LB1312 LB1312
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LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED EIGHTH LEGISLATURE
SECOND SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 1312
Introduced by Dover, 19.
Read first time January 17, 2024
Committee: Judiciary
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to landlords and tenants; to amend sections
2 76-1413, 76-1450, 76-1457, and 76-1474, Reissue Revised Statutes of
3 Nebraska, and section 76-1410, Revised Statutes Cumulative
4 Supplement, 2022; to provide for electronic notices by landlords to
5 tenants under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and
6 the Mobile Home Landlord and Tenant Act; to define terms; to
7 harmonize provisions; and to repeal the original sections.
8 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 76-1410, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2022, is amended to read:
3 76-1410 Subject to additional definitions contained in the Uniform
4 Residential Landlord and Tenant Act and unless the context otherwise
5 requires:
6 (1) Act of domestic violence means abuse as defined in section
7 42-903, sexual assault under sections 28-319 to 28-320.01, domestic
8 assault under section 28-323, stalking under section 28-311.03, labor or
9 sex trafficking under section 28-831, and knowing and intentional abuse,
10 neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult or senior adult under
11 section 28-386.
12 (2) Action includes recoupment, counterclaim, setoff, suit in
13 equity, and any other proceeding in which rights are determined,
14 including an action for possession.
15 (3) Building and housing codes include any law, ordinance, or
16 governmental regulation concerning fitness for habitation, or the
17 construction, maintenance, operation, occupancy, use, or appearance of
18 any premises, or dwelling unit. Minimum housing code shall be limited to
19 those laws, resolutions, or ordinances or regulations, or portions
20 thereof, dealing specifically with health and minimum standards of
21 fitness for habitation.
22 (4) Dwelling unit means a structure or the part of a structure that
23 is used as a home, residence, or sleeping place by one person who
24 maintains a household or by two or more persons who maintain a common
25 household.
26 (5) Good faith means honesty in fact in the conduct of the
27 transaction concerned.
28 (6) Household member means a child or adult, other than the
29 perpetrator of an act of domestic violence, who resides with a tenant.
30 (7) Landlord means the owner, lessor, or sublessor of the dwelling
31 unit or the building of which it is a part, and it also means a manager
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1 of the premises who fails to disclose as required by section 76-1417.
2 (8) Organization includes a corporation, government, governmental
3 subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership,
4 limited liability company, or association, two or more persons having a
5 joint or common interest, and any other legal or commercial entity.
6 (9) Owner means one or more persons, jointly or severally, in whom
7 is vested (a) all or part of the legal title to property, or (b) all or
8 part of the beneficial ownership and a right to present use and enjoyment
9 of the premises; and the term includes a mortgagee in possession.
10 (10) Person includes an individual, limited liability company, or
11 organization.
12 (11) Qualified third party means an organization that (a) is a
13 nonprofit organization organized under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
14 Revenue Code or a federally recognized Indian tribe whose governmental
15 body is within the borders of Nebraska and (b) has an affiliation
16 agreement with the Department of Health and Human Services to provide
17 services to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault under the
18 Protection from Domestic Abuse Act.
19 (12) Premises means a dwelling unit and the structure of which it is
20 a part and facilities and appurtenances therein and grounds, areas, and
21 facilities held out for the use of tenants generally or whose use is
22 promised to the tenant.
23 (13) Rent means all payments to be made to the landlord under the
24 rental agreement.
25 (14) Rental agreement means all agreements, written or oral, between
26 a landlord and tenant, and valid rules and regulations adopted under
27 section 76-1422 embodying the terms and conditions concerning the use and
28 occupancy of a dwelling unit and premises.
29 (15) Roomer means a person occupying a dwelling unit that lacks a
30 major bathroom or kitchen facility, in a structure where one or more
31 major facilities are used in common by occupants of the dwelling units.
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1 Major facility in the case of a bathroom means toilet, or either a bath
2 or shower, and in the case of a kitchen means refrigerator, stove, or
3 sink.
4 (16) Single-family residence means a structure maintained and used
5 as a single dwelling unit. Notwithstanding that a dwelling unit shares
6 one or more walls with another dwelling unit, it is a single-family
7 residence if it has direct access to a street or thoroughfare and shares
8 neither heating facilities, hot water equipment, nor any other essential
9 facility or service with any other dwelling unit.
10 (17) Tenant means a person entitled under a rental agreement to
11 occupy a dwelling unit to the exclusion of others.
12 (18) Writing or written, when used in reference to a notice or
13 document to be provided by a landlord to a tenant, includes a notice or
14 document provided by electronic means in accordance with section 76-1413.
15 Sec. 2. Section 76-1413, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, is
16 amended to read:
17 76-1413 (1) A person has notice of a fact if:
18 (a) Such person he has actual knowledge of it; ,
19 (b) Such person he has received a notice or notification of it; , or
20 (c) From from all facts and circumstances known to such person him
21 at the time in question, such person he has reason to know that it
22 exists. A person knows or has knowledge of a fact if such person he has
23 actual knowledge of it.
24 (2) A person notifies or gives a notice or notification to another
25 by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform the other in ordinary
26 course whether or not the other actually comes to know of it. A person
27 receives a notice or notification when:
28 (a) It it comes to such person's his attention; ,
29 (b) In in the case of the landlord, it is delivered at the place of
30 business of the landlord through which the rental agreement was made or
31 at any place held out by the landlord him as the place for receipt of the
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1 communication; , or
2 (c) In in the case of the tenant, it is:
3 (i) Delivered delivered in hand to the tenant;
4 (ii) Mailed or mailed to the tenant him at the place held out by the
5 tenant him as the place for receipt of the communication, or in the
6 absence of such designation, to the tenant's his last-known place of
7 residence; or .
8 (iii) Delivered by electronic means.
9 (3) Notice, knowledge, or a notice or notification received by an
10 organization is effective for a particular transaction from the time it
11 is brought to the attention of the individual conducting that
12 transaction, and in any event from the time it would have been brought to
13 such individual's his attention if the organization had exercised
14 reasonable diligence.
15 (4) For purposes of this section, delivered by electronic means
16 includes:
17 (a) Delivery to an electronic mail address at which a tenant has
18 consented to receive notices or documents; and
19 (b) Posting on an electronic network or site accessible via the
20 Internet, mobile application, computer, mobile device, tablet, or any
21 other electronic device, together with separate notice of the posting,
22 which shall be provided by electronic mail to the address at which the
23 tenant has consented to receive notices or documents or by any other
24 delivery method that has been consented to by the tenant.
25 (5) Subject to the requirements of this section, any notice to a
26 tenant or any other document required under applicable law regarding a
27 rental agreement or that is to serve as evidence of action regarding a
28 rental agreement may be delivered, stored, and presented by electronic
29 means so long as it meets the requirements of the Uniform Electronic
30 Transactions Act.
31 (6) Delivery of a notice or document in accordance with this section
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1 shall be considered equivalent to any delivery method required under
2 applicable law, including delivery by first-class mail, registered mail,
3 certified mail, certificate of mailing, or a commercial mail delivery
4 service. In any instance in which proof of receipt is required for a
5 mailing, the electronic delivery method used shall provide for
6 verification or acknowledgment of receipt.
7 (7) A notice or document may be delivered by electronic means by a
8 landlord to a tenant under this section if:
9 (a) The tenant has affirmatively consented to such method of
10 delivery and has not withdrawn the consent;
11 (b) The tenant, before giving consent, is provided with a clear and
12 conspicuous statement informing the tenant of:
13 (i) The right of the tenant to withdraw consent to have a notice or
14 document delivered by electronic means at any time;
15 (ii) Any conditions or consequences imposed in the event consent is
16 withdrawn;
17 (iii) The transactions and types of notices and documents to which
18 the tenant's consent would apply;
19 (iv) The right of a tenant to have a notice or document delivered in
20 paper form by mail and the means, after consent is given, by which a
21 tenant may obtain a paper copy of a notice or document delivered by
22 electronic means; and
23 (v) The procedure a tenant shall follow to withdraw consent to have
24 a notice or document delivered by electronic means and to update the
25 tenant's electronic mail address;
26 (c) The tenant:
27 (i) Before giving consent, is provided with a statement of the
28 hardware and software requirements for access to and retention of a
29 notice or document delivered by electronic means; and
30 (ii) Consents electronically, or confirms consent electronically, in
31 a manner that reasonably demonstrates that the tenant can access
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1 information in the electronic form that will be used for notices or
2 documents delivered by electronic means as to which the tenant has given
3 consent; and
4 (d) After the tenant consents, if there is a change in the hardware
5 or software requirements needed to access or retain a notice or document
6 delivered by electronic means creates a material risk that the tenant
7 will not be able to access or retain a subsequent notice or document to
8 which the consent applies, the landlord:
9 (i) Provides the tenant with a statement that describes:
10 (A) The revised hardware and software requirements for access to and
11 retention of a notice or document delivered by electronic means; and
12 (B) The right of the tenant to withdraw consent without the
13 imposition of any condition or consequence that was not disclosed at the
14 time of initial consent; and
15 (ii) Complies with subdivision (7)(b) of this section.
16 (8) This section does not affect any requirement related to content
17 or timing of any notice or document required under applicable law.
18 (9) If any provision of the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant
19 Act or any other applicable law requiring a notice or document to be
20 provided to a tenant expressly requires verification or acknowledgment of
21 receipt of the notice or document, the notice or document may be
22 delivered by electronic means only if the method used provides for
23 verification or acknowledgment of receipt.
24 (10) If verification or acknowledgment of receipt is not obtained,
25 the notice or document shall be sent to the tenant by mail as prescribed
26 by the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. If two or more
27 electronic communications to the tenant are returned as undeliverable
28 during a thirty-day period, all future communications shall be sent to
29 the tenant by first-class or other mail as prescribed by law unless and
30 until the tenant consents electronically, or confirms electronically, in
31 a manner that reasonably demonstrates that the tenant can access
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1 information in the electronic form that will be used for notices or
2 documents delivered by electronic means as to which the tenant has given
3 consent.
4 (11) A withdrawal of consent by a tenant does not affect the legal
5 effectiveness, validity, or enforceability of a notice or document
6 delivered by electronic means to the tenant before the withdrawal of
7 consent is effective. A withdrawal of consent by a tenant is effective
8 within a reasonable period of time after receipt of the withdrawal by the
9 landlord. Failure by a landlord to comply with subdivision (7)(d) of this
10 section may be treated, at the election of the tenant, as a withdrawal of
11 consent for purposes of this section.
12 (12) This section does not apply to a notice or document delivered
13 by a landlord in an electronic form before the effective date of this act
14 to a tenant who, before such date, has consented to receive notices or
15 documents in an electronic form otherwise allowed by law.
16 (13) If the consent of a tenant to receive certain notices or
17 documents in an electronic form is on file with a landlord before the
18 effective date of this act, and pursuant to this section a landlord
19 intends to deliver additional notices or documents to such tenant in an
20 electronic form, then prior to delivering such additional notices or
21 documents electronically, the landlord shall provide the tenant with a
22 statement that describes:
23 (a) The notices or documents that will be delivered by electronic
24 means under this section that were not previously delivered
25 electronically; and
26 (b) The tenant's right to withdraw consent to have notices or
27 documents delivered by electronic means without the imposition of any
28 condition or consequence that was not disclosed at the time of initial
29 consent.
30 (14) A landlord shall deliver a notice or document by any other
31 delivery method permitted by law other than electronic means if:
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1 (a) The landlord attempts to deliver the notice or document by
2 electronic means and has a reasonable basis for believing that the notice
3 o