|
Senate Bill 1717 |
Senate Author: West |
|
Effective: 9-1-09 |
House Sponsor: Davis, Yvonne |
Senate Bill 1717 amends the Government Code to require the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) by rule to require the housing sponsor of a multifamily housing development that receives financial assistance from the state or federal government or is subject to a land use restriction agreement to submit a quarterly report to TDHCA that identifies the number of vacant units in the development at the time of the report and the number of days each unit has been vacant. The bill requires TDHCA to provide each member of the legislature, at the member's request, a report that disaggregates the information in the report by zip code in the member's district.
Senate Bill 1717 prohibits the owner of a development supported with a housing tax credit allocation from locking out or threatening to lock out any person residing in the development except by judicial process, with certain exceptions, or from seizing or threatening to seize the personal property of any person residing in the development except by judicial process unless the resident has abandoned the premises. The bill requires each development owner to include a conspicuous provision in the lease agreement prohibiting the owner from engaging in such a practice and, as specified by TDHCA rule, to remove any provisions in the lease agreement that are contrary to the prohibitions established by the bill. The bill requires TDHCA to adopt rules to implement and enforce these provisions not later than November 1, 2009.