| 1 | 1 | | By: West S.B. No. 1240 |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | (Anchia) |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | relating to a tenant's remedies regarding a local government's |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | revocation of a certificate of occupancy due to a landlord's |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | failure to maintain the premises. |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 92, Property Code, is |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | amended by adding Section 92.023 to read as follows: |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | Sec. 92.023. TENANT'S REMEDIES REGARDING REVOCATION OF |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY. (a) If a municipality or a county |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | revokes a certificate of occupancy for a leased premises because of |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | the landlord's failure to maintain the premises, the landlord is |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | liable to a tenant who is not in default under the lease for: |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | (1) the full amount of the tenant's security deposit; |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | (2) the pro rata portion of any rental payment the |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | tenant has paid in advance; |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | (3) the tenant's actual damages, including any moving |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | costs, utility connection fees, storage fees, and lost wages; and |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | (4) court costs and attorney's fees arising from any |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | related cause of action by the tenant against the landlord. |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | (b) This section does not apply if the revocation of the |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | certificate is based on conditions at the premises that are the |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | result of a casualty loss, such as fire, smoke, hail, explosion, or |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | natural disaster, that did not result from the landlord's failure |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | to maintain the premises. |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | SECTION 2. The changes in the law made by this Act apply |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | only to a lease entered into on or after September 1, 2011. A lease |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | entered into before September 1, 2011, is governed by the law as it |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |
|---|