By: Turner (Senate Sponsor - Ellis) H.B. No. 364
(In the Senate - Received from the House April 14, 2011;
April 20, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on
Intergovernmental Relations; May 13, 2011, reported favorably by
the following vote: Yeas 4, Nays 1; May 13, 2011, sent to
printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to condominiums in certain municipalities, including the
exercise of eminent domain authority by those municipalities with
respect to certain condominiums.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2206.001, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
(b-1) Subsection (b)(3) does not prohibit the taking of
private property through the use of eminent domain for economic
development purposes if the economic development is a secondary
purpose resulting from the elimination of urban blight under
Subchapter I, Chapter 214, Local Government Code. This subsection
expires December 31, 2016.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 82.118, Property Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 82.118. SERVICE OF PROCESS ON UNIT OWNERS IN CERTAIN
MUNICIPALITIES; CHANGE OF ADDRESS REQUIRED.
SECTION 3. Section 82.118, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) Not later than the 90th day after the date a unit owner
changes the unit owner's mailing address, the owner must provide
written notice of the owner's new address to the appraisal district
in which the condominium is located.
SECTION 4. Section 82.153(a), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) A condominium information statement must contain or
accurately disclose:
(1) the name and principal address of the declarant
and of the condominium;
(2) a general description of the condominium that
includes the types of units and the maximum number of units;
(3) the minimum and maximum number of additional
units, if any, that may be included in the condominium;
(4) a brief narrative description of any development
rights reserved by a declarant and of any conditions relating to or
limitations upon the exercise of development rights;
(5) copies of the declaration, articles of
incorporation of the association, the bylaws, any rules of the
association, and amendments to any of them, and copies of leases and
contracts, other than loan documents, that are required by the
declarant to be signed by purchasers at closing;
(6) a projected or pro forma budget for the
association that complies with Subsection (b) for the first fiscal
year of the association following the date of the first conveyance
to a purchaser, identification of the person who prepared the
budget, and a statement of the budget's assumptions concerning
occupancy and inflation factors;
(7) a general description of each lien, lease, or
encumbrance on or affecting the title to the condominium after
conveyance by the declarant;
(8) a copy of each written warranty provided by the
declarant;
(9) a description of any unsatisfied judgments against
the association and any pending suits to which the association is a
party or which are material to the land title and construction of
the condominium of which a declarant has actual knowledge;
(10) a general description of the insurance coverage
provided for the benefit of unit owners;
(11) current or expected fees or charges to be paid by
unit owners for the use of the common elements and other facilities
related to the condominium; and
(12) for a condominium located wholly or partly in a
municipality with a population of more than 1.9 million a statement
that a unit owner:
(A) as an alternative to personal service, may be
served with process by the municipality or the municipality's agent
for a judicial or administrative proceeding initiated by the
municipality and directly related to the unit owner's property
interest in the condominium by serving the unit owner at the unit
owner's last known address, according to the records of the
appraisal district in which the condominium is located, by any
means permitted by Rule 21a, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure;
(B) shall [promptly] notify the appraisal
district in writing of a change in the unit owner's mailing address
not later than the 90th day after the date the unit owner changes
the address; and
(C) may not offer proof in the judicial or
administrative proceeding, or in a subsequent related proceeding,
that otherwise proper service by mail of the notice was not received
not later than three days after the date the notice was deposited in
a post office or official depository under the care and custody of
the United States Postal Service.
SECTION 5. Chapter 214, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter I to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER I. EMINENT DOMAIN AUTHORITY OF CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
TO TAKE ABANDONED CONDOMINIUMS
Sec. 214.301. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
to a municipality with a population of more than 1.9 million.
Sec. 214.302. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"condominium" means a condominium as defined by Section 81.002 or
82.003, Property Code.
Sec. 214.303. EMINENT DOMAIN AUTHORITY. A municipality may
take a condominium through the use of eminent domain for the purpose
of the elimination of urban blight if a tract or unit of real
property on which the condominium sits presents the following
conditions for at least one year after the date on which notice of
the conditions is reasonably attempted to be provided to the
property owner:
(1) all lawful occupation of or construction activity
for the condominium has ceased;
(2) the property contains uninhabitable, unsafe, and
unsanitary units that are not fit for their intended use because the
utilities, sewerage, plumbing, or heating or a similar service or
facility of the units has been destroyed, removed, or rendered
ineffective; and
(3) the property has been the location of
substantiated and repeated illegal activity of which the property
owner knew or should have known.
Sec. 214.304. EXPIRATION OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
expires December 31, 2016.
SECTION 6. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a condemnation proceeding in which the condemnation petition is
filed on or after the effective date of this Act and to any property
condemned through the proceeding. A condemnation proceeding in
which the condemnation petition is filed before the effective date
of this Act and any property condemned through the proceeding are
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 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
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