New Laws- HB3101 Creates a Tenant Bill of Rights

August 12, 2007

ATTENTION RENTERS:

Tenant laws are being amended.  Often, tenants do not know their rights or even what the consequences are to landlords acting outside of the law.  HB3101’s writers are calling the new Bill a “Tenant Bill of Rights,” and their intent may have been so, so read on to form your own opinion.  Make sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments section!

Depending on which side of the fence you sit on, Texas is a tenant friendly state… but landlords are quite protected as well.  House Bill 3101 was originally supposed to go into effect on September 1, 2007 but has been amended to be effective January 1, 2008.  While we don’t know the reasons for the extension, we suspect that it is fair to allow landlords to adjust their leases to fit the new laws.  When landlords are large corporations (like Equity, Mansions, etc), leases and amendments typically go through their legal department which we all know can add time to a finished product.  These changes will not apply to your current lease but a renewal or a lease dated on or after January 1, 2008.

CHANGE # 1- the landlord’s tenant selection criteria was previously optional but now must be provided to applicants and signed by the applicant acknowledging the terms they must meet for approval.

Further, HB 3101 mandates that if the landlord does not properly provide this criteria and the applicant is rejected, the application fee and deposit must be returned.  If the landlord fails to do so, they are subject to a $100 penalty plus three times the amount wrongfully retained as well as the applicant’s reasonable attorney’s fees.

In an apartment community, newer employees may forget forms for you to fill out, so be informed and make sure to ask for the tenant selection criteria form.  This way, you know immediately what they are asking of you regarding income, credit, etc.

CHANGE # 2- most landlords already conform to this portion of the bill, but for those who don’t, all leases are required to contain language in underlined or bold print notifying tenants of the landlord’s obligation to repair or provide a remedy for certain conditions in a tenant’s dwelling.

This is important because some landlords fail to live up to this portion of the lease despite their actions invalidating the lease.  Tenants aren’t the only ones who can violate lease agreements!

CHANGE # 3- prohibits landlords from charging a late fee for failing to pay rent unless the signed lease includes notice of the fee and it’s a reasonable fee.  The cap of 7% of the unpaid rent has been changed to a “reasonable estimation of the uncertain damages of collecting delinquent rent.”  The landlord still has the right to lawfully terminate a lease but the bill provides a specific remedy and penalty for violating the late fee provision.

The new law also mandates at least a two day grace period after rent is due.  As with Change #1, the penalty imposed on landlords for improperly charging late fees is $100, as well as three times the amount of the improper late fee and reasonable attorney’s fees.

CHANGE # 4- as a precondition for allowing a tenant to park in a specific parking space (as in designated spot, carport/ covered parking or a garage), tenants must provide the make, model, year, color, state of registration and license number of the vehicle in order to obtain a parking space.

We believe that this change is allowed because when a tenant pay for a parking spot and calls the landlord saying someone is in their covered parking spot and it’s raining and they want to park there, the vehicle in the spot will clearly not match the information the landlord has on file and will be subject to being towed.  It feels funny to give up so much information but I do think this on is in the tenant’s best interest and empowers the landlord to tow on their behalf.

CHANGE # 5- prohibits landlords from changing a tenant’s door locks due to rent delinquency in the payment of rent when the occupant is in the dwelling.  It also prohibits landlords from changing the locks more than once during rental payment.

CHANGE # 6- the bill amends the Property Code to prohibit a landlord from intentionally preventing entry into the lease premises due to rent delinquency unless the landlord’s right to change locks is in the lease.  The bill also requires the lease to include in underlined or bold print the tenant’s right to receive a key to the new lock at any hour, regardless of whether the tenant pays the delinquent rent.  The civil penalty for intentionally preventing a tenants entry into the leased premises due to rent delinquency has increased from $500 to $1,000.

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This tenant reform bill is available by clicking HERE.  We are not attorneys, and are not intending to provide this information as legal advice.  Our interpretation of this bill is simply that, our opinion.  If you believe you need concrete legal advice, we ask that you contact your attorney.

Posted by Lani, Asset Director | Filed Under Austin News, Blog, Other Stuff, RE Practice 

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