87R10506 JAM-D
By: Rose H.B. No. 3479
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the prohibition of housing discrimination on the basis
of an individual's criminal history and to the enforcement of that
prohibition.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 2306.111, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
(j) The department by rule shall:
(1) adopt policies to ensure that each housing
development that receives financial assistance administered by the
department, including financial assistance from the proceeds of
bonds issued by the department, accepts as tenants individuals who
are protected under Section 301.0045, Property Code; and
(2) establish enforcement mechanisms with respect to
those housing developments that refuse to accept as tenants
individuals described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 2. Section 2306.358(d), Government Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(d) Subsection (c)(3)(C) does not prohibit an organization
from requiring a tenant applicant who receives public assistance to
meet the organization's standard criteria for occupancy, including
[such] criteria relating to [as] satisfactory creditworthiness and
[lack of] criminal history, to the extent permitted under Section
2306.111(j).
SECTION 3. Section 392.055, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) A housing authority shall adopt policies to ensure that
each housing project operated by the authority, including projects
owned or operated by a public facility corporation created by the
authority under Chapter 303, accepts as tenants individuals who are
protected under Section 301.0045, Property Code.
SECTION 4. Section 92.352, Property Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) A landlord who rejects an applicant must provide the
applicant a written statement detailing the reasons the applicant
was rejected.
(d) A landlord who rejects an applicant based on the
applicant's criminal history must provide the applicant with an
opportunity to present any mitigating information concerning the
criminal history.
SECTION 5. Subchapter A, Chapter 301, Property Code, is
amended by adding Section 301.0045 to read as follows:
Sec. 301.0045. CRIMINAL HISTORY. (a) Except as provided by
Subsection (b), a discriminatory act is committed because of a
person's criminal history if that act is committed with respect to
criminal history based solely on one or more final convictions that
each occurred more than three years before the date of the
applicable act.
(b) An act is not considered discriminatory for the purposes
of this section if the act is committed with respect to a person's
criminal history based on a final conviction of any of the
following:
(1) an offense requiring registration as a sex
offender under Chapter 62, Code of Criminal Procedure;
(2) an offense under Section 20.04, Penal Code,
regardless of whether the offense is a reportable conviction or
adjudication for purposes of Chapter 62, Code of Criminal
Procedure;
(3) an offense under Section 19.02, 19.03, 20A.02,
20A.03, 22.04, 22.041, 25.07, 25.072, or 42.072, Penal Code; or
(4) an offense involving family violence, as defined
by Section 71.004, Family Code.
SECTION 6. Sections 301.021(a) and (b), Property Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) A person may not refuse to sell or rent, after the making
of a bona fide offer, refuse to negotiate for the sale or rental of,
or in any other manner make unavailable or deny a dwelling to
another because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status,
[or] national origin, or criminal history.
(b) A person may not discriminate against another in the
terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling or
in providing services or facilities in connection with a sale or
rental of a dwelling because of race, color, religion, sex,
familial status, [or] national origin, or criminal history.
SECTION 7. Section 301.022, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.022. PUBLICATION. A person may not make, print, or
publish or effect the making, printing, or publishing of a notice,
statement, or advertisement that is about the sale or rental of a
dwelling and that indicates any preference, limitation, or
discrimination or the intention to make a preference, limitation,
or discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex,
disability, familial status, [or] national origin, or criminal
history.
SECTION 8. Section 301.023, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.023. INSPECTION. A person may not represent to
another because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial
status, [or] national origin, or criminal history that a dwelling
is not available for inspection for sale or rental when the dwelling
is available for inspection.
SECTION 9. Section 301.024, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.024. ENTRY INTO NEIGHBORHOOD. A person may not,
for profit, induce or attempt to induce another to sell or rent a
dwelling by representations regarding the entry or prospective
entry into a neighborhood of a person of a particular race, color,
religion, sex, disability, familial status, [or] national origin,
or criminal history.
SECTION 10. Section 301.026(a), Property Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person whose business includes engaging in
residential real estate related transactions may not discriminate
against another in making a real estate related transaction
available or in the terms or conditions of a real estate related
transaction because of race, color, religion, sex, disability,
familial status, [or] national origin, or criminal history.
SECTION 11. Section 301.027, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.027. BROKERAGE SERVICES. A person may not deny
another access to, or membership or participation in, a
multiple-listing service, real estate brokers' organization, or
other service, organization, or facility relating to the business
of selling or renting dwellings, or discriminate against a person
in the terms or conditions of access, membership, or participation
in such an organization, service, or facility because of race,
color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, [or] national
origin, or criminal history.
SECTION 12. Sections 301.042(a) and (c), Property Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) This chapter does not prohibit a religious
organization, association, or society or a nonprofit institution or
organization operated, supervised, or controlled by or in
conjunction with a religious organization, association, or society
from:
(1) limiting the sale, rental, or occupancy of
dwellings that it owns or operates for other than a commercial
purpose to persons of the same religion; or
(2) giving preference to persons of the same religion,
unless membership in the religion is restricted because of race,
color, [or] national origin, or criminal history.
(c) This chapter does not prohibit a person engaged in the
business of furnishing appraisals of real property from considering
in those appraisals factors other than race, color, religion, sex,
disability, familial status, [or] national origin, or criminal
history.
SECTION 13. Section 301.068, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.068. REFERRAL TO MUNICIPALITY. (a) Subject to
Subsection (b), the [The] commission may defer proceedings under
this chapter and refer a complaint to a municipality that has been
certified by the federal Department of Housing and Urban
Development as a substantially equivalent fair housing agency.
(b) The commission may not defer proceedings and refer a
complaint under Subsection (a) to a municipality in which the
alleged discrimination occurred if:
(1) the complaint alleges discrimination based on
criminal history; and
(2) the municipality does not have laws prohibiting
the alleged discrimination.
SECTION 14. Section 301.171(a), Property Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A person commits an offense if the person, without
regard to whether the person is acting under color of law, by force
or threat of force intentionally intimidates or interferes with a
person:
(1) because of the person's race, color, religion,
sex, disability, familial status, [or] national origin, or criminal
history and because the person is or has been selling, purchasing,
renting, financing, occupying, or contracting or negotiating for
the sale, purchase, rental, financing, or occupation of any
dwelling or applying for or participating in a service,
organization, or facility relating to the business of selling or
renting dwellings; or
(2) because the person is or has been or to intimidate
the person from:
(A) participating, without discrimination
because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status,
[or] national origin, or criminal history, in an activity, service,
organization, or facility described by Subdivision (1); [or]
(B) affording another person opportunity or
protection to so participate; or
(C) lawfully aiding or encouraging other persons
to participate, without discrimination because of race, color,
religion, sex, disability, familial status, [or] national origin,
or criminal history, in an activity, service, organization, or
facility described by Subdivision (1).
SECTION 15. Section 301.021(c), Property Code, is repealed.
SECTION 16. (a) The change in law made by this Act in adding
Section 2306.111(j), Government Code, applies only to an
application for financial assistance that is submitted to the Texas
Department of Housing and Community Affairs on or after January 1,
2022. An application for financial assistance that is submitted to
the department before January 1, 2022, is governed by the law in
effect when the application was submitted, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Not later than December 1, 2021, the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs shall adopt the rules required by
Section 2306.111(j), Government Code, as added by this Act.
SECTION 17. The change in law made by this Act to the
Property Code applies only to a complaint filed with the Texas
Workforce Commission civil rights division on or after the
effective date of this Act. A complaint filed before that date is
governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective
date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 18. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.