SB 825 Summary

• Establishes a two-year prelitigation mediation pilot program for residential landlord-tenant disputes over nonpayment of rent, effective February 5, 2026 through February 4, 2028.

• Extends the notice period for termination of rental agreements from five business days to ten calendar days, and requires landlords to provide specific information including contact details, property address, rent amount due, and notice that mediation will be offered.

• Requires landlords or their agents to provide the ten-calendar-day notice to a state-funded mediation center and mandates participation in mediation if scheduled; landlords may only file for summary possession after twenty calendar days from tenant's receipt of notice if mediation is scheduled.

• Requires mediation to occur within thirty days of the mediation center contacting both parties; each party bears their own costs including attorneys' fees, except landlords may recover mediation costs if tenants default on agreements or fail to attend scheduled mediation.

• Appropriates $1,250,000 for each of fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to the judiciary for mediation services; requires the judiciary to report findings and recommendations to the legislature ninety days after the pilot program expires.