Texas 2015 84th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1853 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 04/09/2015

                    84R17683 LEH-F
 By: Button H.B. No. 1853
 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1853:
 By:  Villalba C.S.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
 landlord or 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.