84th Recap: Tenant Appeal of a Residential Eviction

There was a bill this session that addressed the sufficiency of a bond a tenant must put up when they appeal an eviction. The concern was that when a tenant appeals an eviction they have to put up a bond, but there was no process to determine if the bond is valid nor a requirement that the tenant pay into the court during the typical three month appeals process for the rent due during the appeal. The proponents of the bill argue that the lack of verification and deposit leads to an abuse of the appeal bonds in attempts to delay legitimate evictions. HB 1334 sought to allow a landlord to challenge the sufficiency of a bond and if found insufficient, then the bill lays out the expedited five day process to cure or proceed to a write of possession.

Ultimately HB 1334 was finally passed and sent to the governor. There are still provisions for a pauper's affidavit filing if a tenant does not have the financial means to file a bond, and a new detailed process outlined in the bill to challenge an appeal bond's sufficiency. The hope is with the final passage of HB 1334 some previous instances of abuse and tenant delay will be mitigated with the new changes that go into effect on January 1, 2016.

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