By: Bhojani H.B. No. 4771
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of tenant legal services offices by local
governments to assist low-income residential tenants in eviction
cases and in cases involving discrimination based on the tenants'
disabilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 181 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 181. TENANT LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE
Sec. 181.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Brief legal assistance" means individualized
legal assistance provided in a single consultation by an office to a
tenant.
(2) "Disability" has the meaning assigned by Section
301.003, Property Code.
(3) "Full legal representation" means ongoing legal
services provided by an office to a tenant, including court filings
and appearances and other legal advice, advocacy, or assistance
associated with a tenant's case.
(4) "Indigent" means having earnings that are not more
than 200 percent of the income standard established by applicable
federal poverty guidelines.
(5) "Local government" means a municipality or county
or any combination of municipalities or counties.
(6) "Low-income" means having earnings that are not
more than 400 percent of the income standard established by
applicable federal poverty guidelines.
(7) "Office" means a tenant legal services office
established under Section 181.002.
(8) "Reasonable accommodation" is a change,
exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service
that may be necessary for a tenant with disabilities to have an
equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and
common use spaces.
(9) "Reasonable modification" means a reasonable
structural change made to existing premises that may be necessary
for a tenant with disabilities to have full enjoyment of a dwelling,
including public and common use spaces.
Sec. 181.002. TENANT LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE. (a) A local
government may create a tenant legal services office to provide
legal representation and services to tenants as provided by
Subsection (b).
(b) An office may provide:
(1) full legal representation to a tenant:
(A) in a residential eviction case if the tenant
is indigent; or
(B) in a case involving a violation of Section
301.025, Property Code, if the tenant is a low-income individual
with a disability; or
(2) brief legal assistance to a tenant in a
residential eviction case if the tenant is a low-income individual
who is not indigent.
(c) The local government may establish a department of the
local government or by contract may designate a nonprofit
corporation to serve as the tenant legal services office for the
local government.
(d) Any combination of municipalities or counties may agree
by entering into an interlocal contract under Chapter 791,
Government Code, to jointly implement or administer a tenant legal
services office under this chapter.
(e) The local government by ordinance, order, or interlocal
contract may adopt the rules and procedures necessary to implement
this chapter.
Sec. 181.003. PROPOSALS BY NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS. (a)
Before contracting with a nonprofit corporation to serve as a
tenant legal services office, the local government shall solicit
proposals for the office.
(b) The local government shall require a written plan from a
nonprofit corporation proposing to serve as a tenant legal services
office.
(c) The written plan must include:
(1) a budget for the office, including salaries;
(2) a description of each personnel position,
including the director of legal services position;
(3) the maximum allowable caseload for each attorney
employed by the office;
(4) provisions for personnel training;
(5) a description of anticipated overhead costs for
the office; and
(6) a policy to ensure that the director of legal
services and other attorneys employed by the office do not provide
representation to a tenant if doing so would create a conflict of
interest that has not been waived by the client.
(d) After considering each proposal for the office
submitted by a nonprofit corporation, the local government shall
select a proposal that reasonably demonstrates that the office will
provide adequate quality representation for tenants in cases
described by Section 181.002(b).
(e) The total cost of the proposal may not be the sole
consideration in selecting a proposal.
Sec. 181.004. DIRECTOR OF LEGAL SERVICES. A tenant legal
services office must be directed by a director of legal services
who:
(1) is a member of the State Bar of Texas;
(2) has practiced law for at least three years; and
(3) has substantial experience in the practice of
landlord-tenant law.
Sec. 181.005. FUNDING. A tenant legal services office is
entitled to receive funds for personnel costs and expenses incurred
in operating the office in amounts determined by the local
government and paid out of the appropriate local fund.
Sec. 181.006. EMPLOYEES. (a) A tenant legal services
office may employ attorneys and other personnel necessary to
perform the duties of the office as specified by the local
government.
(b) The director of a tenant legal services office must
designate at least one employee of the office to assist tenants with
disabilities in obtaining compliance with laws that apply to
housing for tenants with disabilities.
Sec. 181.007. DENIAL OF REPRESENTATION. A tenant legal
services office may not represent a tenant if:
(1) a conflict of interest exists that has not been
waived by the client;
(2) the office has insufficient resources to provide
adequate representation for the tenant;
(3) the office is incapable of providing
representation for the tenant in accordance with the rules of
professional conduct; or
(4) the office shows other good cause for not
accepting the request for representation by a tenant.
Sec. 181.008. INVESTIGATION OF FINANCIAL CONDITION. A
tenant legal services office may investigate the financial
condition of a tenant who requests representation by the office.
Sec. 181.009. PUBLIC HEARING. (a) The director of a tenant
legal services office shall hold an annual public hearing to
receive recommendations about the office.
(b) Not later than the 30th day before the date of the
hearing, the director shall provide notice of the hearing to
interested parties and officials and by posting the notice in:
(1) public offices of the local government that
provide social services;
(2) website of the public offices of the local
government that provide social services;
(3) local courts that have original jurisdiction over
eviction cases or cases regarding violations of Section 301.025,
Property Code; and
(4) a local newspaper or on the local government's
Internet website.
(c) The director shall produce a transcript of the hearing
and post the transcript on the local government's Internet website
not later than the 30th day after the date of the hearing.
Sec. 181.010. REPORT. Not later than September 1 of each
year, the director of a tenant legal services office shall submit a
report to the governing body of the local government and post the
report on the local government's Internet website that contains the
following information that relates to the office for the preceding
year:
(1) the estimated number of tenants in the office's
jurisdiction that are eligible for legal services;
(2) the number of tenants that received legal
services, disaggregated by the following characteristics of the
tenants:
(A) zip code of residence;
(B) age of head of household;
(C) household size;
(D) estimated length of tenancy;
(E) approximate household income;
(F) ongoing public assistance received at the
time the legal services were initiated;
(G) rent-regulated housing;
(H) public housing;
(I) disability; and
(J) types of reasonable accommodations or
modifications needed;
(3) the types of legal services provided;
(4) the outcomes immediately following the provision
of full legal representation, as applicable and available,
including the number of:
(A) case dispositions in which:
(i) tenants remained in their residences;
(ii) tenants were evicted from their
residences;
(iii) tenants with disabilities remained in
their residences; and
(iv) tenants with disabilities were
displaced from their residences;
(B) case dispositions regarding reasonable
accommodations or modifications for tenants with disabilities
that:
(i) were approved, including the types of
accommodations or modifications that were approved; and
(ii) were disapproved, including the types
of accommodations or modifications that were disapproved; and
(C) cases in which the attorney was discharged or
withdrew;
(5) the expenditures for the office; and
(6) any other information required by the local
government.
SECTION 2. 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, 2023.