Panel favors bill to help abused get out of leases

A bill on landlord-tenant law that the sponsor says would make it easier for victims of domestic violence to escape unsafe situations received House committee support Wednesday and is on its way to the full House.

House Bill 1538, sponsored by Rep. Nicole Clowney, D-Fayetteville, would allow victims of domestic violence to terminate their leases without paying early termination fees if they are trying to protect their safety by moving. She presented the bill to the House Insurance and Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

“Every Arkansan deserves a safe home,” Clowney said. “They deserve to live in a home free from fear of their abuser.”

The bill allows the tenant to terminate a lease within 60 days of the tenant providing written notice and evidence of a “documented incident of domestic abuse,” which Clowney said would come from a court.

The bill does not excuse the tenant from paying rent owed and deals only with the early termination fee. It also forbids landlord retaliation against a tenant for trying to move out because the renter is a victim of domestic violence.

Beth Goodrich, executive director of the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said there are two primary reasons victims don’t leave when they are being abused: fear and money.

“It is not uncommon for an abuser to take control of the finances and really limit what the victim has access to,” Goodrich said. “If I cannot get out of my lease in the situation, it creates two problems. I might not have the financial resources to just leave.

“Secondly, the fear. If my abuser knows I can’t get out of my lease, they know exactly where to find me when they get out of jail or when they’re looking for me,” she said.

The coalition is a nonprofit group of organizations that provides services to victims of domestic violence.

One in four women and one in nine men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, according to statistics from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, a Colorado-based group that advocates for changes in “conditions that lead to domestic violence,” according to its web page.

Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, questioned the necessity of the law and said many landlords already do this.

“We don’t need a law to tell us this, and we act a lot faster,” Lundstrum said. “I don’t know. I’m concerned. It really concerns me. I don’t know if this is going to help or hurt or make it more difficult.”

Clowney replied that the 60 days was a maximum number, and that tenants could move out faster if they wished.

Rep. Aaron Pilkington, R-Clarksville, said he worried that the bill would prevent people charged with domestic battery from finding housing.

“People who have a checkered past may not be able to find housing that they need because they are being discriminated against,” Pilkington said.

Clowney said the bill deals only with victims of domestic violence and that if two people had a joint lease, only the victim’s part would be terminated.

The bill cleared the committee without opposition.