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Senate Bill 946 |
Senate Author: Nelson |
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Effective: 1-1-14 |
House Sponsor: Bohac |
Current law authorizes a tenant who is a victim or a parent or guardian of a victim of certain sexual offenses to terminate the tenant's lease, vacate the dwelling, and avoid liability for future rent and certain other sums due under the lease if the offense takes place during the preceding six-month period on the premises or at any dwelling on the premises and if the tenant provides to the landlord certain documentation relating to the offense. Senate Bill 946 amends the Property Code to include indecency with a child and sexual performance by a child among the applicable sexual offenses. The bill also grants such authority to a tenant who is a victim or a parent or guardian of a victim of an attempt to commit any of the applicable sexual offenses and to a tenant who is a victim or a parent or guardian of a victim of stalking. The bill sets out alternate documentation requirements that apply with respect to a stalking offense.
Senate Bill 946 revises the language that must be contained in a lease with respect to a tenant's right to terminate a lease early in the described situations and establishes that a tenant who is a parent or guardian of a victim must reside with the victim in order to exercise that right. The bill prohibits a person who receives information from a tenant under such circumstances from disclosing that information to any other person except for a legitimate or customary business purpose or as otherwise required by law.