home.

They said this would bring additional leverage and resources to help the family either pay the bill or find somewhere else to live. At a minimum, it could remove children and senior citizens from a potentially dangerous situation.

Moore, the Legal Aid attorney, said calling in Child Protective Services is a good thing if children really are in danger. But it's another thing if landlords use it as a threat.

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