1-1 By: Brown S.B. No. 1426
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1995; March 20, 1995, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
1-4 April 25, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 25, 1995,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1426 By: Leedom
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to security devices in certain rental dwellings.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 92.151, Property Code, is amended to read
1-13 as follows:
1-14 Sec. 92.151. Definitions. In this subchapter:
1-15 (1) "Doorknob lock" means a lock in a doorknob, with
1-16 the lock operated from the exterior by a key, card, or combination
1-17 and from the interior without a key, card, or combination.
1-18 (2) "Door viewer" means a permanently installed device
1-19 in an exterior door that allows a person inside the dwelling to
1-20 view a person outside the door. The device must be:
1-21 (A) a clear glass pane or one-way mirror; or
1-22 (B) a peephole having a barrel with a one-way
1-23 lens of glass or other substance providing an angle view of not
1-24 less than 160 degrees.
1-25 (3) "Exterior door" means a door providing access from
1-26 a dwelling interior to the exterior. The term includes a door
1-27 between a living area and a garage but does not include a sliding
1-28 glass door or a screen door.
1-29 (4) "Floor-mounted bolting device" means a steel
1-30 sleeve in the floor, on the inside of an in-swinging door, two
1-31 inches in from the center of the door with a kick plate installed
1-32 with screws and a storage bracket on the inside of the door. When
1-33 the steel bar is inserted into its hole in the floor it must be
1-34 capable of preventing the door from moving inward. The steel bar
1-35 must be additionally capable of being adjusted from the inside so
1-36 that the door can be opened from the inside two inches to serve as
1-37 a viewing space while still preventing the door from being opened
1-38 inwardly further than two inches.
1-39 (5) "French doors" means a set of two exterior doors
1-40 in which each door is hinged and abuts the other door when closed.
1-41 The term includes double-hinged patio doors.
1-42 (6) <(5)> "Keyed dead bolt" means:
1-43 (A) a door lock not in the doorknob that:
1-44 (i) locks with a bolt into the doorjamb;
1-45 and
1-46 (ii) is operated from the exterior by a
1-47 key, card, or combination and from the interior by a knob or lever
1-48 without a key, card, or combination; or
1-49 (B) a doorknob lock that contains a bolt with at
1-50 least a one-inch throw.
1-51 (7) <(6)> "Keyless bolting device" means a door lock
1-52 not in the doorknob that locks:
1-53 (A) with a bolt into a strike plate screwed into
1-54 the portion of the doorjamb surface that faces the edge of the door
1-55 when the door is closed or into a metal doorjamb that serves as the
1-56 strike plate, operable only by knob or lever from the door's
1-57 interior and not in any manner from the door's exterior, and that
1-58 is commonly known as a keyless dead bolt;
1-59 (B) by a drop bolt system operated by placing a
1-60 central metal plate over a metal doorjamb restraint that protrudes
1-61 from the doorjamb and that is affixed to the doorjamb frame by
1-62 means of three case-hardened screws at least three inches in
1-63 length. One-half of the central plate must overlap the interior
1-64 surface of the door and the other half of the central plate must
1-65 overlap the doorjamb when the plate is placed over the doorjamb
1-66 restraint. The drop bolt system must prevent the door from being
1-67 opened unless the central plate is lifted off of the doorjamb
1-68 restraint by a person who is on the interior side of the door.
2-1 The term "keyless bolting device" does not include a chain
2-2 latch, flip latch, surface-mounted slide bolt, mortise door bolt,
2-3 surface-mounted barrel bolt, surface-mounted swing bar door guard,
2-4 spring-loaded nightlatch, foot bolt, or other lock or latch; or
2-5 (C) by a metal bar or metal tube that is placed
2-6 across the entire interior side of the door and secured in place at
2-7 each end of the bar or tube by heavy-duty metal screw hooks. The
2-8 screw hooks must be at least three inches in length and must be
2-9 screwed into the door frame stud or wall stud on each side of the
2-10 door. The bar or tube must be capable of being secured to both of
2-11 the screw hooks and must be permanently attached in some way to the
2-12 door frame stud or wall stud. When secured to the screw hooks, the
2-13 bar or tube must prevent the door from being opened unless the bar
2-14 or tube is removed by a person who is on the interior side of the
2-15 door.
2-16 (8) <(7)> "Landlord" means a dwelling owner, lessor,
2-17 sublessor, management company, or managing agent, including an
2-18 on-site manager.
2-19 (9) <(8)> "Multiunit complex" means two or more
2-20 dwellings in one or more buildings that are:
2-21 (A) under common ownership;
2-22 (B) managed by the same owner, agent, or
2-23 management company; and
2-24 (C) located on the same lot or tract or adjacent
2-25 lots or tracts of land.
2-26 (10) <(9)> "Possession of a dwelling" means occupancy
2-27 by a tenant under a lease, including occupancy until the time the
2-28 tenant moves out or a writ of possession is issued by a court. The
2-29 term does not include occupancy before the initial occupancy date
2-30 authorized under a lease.
2-31 (11) <(10)> "Rekey" means to change or alter a
2-32 security device that is operated by a key, card, or combination so
2-33 that a different key, card, or combination is necessary to operate
2-34 the security device.
2-35 (12) <(11)> "Security device" means a doorknob lock,
2-36 door viewer, keyed dead bolt, keyless bolting device, sliding door
2-37 handle latch, sliding door pin lock, sliding door security bar, or
2-38 window latch in a dwelling.
2-39 (13) <(12)> "Sliding door handle latch" means a latch
2-40 or lock:
2-41 (A) located near the handle on a sliding glass
2-42 door;
2-43 (B) operated with or without a key; and
2-44 (C) designed to prevent the door from being
2-45 opened.
2-46 (14) <(13)> "Sliding door pin lock" means a lock on a
2-47 sliding glass door that consists of a pin or nail inserted from the
2-48 interior side of the door at the side opposite the door's handle
2-49 and that is designed to prevent the door from being opened or
2-50 lifted.
2-51 (15) <(14)> "Sliding door security bar" means a bar or
2-52 rod that can be placed at the bottom of or across the interior side
2-53 of the fixed panel of a sliding glass door and that is designed to
2-54 prevent the door from being opened.
2-55 (16) <(15)> "Tenant turnover date" means the date a
2-56 new tenant moves into a dwelling under a lease after all previous
2-57 tenants have moved out. The term does not include dates of entry
2-58 or occupation not authorized by the landlord.
2-59 (17) <(16)> "Window latch" means a device on a window
2-60 that prevents the window from being opened and that is operated
2-61 without a key and only from the interior.
2-62 SECTION 2. Section 92.157, Property Code, is amended to read
2-63 as follows:
2-64 Sec. 92.157. Security Devices Requested by Tenant. (a) At
2-65 a tenant's request made at any time, a landlord, at the tenant's
2-66 expense, shall install:
2-67 (1) a keyed dead bolt on an exterior door if the door
2-68 has:
2-69 (A) a doorknob lock but not a keyed dead bolt;
2-70 or
3-1 (B) a keyless bolting device but not a keyed
3-2 dead bolt or doorknob lock; and
3-3 (2) a sliding door pin lock or sliding door security
3-4 bar if the door is an exterior sliding glass door without a sliding
3-5 door pin lock or sliding door security bar.
3-6 (b) At a tenant's request made at any time, a landlord, at
3-7 the landlord's expense, shall install a floor-mounted bolting
3-8 device, installed in accordance with the manufacturer's recommended
3-9 procedures and purchased at tenant's expense.
3-10 (c) At a tenant's request made before January 1, 1995, a
3-11 landlord, at the tenant's expense, shall install on an exterior
3-12 door of a dwelling constructed before September 1, 1993:
3-13 (1) a keyless bolting device if the door does not have
3-14 a keyless bolting device; and
3-15 (2) a door viewer if the door does not have a door
3-16 viewer.
3-17 (d) <(c)> If a security device required by Section 92.153 to
3-18 be installed on or after January 1, 1995, without necessity of a
3-19 tenant's request has not been installed by the landlord, the tenant
3-20 may request the landlord to immediately install it, and the
3-21 landlord shall immediately install it at the landlord's expense.
3-22 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.
3-23 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-24 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-25 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-26 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-27 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-28 * * * * *