By: Anchia (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 1862
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2011;
April 27, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 6, 2011, reported favorably by
the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 6, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a tenant's remedies regarding a local government's
revocation of a certificate of occupancy due to a landlord's
failure to maintain the premises.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 92, Property Code, is
amended by adding Section 92.023 to read as follows:
Sec. 92.023. TENANT'S REMEDIES REGARDING REVOCATION OF
CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY. If a municipality or a county revokes a
certificate of occupancy for a leased premises because of the
landlord's failure to maintain the premises, the landlord is liable
to a tenant who is not in default under the lease for:
(1) the full amount of the tenant's security deposit;
(2) the pro rata portion of any rental payment the
tenant has paid in advance;
(3) the tenant's actual damages, including any moving
costs, utility connection fees, storage fees, and lost wages; and
(4) court costs and attorney's fees arising from any
related cause of action by the tenant against the landlord.
SECTION 2. The changes in the law made by this Act apply
only to a lease entered into on or after September 1, 2011. A lease
entered into before September 1, 2011, is governed by the law as it
existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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