(a) A landlord of a tenant who is a victim of domestic violence or the offense of menacing by stalking shall change the lock to the dwelling unit where the tenant resides upon receipt of a written request from the tenant and a copy of a court order or protection order that orders the respondent or defendant named in the order to stay away from the tenant. Within forty-eight (48) hours after receiving the notice and a copy of the order, the landlord shall change the lock and shall make a good faith effort to provide a key to the new lock to the tenant and any remaining cotenant not later than twenty-four (24) hours after the landlord changes the lock. The tenant shall reimburse the landlord for the actual expense the landlord incurs in changing the lock. If the landlord fails to change the lock within the forty-eight (48)-hour time period as this section requires, the tenant may change the lock without the landlord's permission. If the tenant changes the lock, the tenant shall do so in a competent and workmanlike manner with locks of similar or better quality than the original lock and shall make a good faith offer to provide a key to the landlord and any remaining cotenant not later than twenty-four (24) hours after the tenant changes the lock. If within thirty (30) days after the landlord changes the lock the tenant does not reimburse the landlord for the expenses the landlord incurs in changing the locks, the landlord may deduct that amount from the security deposit or assess that amount as a charge to the tenant.
(b) (1) A landlord who receives a request and copy of an order under this section shall not, by any act, provide the respondent who is named in the order and who is a tenant of the dwelling unit access to the dwelling unit for which the landlord or tenant has changed the locks unless the order allows the respondent to return to the dwelling unit to retrieve the respondent's personal possessions and the respondent is accompanied by a law enforcement escort.
(2) A respondent who is a tenant of the dwelling unit remains liable under the rental agreement for rent or any damage to the dwelling unit as provided in the rental agreement, unless the respondent can demonstrate that the tenant who changed the lock or had the lock changed intentionally damaged the dwelling unit.
(c) A landlord who changes a lock to a dwelling unit in accordance with this section is not liable for excluding from the dwelling unit a respondent named in an order the landlord receives from a tenant under this section or for loss of use or damage to the respondent's personal property while that property is in the dwelling unit after the lock has been changed.
(d) If a landlord takes action to prevent a tenant who has complied with this section from changing a lock, the tenant may seek a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction ordering the landlord to refrain from preventing the tenant from changing the lock. (Ord. 2019-30. Passed 9-17-19.)