By: West S.B. No. 1240
(Anchia)
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. (a) 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.
(b) This section does not apply if the revocation of the
certificate is based on conditions at the premises that are the
result of a casualty loss, such as fire, smoke, hail, explosion, or
natural disaster, that did not result from the landlord's failure
to maintain the premises.
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.