Source: WCNC
A Republican state House representative from Mecklenburg County has had an ethics complaint filed against him recently, WCNC reported.
Action NC filed the complaint against Rep. John Bradford, saying that he has a conflict of interest with a bill that he filed earlier this year because it could bring him business if it becomes law.
House Bill 551 has been the target of several advocacy groups who say that it could hurt vulnerable renters. The bill proposes multiple changes to the landlord-tenant laws in North Carolina.
One provision in the legislation would allow landlords to require proof from a doctor that a tenant has a disability and needs a service animal.
“If their landlord feels like they’re lying or falsely saying their pet is a service animal, the landlord can sue the tenant,” said Jessica Moreno, a community organizer with Action NC.
The bill also says that if a tenant is sued for falsifying a service animal, they could be liable for the landlord’s damages and also be fined up to $1,000.
“[Renters] are going to be scared to utilize service animals,” Moreno said. “They’re not going to use the services they need because they’re scared they’ll be sued by landlords.”
Here’s where the conflict of interest comes in – to verify the legitimacy of service animals, landlords can use Petscreening, an online service that was created by Bradford himself, according to WCNC.
Moreno told WCNC that the bill will hand more business to Bradford because apartments will use his service.
“It’s just very horrible that Bradford would directly financially benefit from passing this law, we believe that’s not ethical,” Moreno said.
When contacted by WCNC, Bradford said that Action NC’s claims were wrong.
“This legislation will have absolutely zero impact on our general business operations and reasonable accommodation review process for support animals,” he said.
It would be nice to be able to take Bradford at his word, but he has shown recently that his word isn’t good for much.
For those who may have forgotten, Bradford very clearly lied about his position on North Carolina’s previous 20-week abortion law.
While running for the House District 98 seat, Bradford refuted claims from his opponent that he wouldn’t stand in the way of an extreme abortion ban.
Bradford said he supported the 20-week abortion law and wouldn’t make it more restrictive.
“I have no intentions myself of going back to Raleigh and trying to make the 20 weeks more restrictive,” he said.
Bradford went back on his word multiple times as he voted for the extreme 12-week abortion ban and then voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of the abortion ban.
The extreme 12-week abortion ban is now the law in North Carolina thanks to Republicans like Bradford who lied and misrepresented their views.
