CADDO PARISH, La. (KTAL/KMSS) – Steven Jackson, Louisiana State Representative for House District 2, has prefilled a bill to hold landlords and property owners accountable.

House Bill 6 hopes to criminalize the misappropriation of funds concerning the payment of utility services.

“If you enter an agreement, a lease agreement under the pretense that your landlord is going to make payments on your behalf for water, sewer, electricity, whatever it is, whatever that utility is, and that homeowner or that landlord or property management company doesn’t, I think that’s theft I think that’s a crime,” said State Representative Jackson.

Jackson says he was inspired to write the bill after dilapidated apartments, like the Jolie and Woodlawn Terrace Apartments, forced law-abiding tenants out of their homes.

“When I saw that you had a property owner who walked away with just a $2500 fine, you know, I felt offended, and I felt that, you know, people are looking to see the loopholes in the system, and so we need to add some teeth we need to strengthen our laws with regard to how we hold people accountable,” said Jackson.

He says that loopholes need to be addressed because “it is not fair for people to do the right thing and be punished for someone else’s negligence.”

“A lot of these companies are filing as an LLC, and so you can’t prosecute an LLC, and so our goal with this particular piece of legislation is to try to hold a person accountable whether it’s the natural person or the juridical person,” said Jackson.

The State Representative says provisions would include being charged with a felony, serving jail time, and losing the property altogether.

The Legislative Session will be held in April 2025. Representative Jackson says the bill will likely be referred to the Criminal Justice Committee. After a hearing, the bill would move through the House, the Senate, and ultimately to the governor if it passes.

“People might say it’s not a widespread problem, statewide problem, but if people find out that there are loopholes that they can take advantage of, it can become a problem, and our goal is to get ahead of that,” said Jackson.