(a) All owners of residential dwelling units and buildings (and their agents) shall, at the time of any offering for sale of said residential dwelling units and buildings, or in the case where improved real property is held under trust the sale of real property which forms the corpus of the trust or the transfer of the beneficial interest in such property, including contract sale, be required to provide to the purchaser or prospective purchaser information as to natural gas and electric costs for the dwelling unit or building, as applicable, for the previous 12 months. Such information shall be in one of the following four formats: (1) a copy of each bill for such costs, (2) a copy of each utility budget plan bill for such costs, (3) a copy of each receipt for payment for such costs, or (4) a copy of each cancelled check used to pay such costs.
In the alternative, the disclosure requirement shall be satisfied by providing information concerning such costs acquired in the manner described in Section 5-16-030. The owner or agent shall also inform the purchaser or prospective purchaser whether the dwelling unit or building was occupied during the previous 12 months, and, if so, for what portion of the time.
(b) No building or dwelling unit owner, or agent thereof, shall execute a written contract for such a sale or transfer for such residential dwelling unit or building
without including within such written contract for sale or transfer the natural gas and electricity cost information required to be disclosed in subsection (a) of this section.
(c) Subsections 5-16-050(a) and (b) shall not apply to:
(1) sales or transfers in which the purchaser is currently a tenant of the dwelling unit and is directly responsible to the utility company or companies for paying the cost of heating and electricity; or
(2) sales or transfers of condominium, cooperative, or other dwelling units in which the primary sources of heat and electricity are provided centrally by the landlord or building management and the costs of energy for heating and electricity are shared and indirectly billed on some basis not directly related to individual dwelling unit usage, such as allocation based on floor space.
(Prior code § 193.2-5; Added Coun. J. 10-15-87, p. 5196; Amend Coun. J. 4-10-13, p. 51233, § 1)