Covering short-term housing costs

Homebuilders or remodelers who breach their warranty could pay for more than just repairs. They might have to pay for a homeowner’s place to stay.

Sponsored by Rep. Paul Gardner (DFL-Shoreview), HF239 would add reasonable costs of necessary short-term housing to money that homeowners could receive for a warranty breach.

Approved March 18 on a split-voice vote by the House Civil Justice Committee, the bill next goes to the House floor. A companion, SF6, sponsored by Sen. Ron Latz (DFL-St. Louis Park), awaits action by the full Senate.

Reasonable costs could not exceed the current federal maximum per diem rate that applies to the property location.

“If you’re a federal employee, if you’re traveling on some federal contract of some kind, there’s a master list of maximum, not-to-exceed dollar figures for lodging per day,” Gardner said. “You couldn’t be in Shoreview, where I live, and have to be out of your house and then check into a swanky hotel in Minneapolis. You’d have to go to the swanky Hampton Inn in Shoreview.”

Although the bill has been reduced since first introduced, Lisa Frenette, government affairs director of the Builders Association of Minnesota, is still uncomfortable with the bill’s subjectivity. She is concerned that it is not defined who would determine when and how long a person should stay away from their residence.

“We could have about 10 pages of legislation to determine exactly under what specific conditions you would have to leave your house,” Gardner said. “But every house is different and every situation is different. I thought that would be a little bit too meticulous and nitpicky to try and do that.”