Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4771 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R26188 MZM-F
2	2	By: Bhojani, Rosenthal, Jones of Harris, H.B. No. 4771
3	3	Stucky, Lambert
4	4
5	5
6	6	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
7	7	AN ACT
8	8	relating to the creation of tenant legal services offices by local
9	9	governments to assist low-income residential tenants in eviction
10	10	cases and in cases involving discrimination based on the tenants'
11	11	disabilities.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Subtitle C, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
14	14	amended by adding Chapter 181 to read as follows:
15	15	CHAPTER 181. TENANT LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE
16	16	Sec. 181.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
17	17	(1) "Brief legal assistance" means individualized
18	18	legal assistance provided in a single consultation by a tenant
19	19	legal services office to a tenant.
20	20	(2) "Disability" has the meaning assigned by Section
21	21	301.003, Property Code.
22	22	(3) "Full legal representation" means ongoing legal
23	23	services provided by a tenant legal services office to a tenant,
24	24	including court filings and appearances and other legal advice,
25	25	advocacy, or assistance associated with a tenant's case.
26	26	(4) "Indigent" means having earnings that are not more
27	27	than 200 percent of the income standard established by applicable
28	28	federal poverty guidelines.
29	29	(5) "Local government" means a municipality or county
30	30	or any combination of municipalities or counties.
31	31	(6) "Low-income" means having earnings that are not
32	32	more than 400 percent of the income standard established by
33	33	applicable federal poverty guidelines.
34	34	(7) "Reasonable accommodation" is a change,
35	35	exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service
36	36	that may be necessary for a tenant with disabilities to have an
37	37	equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and
38	38	common use spaces.
39	39	(8) "Reasonable modification" means a reasonable
40	40	structural change made to existing premises that may be necessary
41	41	for a tenant with disabilities to have full enjoyment of a dwelling,
42	42	including public and common use spaces.
43	43	Sec. 181.002. TENANT LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE. (a) A local
44	44	government may create a tenant legal services office to provide
45	45	legal representation and services to tenants as provided by
46	46	Subsection (b).
47	47	(b) A tenant legal services office may provide:
48	48	(1) full legal representation to a tenant:
49	49	(A) in a residential eviction case if the tenant
50	50	is indigent; or
51	51	(B) in a case involving a violation of Section
52	52	301.025, Property Code, if the tenant is a low-income individual
53	53	with a disability; or
54	54	(2) brief legal assistance to a tenant in a
55	55	residential eviction case if the tenant is a low-income individual
56	56	who is not indigent.
57	57	(c) A local government may establish a department of the
58	58	local government or by contract may designate a nonprofit
59	59	corporation to serve as the tenant legal services office for the
60	60	local government.
61	61	(d) Any combination of municipalities or counties may agree
62	62	by entering into an interlocal contract under Chapter 791,
63	63	Government Code, to jointly implement or administer a tenant legal
64	64	services office under this chapter.
65	65	(e) A local government by ordinance, order, or interlocal
66	66	contract may adopt rules and procedures necessary to implement this
67	67	chapter.
68	68	Sec. 181.003. PROPOSALS BY NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS. (a)
69	69	Before contracting with a nonprofit corporation to serve as a
70	70	tenant legal services office, a local government shall solicit
71	71	proposals for the office.
72	72	(b) A local government shall require a written plan from a
73	73	nonprofit corporation proposing to serve as a tenant legal services
74	74	office.
75	75	(c) The written plan must include:
76	76	(1) a budget for the tenant legal services office,
77	77	including salaries;
78	78	(2) a description of each personnel position,
79	79	including the director of legal services position;
80	80	(3) the maximum allowable caseload for each attorney
81	81	employed by the office;
82	82	(4) provisions for personnel training;
83	83	(5) a description of anticipated overhead costs for
84	84	the office; and
85	85	(6) a policy to ensure that the director of legal
86	86	services and other attorneys employed by the office do not provide
87	87	representation to a tenant if doing so would create a conflict of
88	88	interest that has not been waived by the client.
89	89	(d) After considering each proposal submitted by a
90	90	nonprofit corporation to a local government under this section, the
91	91	local government shall select a proposal that reasonably
92	92	demonstrates that the proposed tenant legal services office will
93	93	provide adequate quality representation for tenants in disputes
94	94	described by Section 181.002(b).
95	95	(e) The total cost of a proposal may not be the sole
96	96	consideration in selecting the proposal.
97	97	Sec. 181.004. DIRECTOR OF LEGAL SERVICES. A tenant legal
98	98	services office must be directed by a director of legal services
99	99	who:
100	100	(1) is a member of the State Bar of Texas;
101	101	(2) has practiced law for at least three years; and
102	102	(3) has substantial experience in the practice of
103	103	landlord-tenant law.
104	104	Sec. 181.005. FUNDING. (a) A tenant legal services office
105	105	is entitled to receive funds for personnel costs and expenses
106	106	incurred in operating the office in amounts determined by the local
107	107	government and paid out of the appropriate local fund.
108	108	(b) This chapter does not authorize a local government to
109	109	disburse, administer, or otherwise allocate funds received by the
110	110	local government from the basic civil legal services account
111	111	established under Section 51.943, Government Code, to create or
112	112	operate a tenant legal services office.
113	113	Sec. 181.006. EMPLOYEES. (a) A tenant legal services
114	114	office may employ attorneys and other personnel necessary to
115	115	perform the duties of the office as specified by the local
116	116	government.
117	117	(b) The director of a tenant legal services office must
118	118	designate at least one employee of the office to assist tenants with
119	119	disabilities in obtaining compliance with laws that apply to
120	120	housing for tenants with disabilities.
121	121	Sec. 181.007. DENIAL OF REPRESENTATION. A tenant legal
122	122	services office may not represent a tenant if:
123	123	(1) a conflict of interest exists that has not been
124	124	waived by the client;
125	125	(2) the office has insufficient resources to provide
126	126	adequate representation for the tenant;
127	127	(3) the office is incapable of providing
128	128	representation for the tenant in accordance with the rules of
129	129	professional conduct; or
130	130	(4) the office shows other good cause for not
131	131	accepting the request for representation by the tenant.
132	132	Sec. 181.008. INVESTIGATION OF FINANCIAL CONDITION. A
133	133	tenant legal services office may investigate the financial
134	134	condition of a tenant who requests representation by the office.
135	135	Sec. 181.009. PUBLIC HEARING. (a) The director of a tenant
136	136	legal services office shall hold an annual public hearing to
137	137	receive recommendations about the office.
138	138	(b) Not later than the 30th day before the date of the
139	139	hearing, the director shall:
140	140	(1) provide notice of the hearing:
141	141	(A) to each interested party and official; and
142	142	(B) by publishing the notice in a newspaper of
143	143	general circulation in the local government;
144	144	(2) provide a copy of the notice to an appropriate
145	145	officer or employee of the local government who shall post the
146	146	notice:
147	147	(A) in each department or office of the local
148	148	government responsible for providing social services for the
149	149	residents of the local government; and
150	150	(B) if the local government maintains an Internet
151	151	website, on:
152	152	(i) the website of the local government;
153	153	and
154	154	(ii) if applicable, each webpage of the
155	155	website dedicated to a department or office described by Paragraph
156	156	(A); and
157	157	(3) provide a copy of the notice to an appropriate
158	158	officer or employee of each local court that has original
159	159	jurisdiction over eviction cases or cases regarding violations of
160	160	Section 301.025, Property Code, who shall post the notice in an
161	161	appropriate place at the court on behalf of the director.
162	162	(c) The director shall produce a transcript of the hearing
163	163	and post the transcript on the local government's Internet website
164	164	not later than the 30th day after the date of the hearing.
165	165	Sec. 181.010. REPORT. Not later than September 1 of each
166	166	even-numbered year, the director of a tenant legal services office
167	167	shall submit a report to the governing body of the local government
168	168	and post the report on the local government's Internet website that
169	169	contains the following information that relates to the office for
170	170	the preceding two years:
171	171	(1) the estimated number of tenants in the office's
172	172	jurisdiction that are eligible for legal services;
173	173	(2) the number of tenants that received legal
174	174	services, disaggregated by the following characteristics of the
175	175	tenants, if voluntarily disclosed by the tenant:
176	176	(A) household size;
177	177	(B) estimated length of tenancy;
178	178	(C) approximate household income;
179	179	(D) disability; and
180	180	(E) types of reasonable accommodations or
181	181	modifications needed;
182	182	(3) the types of legal services provided;
183	183	(4) the outcomes immediately following the provision
184	184	of full legal representation, as applicable and available,
185	185	including the number of:
186	186	(A) case dispositions in which:
187	187	(i) tenants remained in their residences;
188	188	(ii) tenants were evicted from their
189	189	residences;
190	190	(iii) tenants with disabilities remained in
191	191	their residences; and
192	192	(iv) tenants with disabilities were
193	193	displaced from their residences;
194	194	(B) case dispositions regarding reasonable
195	195	accommodations or modifications for tenants with disabilities
196	196	that:
197	197	(i) were approved, including the types of
198	198	accommodations or modifications that were approved; and
199	199	(ii) were disapproved, including the types
200	200	of accommodations or modifications that were disapproved; and
201	201	(C) cases in which the attorney was discharged or
202	202	withdrew;
203	203	(5) the expenditures for the office; and
204	204	(6) any other information required by the local
205	205	government.
206	206	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
207	207	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
208	208	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
209	209	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
210	210	Act takes effect September 1, 2023.