SB 73 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Clarifying that tenancy includes persons who reside in sober living home

This bill (SB 73) clarifies that "tenancy" under West Virginia law includes individuals residing in sober living homes, defined as alcohol- and controlled substance-free living environments for people maintaining abstinence. It amends §37-6-5 to explicitly include such residents in tenant protections and adds §37-6A-5 to require landlords to return security deposits per state law, with reasonable attorney’s fees awarded if they willfully or in bad faith fail to comply. The law directly affects tenants in sober living homes and their landlords by ensuring these tenants receive the same security deposit protections as other renters. It does not change security deposit amounts or create new financial obligations, only clarifying existing tenant rights for this specific housing type.
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 12, 2025 Last action Feb 12, 2025
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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
3
Key actions
0
Committee
1
Feb 12, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Committee
To Judiciary
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Mike Woelfel
Mike Woelfel
DDemocratic
WV
5