| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to substandard residential building fines issued by |
|
|
certain municipalities. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 214, Local Government |
|
|
Code, is amended by adding Section 214.907 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 214.907. SUBSTANDARD RESIDENTIAL BUILDING FINE ISSUED |
|
|
BY CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies only to a |
|
|
municipality located in a county with a population of 3.3 million or |
|
|
more. |
|
|
(b) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Residential building" means: |
|
|
(A) a single-family residential building leased |
|
|
or rented by the owner of the building to another person; or |
|
|
(B) a multifamily residential building |
|
|
containing more than one dwelling unit leased or rented by the owner |
|
|
of the building to another person. |
|
|
(2) "Substandard residential building" means a |
|
|
residential building that is: |
|
|
(A) dilapidated or unfit for human habitation; |
|
|
and |
|
|
(B) a hazard to the public health, safety, or |
|
|
welfare. |
|
|
(3) "Substandard residential building fine" means a |
|
|
fine or penalty imposed by a municipality on the owner of a |
|
|
substandard residential building under a municipal ordinance |
|
|
applicable to the condition of the building. |
|
|
(c) An owner of a substandard residential building is |
|
|
personally liable for the payment of a substandard residential |
|
|
building fine imposed for the owner's building. |
|
|
(d) A municipality may file a lien on the property on which a |
|
|
substandard residential building is located, and for which the |
|
|
owner has received a substandard residential building fine, for the |
|
|
amount of the fine. The lien arises and attaches to the property at |
|
|
the time the notice of the lien is recorded and indexed in the |
|
|
office of the county clerk in the county in which the property is |
|
|
located. The notice must contain the name and address of the owner |
|
|
if that information can be determined with reasonable effort, a |
|
|
legal description of the property, and the amount of the unpaid |
|
|
balance of the fine imposed by the municipality. The lien is |
|
|
extinguished if the property owner or another person having an |
|
|
interest in the legal title to the property pays the fine. The lien |
|
|
is inferior to any previously recorded bona fide mortgage lien |
|
|
attached to the property to which the municipality's lien attaches |
|
|
if the mortgage lien was filed for record in the office of the |
|
|
county clerk of the county in which the property is located before |
|
|
the date the fine was imposed by the municipality. The |
|
|
municipality's lien is superior to all other previously recorded |
|
|
judgment liens. |
|
|
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
|
to a substandard residential building fine, as defined by Section |
|
|
214.907, Local Government Code, as added by this Act, that is issued |
|
|
by a municipality on or after the effective date of this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |