By: Anderson of Dallas H.B. No. 2404
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain security devices for residential tenancies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 92.151(2), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(2) "Door viewer" means a permanently installed device
in or immediately adjacent to an exterior door that allows a person
inside the dwelling to view a person outside the door. The device
must be:
(A) a clear glass pane or one-way mirror; or
(B) a peephole in an exterior door having a
barrel with a one-way lens of glass or other substance providing an
angle view of not less than 160 degrees.
SECTION 2. Section 92.153(a), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), (e), (f), (g),
and (h) and without necessity of request by the tenant, a dwelling
must be equipped with:
(1) a window latch on each exterior window of the
dwelling;
(2) a doorknob lock or keyed dead bolt on each exterior
door;
(3) a sliding door pin lock on each exterior sliding
glass door of the dwelling;
(4) a sliding door handle latch or a sliding door
security bar on each exterior sliding glass door of the dwelling;
[and]
(5) a keyless bolting device [and a door viewer] on
each exterior door of the dwelling; and
(6) a door viewer in or immediately adjacent to each
exterior door of the dwelling.
SECTION 3. Section 92.156, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 92.156. REKEYING OR CHANGE OF SECURITY DEVICES. (a)
Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (e), [A] a security
device operated by a key, card, or combination shall be rekeyed by
the landlord at the landlord's expense not later than the seventh
day after each tenant turnover date.
(b) A landlord shall perform additional rekeying or change a
security device at the tenant's expense if requested by the tenant.
A tenant may make an unlimited number of requests under this
subsection.
(c) The expense of rekeying security devices for purposes of
the use or change of the landlord's master key must be paid by the
landlord.
(d) This section does not apply to locks on closet doors or
other interior doors.
(e) In the event a tenant breaches a written lease, a
landlord may deduct reasonable costs to rekey certain security
devices as required by this section, from the tenant's security
deposit, only if a written lease authorizes the landlord to do so in
underlined or boldface print.
SECTION 4. Section 92.157(a), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) At a tenant's request made at any time, a landlord, at
the tenant's expense, shall install:
(1) a keyed dead bolt on an exterior door if the door
has:
(A) a doorknob lock but not a keyed dead bolt; or
(B) a keyless bolting device but not a keyed dead
bolt or doorknob lock; and
(2) a sliding door [pin lock] handle latch or sliding
door security bar if the door is an exterior sliding glass door
without a sliding door [pin lock] handle latch or sliding door
security bar.
SECTION 5. Section 92.1641, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 92.1641. LANDLORD'S DEFENSES RELATING TO INSTALLING OR
REKEYING CERTAIN SECURITY DEVICES. The landlord has a defense to
liability under Section 92.164 if:
(1) the tenant has not fully paid all rent then due
from the tenant on the date the tenant gives a request under
Subsection [(a)] (c) of Section 92.157 or the notice required by
Section 92.164; or
(2) on the date the tenant terminates the lease or
files suit the tenant has not fully paid costs requested by the
landlord and authorized by Section 92.162.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.