| 1 | 1 | | By: Carona S.B. No. 716 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Filed February 6, 2009; February 25, 2009, |
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| 3 | 3 | | read first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce; |
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| 4 | 4 | | April 8, 2009, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 9, |
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| 5 | 5 | | Nays 0; April 8, 2009, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 9 | 9 | | AN ACT |
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| 10 | 10 | | relating to late fees under a residential lease. |
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| 11 | 11 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 12 | 12 | | SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 92.019, Property Code, |
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| 13 | 13 | | is amended to read as follows: |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) A landlord may not charge a tenant a late fee for failing |
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| 15 | 15 | | to pay rent unless: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) notice of the fee is included in a written lease; |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2) the fee is a reasonable estimate of uncertain |
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| 18 | 18 | | damages to the landlord that are incapable of precise calculation |
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| 19 | 19 | | and result from late payment of rent; and |
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| 20 | 20 | | (3) the rent has remained [remains] unpaid one full |
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| 21 | 21 | | [after the second] day after the date the rent was originally due. |
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| 22 | 22 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 23 | 23 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 24 | 24 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 25 | 25 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 26 | 26 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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| 27 | 27 | | * * * * * |
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