Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1964 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R18026 GRM-F
2	2	By: Murphy H.B. No. 1964
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1964:
4	4	By: Larson C.S.H.B. No. 1964
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to the authority and liability of owners and managers of
10	10	apartment houses, manufactured home rental communities,
11	11	condominiums, and multiple use facilities in charging tenants for
12	12	submetered and nonsubmetered master metered water and wastewater
13	13	services.
14	14	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
15	15	SECTION 1. Section 13.501, Water Code, is amended by adding
16	16	Subdivisions (1-a) and (9) and amending Subdivision (5) to read as
17	17	follows:
18	18	(1-a) "Condominium manager" or "manager of a
19	19	condominium" means a condominium unit owners' association
20	20	organized under Section 82.101, Property Code, or an incorporated
21	21	or unincorporated entity comprising the council of owners under
22	22	Chapter 81, Property Code.
23	23	(5) "Owner" means the legal titleholder of an
24	24	apartment house, manufactured home rental community, or multiple
25	25	use facility and any individual, firm, or corporation expressly
26	26	identified in a lease agreement as [that purports to be] the
27	27	landlord of tenants in the apartment house, manufactured home
28	28	rental community, or multiple use facility. The term does not
29	29	include the manager of an apartment home unless the manager is
30	30	expressly identified as the landlord in the lease agreement.
31	31	(9) "Utility costs" or "utility service costs" means
32	32	any amount charged to the owner by a retail public utility for water
33	33	or wastewater service.
34	34	SECTION 2. Section 13.503, Water Code, is amended by adding
35	35	Subsection (f) to read as follows:
36	36	(f) This section does not limit the authority of an owner,
37	37	operator, or manager of an apartment house, manufactured home
38	38	rental community, or multiple use facility to charge, bill for, or
39	39	collect rent, an assessment, an administrative fee, a fee relating
40	40	to the upkeep or management of chilled water, boiler, heating,
41	41	ventilation, air conditioning, or other building system, or any
42	42	other amount that is unrelated to utility costs.
43	43	SECTION 3. Section 13.5031, Water Code, is amended to read
44	44	as follows:
45	45	Sec. 13.5031. NONSUBMETERING RULES. (a) Notwithstanding
46	46	any other law, the utility commission shall adopt rules and
47	47	standards governing billing systems or methods used by manufactured
48	48	home rental community owners, apartment house owners, condominium
49	49	managers, or owners of other multiple use facilities for prorating
50	50	or allocating among tenants nonsubmetered master metered utility
51	51	service costs. In addition to other appropriate safeguards for the
52	52	tenant, those rules shall require that:
53	53	(1) the rental agreement contain a clear written
54	54	description of the method of calculation of the allocation of
55	55	nonsubmetered master metered utilities for the manufactured home
56	56	rental community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
57	57	(2) the rental agreement contain a statement of the
58	58	average manufactured home, apartment, or multiple use facility unit
59	59	monthly bill for all units for any allocation of those utilities for
60	60	the previous calendar year;
61	61	(3) except as provided by this section, an owner or
62	62	condominium manager may not impose additional charges on a tenant
63	63	in excess of the actual charges imposed on the owner or condominium
64	64	manager for utility consumption by the manufactured home rental
65	65	community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
66	66	(4) the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
67	67	adequate records regarding the utility consumption of the
68	68	manufactured home rental community, apartment house, or multiple
69	69	use facility, the charges assessed by the retail public utility,
70	70	and the allocation of the utility costs to the tenants;
71	71	(5) the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
72	72	all necessary records concerning utility allocations, including
73	73	the retail public utility's bills, and shall make the records
74	74	available for inspection by the tenants during normal business
75	75	hours; and
76	76	(6) the owner or condominium manager may charge a
77	77	tenant a fee for late payment of an allocated water bill if the
78	78	amount of the fee does not exceed five percent of the bill paid
79	79	late.
80	80	(b) This section does not limit the authority of an owner,
81	81	operator, or manager of an apartment house, manufactured home
82	82	rental community, or multiple use facility to charge, bill for, or
83	83	collect rent, an assessment, an administrative fee, a fee relating
84	84	to the upkeep or management of chilled water, boiler, heating,
85	85	ventilation, air conditioning, or other building system, or any
86	86	other amount that is unrelated to utility costs.
87	87	SECTION 4. Section 13.505, Water Code, is amended to read as
88	88	follows:
89	89	Sec. 13.505. RESTITUTION [ENFORCEMENT]. (a) In this
90	90	section, "overcharge" means the amount, if any, a tenant is charged
91	91	for submetered or nonsubmetered master metered utility service to
92	92	the tenant's dwelling unit after a violation occurred relating to
93	93	the assessment of a portion of utility costs in excess of the amount
94	94	the tenant would have been charged under this subchapter.
95	95	(b) The utility commission has exclusive jurisdiction for
96	96	violations under this subchapter.
97	97	(c) If [In addition to the enforcement provisions contained
98	98	in Subchapter K, if] an apartment house owner, condominium manager,
99	99	manufactured home rental community owner, or other multiple use
100	100	facility owner violates a rule of the utility commission regarding
101	101	utility costs, the person claiming the violation may file a
102	102	complaint with the utility commission. If the utility commission
103	103	determines that the owner or condominium manager overcharged a
104	104	complaining tenant for water or wastewater service from the retail
105	105	public utility, the utility commission shall require the owner or
106	106	condominium manager, as applicable, to repay the complaining tenant
107	107	the amount overcharged.
108	108	(d) Nothing in this section limits or impairs the utility
109	109	commission's enforcement authority under Subchapter K
110	110	[submetering of utility service consumed exclusively within the
111	111	tenant's dwelling unit or multiple use facility unit or
112	112	nonsubmetered master metered utility costs, the tenant may recover
113	113	three times the amount of any overcharge, a civil penalty equal to
114	114	one month's rent, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs from
115	115	the owner or condominium manager. However, an owner of an apartment
116	116	house, manufactured home rental community, or other multiple use
117	117	facility or condominium manager is not liable for a civil penalty if
118	118	the owner or condominium manager proves the violation was a good
119	119	faith, unintentional mistake].
120	120	SECTION 5. Section 13.506, Water Code, is amended by adding
121	121	Subsection (d) to read as follows:
122	122	(d) There is a rebuttable presumption that an owner of an
123	123	apartment house or a multiple use facility or a manager of a
124	124	condominium that adopted an existing program to submeter or
125	125	allocate water from a previous owner or manager has not committed an
126	126	act giving rise to a cause of action under this section.
127	127	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
128	128	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
129	129	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
130	130	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
131	131	Act takes effect September 1, 2017.