From the 86th: Landlord Tenant and MH Community Bills
From a previous post early on in our From the 86th series, we discussed the increased volume of landlord tenant related bills filed. We tracked 50 bills this session that could have some impact on the landlord/tenant space. These bills ranged from increased flood zone notices, to late fees, to towing, to deceased tenant’s property.
When the dust finally settled there were just seven bills that passed. Translation, there was a lot, and I mean a lot, of bill killing in this space this session. And for the most part I think those in the landlord business will be thankful, so few bills survived the legislative meatgrinder.
The following are the seven bills that did pass:
HB 69 - Relating to the right to vacate and avoid liability under a residential lease after a tenant's death.
This bill allows a representative of the tenant's estate to terminate the tenant's lease after providing a 30-day notice, vacating the property, and signing an inventory of the property removed. A landlord must provide a copy of the lease to the deceased tenant’s representative after receiving the notice of the tenant’s death. The changes do not affect any obligations the tenant had to the landlord prior to death such as unpaid rent.
There are no changes required to a lease contract as a result of this bill.
This bill was allowed to become law without the governor’s signature and is effective on January 1, 2020.
HB 302 - Relating to the carrying, storage, or possession of a firearm or firearm ammunition by certain persons on certain residential or commercial property.
H.B. 302 provides that tenants of a residential unit (apartment, condominium, and manufactured housing) have the right to lawfully possess firearms and ammunition in those locations, and to transport them directly en route between their residential units and their vehicles.
The statutory changes to Chapter 94, Property Code specific for Manufactured Home Communities are as follows:
“Sec. 94.257. POSSESSION OF FIREARM OR FIREARM AMMUNITION ON LEASED PREMISES. Unless possession of a firearm or firearm ammunition on a landlord's property is prohibited by state or federal law, a landlord may not prohibit a tenant or a tenant's guest from lawfully possessing, carrying, transporting, or storing a firearm, any part of a firearm, or firearm ammunition:
(1) in the tenant's manufactured home;
(2) in a vehicle located in a parking area provided for tenants or tenants' guests by the landlord of the leased premises; or
(3) in other locations controlled by the landlord as necessary to:
(A) enter or exit the tenant's manufactured home;
(B) enter or exit the leased premises; or
(C) enter or exit a vehicle on the leased premises or located in a parking area provided by the landlord for tenants or tenants' guests.”
This law change may require modification of existing lease contracts depending on if the lease contracts or the community rules had any prohibitions on tenants possessing firearms. Additionally, a recommended best practice would be to modify future lease contracts to comport with the provisions of the new law change.
This bill was signed into law by Gov. Abbott on May 16 and becomes effective on September 1, 2019.
HB 1002 - Relating to the term of a parking permit issued to a residential tenant by a landlord.
This bill only addresses the issue of a tenant parking permit and premise leasing terms being of different durations. The bill changes the law to require that a parking permit must be issued for the same duration as the lease terms, and the permit cannot be terminated until the tenant’s lease term also ends.
There are no changes required to a lease contract as a result of this bill, unless existing parking permits do not conform to the new duration requirements established in HB 1002.
This bill was signed into law on June 4 and is effective on January 1, 2020.
HB 2714 - Relating to the registration of liquefied petroleum gas container manufacturers and the regulation of liquefied petroleum gas licensees.
This bill was meant to streamline and avoid overlap of regulation and to provide greater regulatory flexibility of liquefied petroleum gas.
The reason this bill is included in our summary is because the bill specifies that the licensing requirements related to various businesses of LP-gas do not apply to a, “mobile home park operator who does not obtain any possessory rights to LP-gas products and utilizes only LP-gas licensees in the installation and maintenance of the LP-gas containers and system.”
The bill was signed into law on May 17 and is effective on September 1, 2020.
HB 2858 - Relating to adoption of a swimming pool and spa code for use in municipalities in this state.
This is a state preemption over cities bill. The issue this bill addresses are all the different regulations and standards that various cities impose on swimming pool construction. The bill sets a new state level code to the 2019 International Swimming Pool and Spa Code promulgated by the International Code Council.
The state code now preemptively applies to all construction, alteration, remodeling, enlargement, and repair of swimming pools and spas in a municipality that elects to regulate pools or spas. Cities can still adopt local amendments to the codes, and they can enforce the code.
For all manufactured home communities with existing pools or contemplating building a new pool, it is strongly encouraged that you and your contractors and pool service personnel familiarize themselves with the international pool and spa codes.
There are no changes required to a lease contract as a result of this bill.
This bill was signed into law on June 14 and is effective on September 1, 2020.
SB 234 - Relating to the right to vacate and avoid residential lease liability following the occurrence of family violence.
This bill expands the permissible list of documentation to show proof of family violence in order to break a lease without a penalty that is currently in the law to include now a certification letter provided by a family violence center advocate, a licensed health care provider who examined the victim, and a mental health provider who examined the victim. The prior law required proof from a temporary injunction, a temporary ex parte protective order, or a final protective order.
The law change does not require any changes to the current disclosure required under 92.016(f), Property Code, to be included in a lease contract. Therefore, there are no changes required to a lease contract as a result of this bill.
Gov. Abbott signed this bill into law on May 7, 2019 and it becomes effective on September 1, 2019.
SB 1414 - Relating to fees regarding a residential tenant's failure to timely pay rent.
This bill was a top legislative priority of the Texas Apartment Association. TAA had tried unsuccessfully in the 2017 Session to pass a similar bill. This session joining TAA in support were the Texas Association REALTORS, Texas Association of Builders, and us – TMHA. The bill was opposed throughout the legislative process by various tenant advocacy organizations such as Texas Housers and Austin Tenant’s Council.
The bill seeks to eliminate ambiguity in the current law that has led to numerous lawsuits, including several class-action suits, disputing in court what it means to be a “reasonable” late fee. The bill creates a “safe harbor” for what constitutes a “reasonable late fee” as a fee that:
“is not more than:
12 percent of the amount of rent for the rental period under the lease for a dwelling located in a structure that contains not more than four dwelling units; or
10 percent of the amount of rent for the rental period under the lease for a dwelling located in a structure that contains more than four dwelling units; or
the late fee is more than the applicable amount of either 12 or 10 percent, but not more than uncertain damages to the landlord related to the late payment of rent, including direct or indirect expenses, direct or indirect costs, or overhead associated with the collection of late payment.”
The law change would also add a new obligation that a landlord must provide a written statement to the tenant regarding any assessed late fees and the amount of the late fee. The statement is only required if a tenant requests the statement from the landlord, and a landlord’s failure to timely respond to the statement request does not affect the tenant’s liability for any late fee owed.
The bill does not require any changes to a lease contract, however TMHA strongly recommends that lease contracts entered into after the effective date of September 1, 2019 be changed to reflect law changes and adhere to the safe harbor language. TMHA will update our lease contract supplied to members.
Gov. Abbott signed the bill into law on June 10 and the effective date is September 1, 2019.
Landlord Tenant Bills that Failed to Pass
Many TMHA members have asked about previous bills we were working on that would require new landlord notice to tenants regarding floodplains and flooding areas. None of these bills passed this session.