83R2606 AJZ-D
By: Gutierrez H.B. No. 2068
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to establishment and functions of certain urban land bank
programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 374.022, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) An urban renewal agency created under this subchapter
may serve as a land bank under Chapter 379E.
SECTION 2. Section 379E.003, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subdivision (3) and adding Subdivision (4-a) to
read as follows:
(3) "Land bank" means an entity established or
approved by the governing body of a municipality for the purpose of
acquiring, holding, and transferring [unimproved real] property
under this chapter.
(4-a) "Property" means real property and includes
tax-foreclosed properties and any other type of property conveyed
to a land bank under this chapter.
SECTION 3. Section 379E.004, Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 379E.004. URBAN LAND BANK PROGRAM. (a) The governing
body of a municipality may:
(1) adopt an urban land bank program in which the
officer charged with selling [real] property ordered sold pursuant
to foreclosure of a tax lien may sell certain eligible [real]
property by private sale for purposes of affordable housing
development as provided by this chapter;
(2) enter into an interlocal agreement with any taxing
authority or other governmental entity to allow a type of property
other than a tax-foreclosed property to be conveyed to the land
bank;
(3) approve an urban renewal agency created under
Chapter 374 to serve as a land bank; and
(4) enter into an interlocal agreement with another
municipality to administer a joint urban land bank program under
this chapter.
(b) The governing body of a municipality that adopts an
urban land bank program shall establish or approve a land bank for
the purpose of acquiring, holding, and transferring [unimproved
real] property under this chapter.
(c) A land bank established as part of a joint urban land
bank program under this chapter may be dissolved by resolution of
the governing body of any municipality that is a party to the
agreement establishing the land bank. At any time, a participating
municipality may withdraw from the agreement establishing the
program without requiring a dissolution of the land bank.
SECTION 4. Section 379E.007(b), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) The city manager or the city manager's designee shall
provide notice of the hearing to:
(1) all community housing development organizations
and to any other known qualified participating developers; and
(2) all [to] neighborhood associations identified by
the municipality as serving the neighborhoods in which properties
anticipated to be available for sale to the land bank under this
chapter are located.
SECTION 5. Section 379E.008, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (j) and
(k) to read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by
Subsection (f), property that is ordered sold pursuant to
foreclosure of a tax lien may be sold in a private sale to a land
bank by the officer charged with the sale of the property without
first offering the property for sale as otherwise provided by
Section 34.01, Tax Code, if:
(1) the market value of the property as specified in
the judgment of foreclosure is less than the total amount due under
the judgment, including all taxes, penalties, and interest, plus
the value of nontax liens held by a taxing unit and awarded by the
judgment, court costs, and the cost of the sale;
(2) the property is not improved with a habitable
building or buildings, as described by the municipality's health
and safety code;
(3) there are delinquent taxes on the property for a
total of at least two [five] years; and
(4) the municipality has executed with the other
taxing units that are parties to the tax suit an interlocal
agreement that enables those units to agree to participate in the
program while retaining the right to withhold consent to the sale of
specific properties to the land bank.
(j) Notwithstanding any other law, public property may be
conveyed to a land bank without providing prior public notification
with the consent of each governmental entity holding an interest in
the property.
(k) Notwithstanding any other provisions in this section or
any other law, a land bank may acquire property through voluntary
donations or transfers from private owners.
SECTION 6. Chapter 379E, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 379E.0081 to read as follows:
Sec. 379E.0081. ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY BY
LAND BANK. (a) A land bank shall hold in its own name all property
conveyed to the land bank. The property must be held for the
benefit of any governmental entity establishing or approving the
land bank for the purposes of this chapter.
(b) A land bank may, at the time the land bank sells or
otherwise disposes of property, extinguish all delinquent property
taxes owed on the property and all other nontax liens on the
property if all affected taxing units enter into an interlocal
agreement for that purpose.
(c) A land bank:
(1) shall inventory and appraise all property held by
the land bank, with the appraisal value to be determined by the
local county tax appraisal district and the inventory to be
maintained as a public record;
(2) on the basis of suitability for use, shall
organize and classify all property held by the land bank; and
(3) may manage, maintain, protect, rent, lease,
repair, insure, alter, sell, trade, exchange, or otherwise dispose
of any property held by the land bank if the disposition complies
with any applicable law or agreement.
(d) A land bank may determine the sale price of a property to
be sold by the land bank. The proceeds, if any, from the sale of
property by a land bank must be:
(1) used in furtherance of land bank operations;
(2) used for the recovery of land bank expenses; and
(3) distributed pursuant to a resolution of the
governing body of the municipality.
(e) A land bank may receive, from the date of the actual sale
and for a period to be determined by agreement, a percentage of the
property tax revenues of a property sold by the land bank if the
affected taxing units agree to assign a portion of that revenue to
the land bank.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.