By: Hall S.B. No. 1995
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the unauthorized entry, occupancy, sale, rental, lease,
advertisement for sale, rental, or lease, or conveyance of real
property, including the removal of certain unauthorized occupants
of a dwelling; creating criminal offenses; increasing a criminal
penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 28.03(b), Penal Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) Except as provided by Subsections (f) and (h), an
offense under this section is:
(1) a Class C misdemeanor if:
(A) the amount of pecuniary loss is less than
$100; or
(B) except as provided in Subdivision (3)(A) or
(3)(B), it causes substantial inconvenience to others;
(2) a Class B misdemeanor if the amount of pecuniary
loss is $100 or more but less than $750;
(3) a Class A misdemeanor if:
(A) the amount of pecuniary loss is $750 or more
but less than $2,500; or
(B) the actor causes in whole or in part
impairment or interruption of any public water supply, or causes to
be diverted in whole, in part, or in any manner, including
installation or removal of any device for any such purpose, any
public water supply, regardless of the amount of the pecuniary
loss;
(4) a state jail felony if the amount of pecuniary loss
is:
(A) $2,500 or more but less than $30,000;
(B) except as provided in Subdivision (6)(B),
less than $2,500, if the property damaged or destroyed is a
habitation and if the damage or destruction is caused by a firearm
or explosive weapon;
(C) less than $2,500, if the property was a fence
used for the production or containment of:
(i) cattle, bison, horses, sheep, swine,
goats, exotic livestock, or exotic poultry; or
(ii) game animals as that term is defined by
Section 63.001, Parks and Wildlife Code;
(D) less than $30,000 and the actor:
(i) causes wholly or partly impairment or
interruption of property used for flood control purposes or a dam or
of public communications, public transportation, public gas
supply, or other public service; or
(ii) causes to be diverted wholly, partly,
or in any manner, including installation or removal of any device
for any such purpose, any public communications or public gas
supply; or
(E) less than $30,000, if the property is a motor
vehicle that is damaged, destroyed, or tampered with during the
removal or attempted removal of a catalytic converter from the
motor vehicle;
(5) a felony of the third degree if:
(A) the amount of the pecuniary loss is $30,000
or more but less than $150,000;
(B) the actor, by discharging a firearm or other
weapon or by any other means, causes the death of one or more head of
cattle or bison or one or more horses;
(C) the actor causes wholly or partly impairment
or interruption of access to an automated teller machine,
regardless of the amount of the pecuniary loss; or
(D) the amount of pecuniary loss is less than
$150,000 and the actor:
(i) causes wholly or partly impairment or
interruption of property used for public power supply; or
(ii) causes to be diverted wholly, partly,
or in any manner, including installation or removal of any device
for any such purpose, any public power supply;
(6) a felony of the second degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss is:
(A) $150,000 or more but less than $300,000; or
(B) $1,000 or more but less than $300,000, if:
(i) the property damaged or destroyed is a
habitation; and
(ii) it is shown on the trial of the offense
that the actor committed the offense in the course of committing an
offense under Section 30.05; or
(7) a felony of the first degree if the amount of
pecuniary loss is $300,000 or more.
SECTION 2. Section 30.05(b)(2), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(2) "Notice" means:
(A) oral or written communication by the owner or
someone with apparent authority to act for the owner;
(B) fencing or other enclosure obviously
designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock;
(C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at
the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the
attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden;
(D) the placement of identifying purple paint
marks on trees or posts on the property, provided that the marks
are:
(i) vertical lines of not less than eight
inches in length and not less than one inch in width;
(ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark
is not less than three feet from the ground or more than five feet
from the ground; and
(iii) placed at locations that are readily
visible to any person approaching the property and no more than:
(a) 100 feet apart on forest land; or
(b) 1,000 feet apart on land other
than forest land; [or]
(E) the visible presence on the property of a
crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the
process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time
of entry; or
(F) oral or written communication by a sheriff or
constable while serving a notice to immediately vacate under
Section 24B.003, Property Code.
SECTION 3. Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Penal Code, is amended
by adding Sections 32.56 and 32.57 to read as follows:
Sec. 32.56. FALSE, FRAUDULENT, OR FICTITIOUS DOCUMENT
CONVEYING REAL PROPERTY INTEREST. (a) A person commits an offense
if, with intent to enter or remain on real property, the person
knowingly presents to another person a false, fraudulent, or
fictitious document purporting to be a lease agreement, deed, or
other instrument conveying real property or an interest in real
property.
(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
(c) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor
may be prosecuted under this section or the other law, but not both.
Sec. 32.57. FRAUDULENT SALE, RENTAL, OR LEASE OF
RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY. (a) A person commits an offense if the
person knowingly:
(1) lists or advertises for sale, rent, or lease
residential real property while knowing that the person offering to
sell, rent, or lease the property does not have legal title or
authority to sell, rent, or lease the property; or
(2) sells, rents, or leases to another person
residential real property to which the person does not have legal
title or authority to sell, rent, or lease.
(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first
degree.
(c) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this
section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor
may be prosecuted under this section or the other law, but not both.
SECTION 4. Title 4, Property Code, is amended by adding
Chapter 24B to read as follows:
CHAPTER 24B. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN UNAUTHORIZED OCCUPANTS OF REAL
PROPERTY
Sec. 24B.001. RIGHT TO REQUEST REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED
OCCUPANT OF DWELLING BY SHERIFF OR CONSTABLE. Notwithstanding any
other law, an owner of residential real property or the owner's
agent may request that the sheriff or constable of the county in
which the property is located immediately remove a person who
unlawfully entered and is occupying a dwelling on the property
without the owner's consent if:
(1) the property:
(A) was not open to the public when the person
entered the property; and
(B) is not the subject of pending litigation
between the owner and the person;
(2) the owner or the owner's agent has directed the
person to leave the property and the person has not done so; and
(3) the person is not:
(A) a current or former tenant of the owner under
an oral or written lease; or
(B) an immediate family member of the owner.
Sec. 24B.002. COMPLAINT TO REQUEST REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED
OCCUPANT. (a) A property owner or the owner's agent may request
the removal of a person under Section 24B.001 by submitting to the
sheriff or constable of the county in which the property is located
a complaint in substantially the following form that complies with
Subsection (b):
COMPLAINT TO REMOVE PERSON OCCUPYING DWELLING
WITHOUT OWNER'S CONSENT
I, _____ (name of complainant), declare under the penalty of
perjury that:
(Complete each item as applicable and initial each item.)
___ 1. I am the owner of residential real property
located at ______(property address) or the agent of the owner.
___ 2. A person unlawfully entered and occupies a
dwelling on the property without the owner's consent.
___ 3. The property was not open to the public when the
person entered the property.
___ 4. The property is not the subject of pending
litigation between the owner and the person.
___ 5. The owner or the owner's agent has directed the
person to leave the property and the person has not done so.
___ 6. The person is not a current or former tenant of
the owner under an oral or written lease and any lease produced by
the person is fraudulent.
___ 7. The person is not an owner or co-owner of the
property and any title to the property that lists the person as an
owner or co-owner is fraudulent.
___ 8. The person is not an immediate family member of
the owner.
___ 9. I understand that a person removed from the
property as a result of this complaint may bring an action against
me for any false statement made in the complaint or for wrongfully
submitting the complaint.
___ 10. I understand that I may be held liable for
actual damages, exemplary damages, court costs, and reasonable
attorney's fees in an action described by Item 9.
___ 11. I am requesting that the (sheriff) (constable)
immediately remove each person occupying the dwelling without the
owner's consent.
___ 12. A copy of my valid government-issued
identification is attached and, if I am the owner's agent, a
document evidencing my authority to act on the property owner's
behalf is attached.
I HAVE READ EACH STATEMENT IN THIS COMPLAINT AND CONFIRM EACH
STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. I UNDERSTAND THAT A STATEMENT
MADE IN THIS COMPLAINT IS MADE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY,
PUNISHABLE UNDER SECTION 37.02, PENAL CODE.
____________(signature of complainant)
(b) A complaint submitted under this section must be made
under oath or made as an unsworn declaration under Section 132.001,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
(c) All information submitted as part of a complaint under
this section shall be presumed valid and accurate.
Sec. 24B.003. VERIFICATION OF COMPLAINT; SERVICE OF NOTICE
TO IMMEDIATELY VACATE. (a) A sheriff or constable who receives a
complaint under Section 24B.002 shall verify that the complainant
is:
(1) the record owner of the property that is the
subject of the complaint or the owner's agent; and
(2) otherwise entitled to the relief sought in the
complaint.
(b) During the verification of a complaint under Subsection
(a), the person occupying the dwelling has the burden to prove the
owner or the owner's agent is not entitled to the relief sought in
the complaint.
(c) On verifying the complaint under Subsection (a), the
sheriff or constable shall without delay:
(1) serve notice to immediately vacate on the person
occupying the dwelling without the owner's consent; and
(2) put the owner in possession of the dwelling.
(d) Service of notice to immediately vacate may be
accomplished by:
(1) hand delivery to an occupant of the dwelling; or
(2) affixing the notice to the front door or entrance
of the dwelling.
(e) A sheriff or constable serving notice to immediately
vacate under this section shall:
(1) attempt to verify the identity of each person
occupying the dwelling and note each identity on the return of
service; and
(2) use all available resources to determine whether
each person occupying the dwelling is lawfully present in the
United States and report to appropriate federal authorities the
identity of any person not lawfully present.
(f) A sheriff or constable serving notice to immediately
vacate under this section may arrest any person found in the
dwelling for an outstanding warrant or for trespass or any other
offense for which probable cause exists.
(g) A sheriff or constable serving notice to immediately
vacate under this section shall inform each person vacating the
property that the person will be trespassing if the person returns
to the property after vacating.
(h) After the service of notice to immediately vacate by the
sheriff or constable under Subsection (c), the property owner or
owner's agent may request that the sheriff or constable remain on
the property to keep the peace while the owner or owner's agent:
(1) changes any locks; and
(2) removes any personal property of an occupant from
the dwelling and places the personal property at or near the
property line of the owner's property.
Sec. 24B.004. LIABILITY. (a) A sheriff or constable is not
liable to an unauthorized occupant or any other person for loss or
destruction of or damage to property resulting from the removal of a
person or property under this chapter.
(b) Subject to Section 24B.005, a property owner or the
owner's agent is not liable to any person for loss or destruction of
or damage to personal property resulting from the removal of the
personal property from the owner's property under this chapter.
Sec. 24B.005. ACTION FOR WRONGFUL REMOVAL. (a) A person
who is wrongfully removed, or whose personal property is wrongfully
removed, from a dwelling or other real property under this chapter
may bring an action under this section to:
(1) recover possession of the real property; and
(2) recover from the person who requested the wrongful
removal:
(A) actual damages;
(B) exemplary damages equal to three times the
fair market rent of the dwelling;
(C) court costs; and
(D) reasonable attorney's fees.
(b) The court shall set an action brought under this section
for hearing at the earliest practicable date to expedite the
action.
Sec. 24B.006. NONEXCLUSIVITY. This chapter does not limit:
(1) the rights of a property owner; or
(2) the authority of a law enforcement officer to
arrest an unauthorized occupant of a dwelling for trespassing,
vandalism, theft, or another offense.
SECTION 5. Section 28.03, Penal Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to an offense committed on or after the effective
date of this Act. An offense committed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the offense was
committed, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose. For purposes of this section, an offense was committed
before the effective date of this Act if any element of the offense
occurred before that date.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect July 1, 2025, if this Act
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 to take effect on
that date, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.