84R9938 LEH-F
By: Button H.B. No. 1853
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the removal of a tenant's personal property after a writ
of possession has been issued in an eviction suit.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 24.0061, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(d) The writ of possession shall order the officer executing
the writ to:
(1) post a written warning of at least 8-1/2 by 11
inches on the exterior of the front door of the rental unit
notifying the tenant that the writ has been issued and that the writ
will be executed on or after a specific date and time stated in the
warning not sooner than 24 hours after the warning is posted; and
(2) when the writ is executed:
(A) deliver possession of the premises to the
landlord;
(B) instruct the tenant and all persons claiming
under the tenant to leave the premises immediately, and, if the
persons fail to comply, physically remove them;
(C) instruct the tenant to remove or to allow the
landlord, the landlord's representatives, or other persons acting
under the officer's supervision to remove all personal property
from the rental unit other than personal property claimed to be
owned by the landlord; and
(D) place, or have an authorized person place,
the removed personal property outside the rental unit at a nearby
location, but not blocking a public sidewalk, passageway, or street
and not while it is raining, sleeting, or snowing, except as
provided by Subsection (d-1).
(d-1) A municipality may provide, without charge to the
owner of personal property removed from a rental unit under
Subsection (d), a portable, closed container into which the removed
personal property shall be placed by the officer executing the writ
or by the authorized person. The municipality may remove the
container from the location near the rental unit and dispose of the
contents by any lawful means if the owner of the removed personal
property does not recover the property from the container within a
reasonable time after the time the property is placed in the
container.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.