84th Recap: Tenant Notice to Vacate

Another pro-landlord bill supported by TMHA was a bill that would change the requirement to post the notice of eviction on the inside of the front door. Currently under Chapter 24 of the Property Code notice of eviction can be made either in person or by mail. One of the approved in person delivery methods is to affix the notice to the inside of the front door. As many of our MH community owners know, this can be especially problematic in communities where the landlord does not own the home. Therefore it is impossible for a landlord to post the notice on the inside of the door. HB 1332 would allow the notice to be posted to the outside of the exterior facing front door

This bill was also vigorously attacked by consumer advocates based on their arguments that the notice could go unseen, damaged by the elements, or removed by kids. Many speculated that these reasons were more a pre-text to their real goal which was to add more time in the process of eviction to allow non-paying tenants more time to live in a home or apartment. The consumer advocates argued that a three day "mail box" rule should be adopted instead.

Despite consumer advocate opposition the bill started off moving well. It was voted out of committee with unanimous support, including the votes of three Democrats, and was recommended for the expedited Local Calendar, rather than the general Calendar. Trouble was that after it was recommended for the Local Calendar on April 2, it languished there not moving. More than a month later on May 15 the bill was finally passed out of the House. The bill got over to the Senate and was referred to committee, but that was as far as it made it.

So it's dead right?

That is the end of that.

Nice try, get'em next time.

Not exactly.

Like hitting the defibrillator pads to the chest a great way to revive bills is to amend other bills, and that is what happened here. SB 1367 was another bill related to obligations and limits on landlords. The bill started out simple enough by allowing tenants to provide repair notices to their landlord by adding the ability to send notice from a trackable postal service delivery or private delivery service. As filed the bill also addressed situations of landlord notice to a tenant where there was tenant damage to the property, but there was no security deposit in the lease agreement. The new provision would require the landlord to notify the tenant in writing about the damages before 30 days after the tenant moved out. The filed version also prohibited the waiver of a right to a jury trial in a lease contract.

SB 1367 made it out of the Senate with a 29 – 2 vote, but when it was over in the House committee it received a few changes. Coming out of committee the bill now included language that would allow for exterior front door eviction notices by placing a sealed envelope that had the words "IMPORTANT DOCUMENT" written in all capital letters on it. It would also require a simultaneous mailing of the notice, but the clock for the eviction process would start the day the notice is affixed to the door. The changes in committee also added a provision dealing with the transfer of security deposit responsibility and liability when a rental property is sold to a new owner.

In yet another twist, when SB 1367 came to the House floor there was a floor amendment added that removed the requirement to send a simultaneous mailed notice of eviction. This promoted the Senate author to refuse to concur with House amendments, which sent the bill to a conference committee where members of both chambers would work to resolve the differences.

On Saturday, May 30, both chambers adopted the conference committee reports, which means the final bill is on the governor's desk. The requirement to simultaneously mail an eviction notice was added back in during conference, but the ability to attach the notice to the exterior facing front door is one signature away from becoming law.

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