| 1 | 1 | | By: Anchia (Senate Sponsor - West) H.B. No. 1862 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2011; |
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| 3 | 3 | | April 27, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on |
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| 4 | 4 | | Intergovernmental Relations; May 6, 2011, reported favorably by |
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| 5 | 5 | | the following vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; May 6, 2011, 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 a tenant's remedies regarding a local government's |
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| 11 | 11 | | revocation of a certificate of occupancy due to a landlord's |
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| 12 | 12 | | failure to maintain the premises. |
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| 13 | 13 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 14 | 14 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 92, Property Code, is |
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| 15 | 15 | | amended by adding Section 92.023 to read as follows: |
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| 16 | 16 | | Sec. 92.023. TENANT'S REMEDIES REGARDING REVOCATION OF |
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| 17 | 17 | | CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY. If a municipality or a county revokes a |
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| 18 | 18 | | certificate of occupancy for a leased premises because of the |
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| 19 | 19 | | landlord's failure to maintain the premises, the landlord is liable |
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| 20 | 20 | | to a tenant who is not in default under the lease for: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) the full amount of the tenant's security deposit; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (2) the pro rata portion of any rental payment the |
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| 23 | 23 | | tenant has paid in advance; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (3) the tenant's actual damages, including any moving |
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| 25 | 25 | | costs, utility connection fees, storage fees, and lost wages; and |
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| 26 | 26 | | (4) court costs and attorney's fees arising from any |
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| 27 | 27 | | related cause of action by the tenant against the landlord. |
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| 28 | 28 | | SECTION 2. The changes in the law made by this Act apply |
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| 29 | 29 | | only to a lease entered into on or after September 1, 2011. A lease |
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| 30 | 30 | | entered into before September 1, 2011, is governed by the law as it |
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| 31 | 31 | | existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that |
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| 32 | 32 | | law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 33 | 33 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
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| 34 | 34 | | * * * * * |
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