§ 6069. Landlord certificate

(a) On or before January 31 of each year, the owner of land rented as a portion of a homestead in the prior calendar year shall furnish a certificate of rent to the Department of Taxes and to each claimant who owned a portion of the homestead and rented that land as a portion of a homestead in the prior calendar year. The certificate shall indicate the proportion of total property tax on that parcel which was assessed for municipal property tax, for local share property tax, and for statewide property tax.

(b) The owner of each rental property consisting of more than one rented homestead shall, on or before January 31 of each year, furnish a certificate of rent to the Department of Taxes and to each person who rented a homestead from the owner at any time during the preceding calendar year. All other owners of rented homestead units shall furnish such certificate upon request of the renter. If a renter moves prior to December 31, the owner may either provide the certificate to the renter at the time of moving or mail the certificate to the forwarding address if one has been provided by the renter or in the absence of a forwarding address, to the last known address.

(c) A certificate under this section shall be in a form prescribed by the Commissioner and shall include the name of the renter, the address and any property tax parcel identification number of the homestead, notice of the requirements for eligibility for the property tax credit provided by this chapter, and any additional information that the Commissioner determines is appropriate.

(d)(1) An owner who knowingly fails to furnish a certificate to the Department or a renter as required by this section shall be liable to the Commissioner for a penalty of $200.00 for each failure to act. An owner shall be liable to the Commissioner for a penalty equal to the greater of $200.00 or the excess amount reported who:

(A) willfully furnishes a certificate that reports total allocable rent in excess of the actual amount paid; or

(B) reports a total amount of allocable rent that exceeds by 10 percent or more the actual amount paid.

(2) Penalties under this subsection shall be assessed and collected in the manner provided in chapter 151 for the assessment and collection of the income tax.

(e) Failure to receive a rent certificate shall not disqualify a renter from the benefits provided by this chapter.

(f) Annually, on or before October 31, the Department shall prepare and make available to a member of the public upon request a database in the form of a sortable spreadsheet that contains the following information for each rental unit for which the Department received a certificate pursuant to this section:

(1) name of owner or landlord;

(2) mailing address of landlord;

(3) location of rental unit;

(4) type of rental unit;

(5) number of units in building; and

(6) School Property Account Number. (Added 1997, No. 60, § 51, eff. Jan. 1, 1998; amended 2009, No. 160 (Adj. Sess.), § 26; 2015, No. 134 (Adj. Sess.), § 17, eff. May 25, 2016; 2017, No. 188 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. July 1, 2019.)