By: Birdwell S.B. No. 1264
(In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2021; March 18, 2021, read
first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources &
Economic Development; April 21, 2021, reported favorably by the
following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 21, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the applicability of the Texas Fair Housing Act to
certain sales and rentals.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 301.041, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 301.041. CERTAIN SALES AND RENTALS EXEMPTED. (a)
Sections 301.021, 301.023, 301.024, and 301.025 do [Subchapter B
does] not apply to:
(1) the sale or rental of a single-family house sold or
rented by the owner if:
(A) the owner does not:
(i) own more than three single-family
houses at any one time; or
(ii) own any interest in, nor is there owned
or reserved on the person's behalf, under any express or voluntary
agreement, title to or any right to any part of the proceeds from
the sale or rental of more than three single-family houses at any
one time; and
(B) the house is sold or rented without:
(i) the use of the sales or rental
facilities or services of a broker, agent, or salesperson licensed
under Chapter 1101, Occupations Code, or of an employee or agent of
a licensed broker, agent, or salesperson, or the facilities or
services of any person in the business of selling or renting a
dwelling [the owner of a dwelling designed or intended for
occupancy by five or more families]; or
(ii) the publication, posting, or mailing
of a notice, statement, or advertisement prohibited by Section
301.022; or
(2) the sale or rental of the rooms or units in a
dwelling containing living quarters occupied by or intended to be
occupied by not more than four families living independently of
each other, if the owner maintains and occupies one of the living
quarters as the owner's residence.
(b) The exemption in Subsection (a)(1) applies only to one
sale [or rental] in a 24-month period if the owner was not the most
recent resident of the house at the time of the sale [or rental].
(c) Subsection (a) does not prohibit the use of attorneys,
escrow agents, abstractors, title companies, and other
professional assistants necessary to transfer title.
(d) For purposes of Subsection (a), a person is in the
business of selling or renting a dwelling if:
(1) the person has, within the preceding year,
participated as the seller or landlord in three or more
transactions involving the sale or rental of a dwelling or any
interest in a dwelling;
(2) the person has, within the preceding year,
participated in two or more transactions, other than transactions
involving the person's own dwelling, as an agent providing sales or
rental facilities or services involving the sale or rental of a
dwelling or any interest in a dwelling; or
(3) the person is the owner of a dwelling designed or
intended for occupancy by, or that is occupied by, five or more
families.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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