81R5768 AJA-F By: Davis of Dallas H.B. No. 1385 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT relating to the assessment of damages to a property owner from condemnation. BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: SECTION 1. Section 21.041, Property Code, is amended to read as follows: Sec. 21.041. EVIDENCE. As the basis for assessing actual damages to a property owner from a condemnation, the special commissioners shall admit evidence on: (1) the value of the property being condemned; (2) the injury to the property owner, including, if the condemnation makes relocation of a homestead or farm necessary, the financial damages associated with the cost of relocating from the condemned property to another property that allows the property owner, without the necessity of incurring an amount of debt, debt service, or total projected interest obligation that is higher than the property owner was subject to immediately before the condemnation, to: (A) have a standard of living comparable to the property owner's standard of living immediately before the condemnation, if the condemned property is a homestead that is habitable; or (B) operate a comparable farm, if the condemned property is a farm; (3) the benefit to the property owner's remaining property; and (4) the use of the property for the purpose of the condemnation. SECTION 2. Section 21.042(d), Property Code, is amended to read as follows: (d) In estimating injury or benefit under Subsection (c), the special commissioners shall consider an injury or benefit that is peculiar to the property owner, including the property owner's financial damages described by Section 21.041(2), and that relates to the property owner's ownership, use, or enjoyment of the particular parcel of real property, but they may not consider an injury or benefit that the property owner experiences in common with the general community. SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only to a condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2009.