85R18026 GRM-F
By: Murphy H.B. No. 1964
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1964:
By: Larson C.S.H.B. No. 1964
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority and liability of owners and managers of
apartment houses, manufactured home rental communities,
condominiums, and multiple use facilities in charging tenants for
submetered and nonsubmetered master metered water and wastewater
services.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13.501, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subdivisions (1-a) and (9) and amending Subdivision (5) to read as
follows:
(1-a) "Condominium manager" or "manager of a
condominium" means a condominium unit owners' association
organized under Section 82.101, Property Code, or an incorporated
or unincorporated entity comprising the council of owners under
Chapter 81, Property Code.
(5) "Owner" means the legal titleholder of an
apartment house, manufactured home rental community, or multiple
use facility and any individual, firm, or corporation expressly
identified in a lease agreement as [that purports to be] the
landlord of tenants in the apartment house, manufactured home
rental community, or multiple use facility. The term does not
include the manager of an apartment home unless the manager is
expressly identified as the landlord in the lease agreement.
(9) "Utility costs" or "utility service costs" means
any amount charged to the owner by a retail public utility for water
or wastewater service.
SECTION 2. Section 13.503, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) This section does not limit the authority of an owner,
operator, or manager of an apartment house, manufactured home
rental community, or multiple use facility to charge, bill for, or
collect rent, an assessment, an administrative fee, a fee relating
to the upkeep or management of chilled water, boiler, heating,
ventilation, air conditioning, or other building system, or any
other amount that is unrelated to utility costs.
SECTION 3. Section 13.5031, Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 13.5031. NONSUBMETERING RULES. (a) Notwithstanding
any other law, the utility commission shall adopt rules and
standards governing billing systems or methods used by manufactured
home rental community owners, apartment house owners, condominium
managers, or owners of other multiple use facilities for prorating
or allocating among tenants nonsubmetered master metered utility
service costs. In addition to other appropriate safeguards for the
tenant, those rules shall require that:
(1) the rental agreement contain a clear written
description of the method of calculation of the allocation of
nonsubmetered master metered utilities for the manufactured home
rental community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
(2) the rental agreement contain a statement of the
average manufactured home, apartment, or multiple use facility unit
monthly bill for all units for any allocation of those utilities for
the previous calendar year;
(3) except as provided by this section, an owner or
condominium manager may not impose additional charges on a tenant
in excess of the actual charges imposed on the owner or condominium
manager for utility consumption by the manufactured home rental
community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
(4) the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
adequate records regarding the utility consumption of the
manufactured home rental community, apartment house, or multiple
use facility, the charges assessed by the retail public utility,
and the allocation of the utility costs to the tenants;
(5) the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
all necessary records concerning utility allocations, including
the retail public utility's bills, and shall make the records
available for inspection by the tenants during normal business
hours; and
(6) the owner or condominium manager may charge a
tenant a fee for late payment of an allocated water bill if the
amount of the fee does not exceed five percent of the bill paid
late.
(b) This section does not limit the authority of an owner,
operator, or manager of an apartment house, manufactured home
rental community, or multiple use facility to charge, bill for, or
collect rent, an assessment, an administrative fee, a fee relating
to the upkeep or management of chilled water, boiler, heating,
ventilation, air conditioning, or other building system, or any
other amount that is unrelated to utility costs.
SECTION 4. Section 13.505, Water Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 13.505. RESTITUTION [ENFORCEMENT]. (a) In this
section, "overcharge" means the amount, if any, a tenant is charged
for submetered or nonsubmetered master metered utility service to
the tenant's dwelling unit after a violation occurred relating to
the assessment of a portion of utility costs in excess of the amount
the tenant would have been charged under this subchapter.
(b) The utility commission has exclusive jurisdiction for
violations under this subchapter.
(c) If [In addition to the enforcement provisions contained
in Subchapter K, if] an apartment house owner, condominium manager,
manufactured home rental community owner, or other multiple use
facility owner violates a rule of the utility commission regarding
utility costs, the person claiming the violation may file a
complaint with the utility commission. If the utility commission
determines that the owner or condominium manager overcharged a
complaining tenant for water or wastewater service from the retail
public utility, the utility commission shall require the owner or
condominium manager, as applicable, to repay the complaining tenant
the amount overcharged.
(d) Nothing in this section limits or impairs the utility
commission's enforcement authority under Subchapter K
[submetering of utility service consumed exclusively within the
tenant's dwelling unit or multiple use facility unit or
nonsubmetered master metered utility costs, the tenant may recover
three times the amount of any overcharge, a civil penalty equal to
one month's rent, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs from
the owner or condominium manager. However, an owner of an apartment
house, manufactured home rental community, or other multiple use
facility or condominium manager is not liable for a civil penalty if
the owner or condominium manager proves the violation was a good
faith, unintentional mistake].
SECTION 5. Section 13.506, Water Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) There is a rebuttable presumption that an owner of an
apartment house or a multiple use facility or a manager of a
condominium that adopted an existing program to submeter or
allocate water from a previous owner or manager has not committed an
act giving rise to a cause of action under this section.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.