1-1     By:  West                                             S.B. No. 1722

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 14, 1997; March 24, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental

 1-4     Relations; April 11, 1997, reported favorably, as amended, by the

 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 11, Nays 0; April 11, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Lucio

 1-7     Amend S.B. No. 1722, SECTION 1, Section 214.001(g), as follows:

 1-8           (1)  On page 1, line 56, reinstate the bracketed text "by

 1-9     certified mail, return receipt requested, a copy of the order"

1-10           On page 1, lines 58 through 60, delete the following:

1-11           "Deposit of the notice in the United States mail with postage

1-12     paid and a proper address is prima facie evidence of the delivery

1-13     of the notice to the person."

1-14           (3)  After the stricken language on page 2, line 2, insert

1-15     the following:

1-16           "If a notice is mailed according to this subsection and the

1-17     United States Postal Service returns the notice as "refused" or

1-18     "unclaimed," the validity of the notice is not affected, and the

1-19     notice shall be deemed as delivered."

1-20                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

1-21                                   AN ACT

1-22     relating to municipal regulation of dangerous structures.

1-23           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-24           SECTION 1.  Section 214.001, Local Government Code, is

1-25     amended by amending Subsections (e) and (g) and adding Subsections

1-26     (p) and (q) to read as follows:

1-27           (e)  As an alternative to the procedure prescribed by

1-28     Subsection (d), the municipality may make a diligent effort to

1-29     discover each mortgagee and lienholder before conducting the public

1-30     hearing and may give them a notice of and an opportunity to comment

1-31     at the hearing.  In addition, the municipality may file notice of

1-32     the hearing in the Official Public Records of Real Property in the

1-33     county in which the property is located.  The notice must contain

1-34     the name and address of the owner of the affected property if that

1-35     information can be determined [from a reasonable search of the

1-36     instruments on file in the office of the county clerk], a legal

1-37     description of the affected property, and a description of the

1-38     hearing.  The filing of the notice is binding on subsequent

1-39     grantees, lienholders, or other transferees of an interest in the

1-40     property who acquire such interest after the filing of the notice,

1-41     and constitutes notice of the hearing on any subsequent recipient

1-42     of any interest in the property who acquires such interest after

1-43     the filing of the notice.  If the municipality operates under this

1-44     subsection, the order issued by the municipality may specify a

1-45     reasonable time as provided by this section for the building to be

1-46     vacated, secured, repaired, removed, or demolished by the owner or

1-47     for the occupants to be relocated by the owner and an additional

1-48     reasonable time as provided by this section for the ordered action

1-49     to be taken by any of the mortgagees or lienholders in the event

1-50     the owner fails to comply with the order within the time provided

1-51     for action by the owner.  Under this subsection, the municipality

1-52     is not required to furnish any notice to a mortgagee or lienholder

1-53     other than a copy of the order in the event the owner fails to

1-54     timely take the ordered action.

1-55           (g)  After the hearing, the municipality shall promptly mail

1-56     [by certified mail, return receipt requested,] a copy of the order

1-57     to the owner of the building and to any lienholder or mortgagee of

1-58     the building.  Deposit of the notice in the United States mail with

1-59     postage paid and a proper address is prima facie evidence of the

1-60     delivery of the notice to the person.  The municipality shall use

1-61     its best efforts to determine the identity and address of any

1-62     owner, lienholder, or mortgagee of the building [through the

1-63     records of the county clerk in the county in which the building is

1-64     located and through any other sources available to the

 2-1     municipality].

 2-2           (p)  A hearing under this section may be held by a civil

 2-3     municipal court.

 2-4           (q)  A municipality satisfies the requirements of this

 2-5     section to make a diligent effort, to use its best efforts, or to

 2-6     make a reasonable effort to determine the identity and address of

 2-7     an owner, a lienholder, or a mortgagee if the municipality searches

 2-8     the following records:

 2-9                 (1)  county real property records of the county in

2-10     which the building is located;

2-11                 (2)  appraisal district records of the appraisal

2-12     district in which the building is located;

2-13                 (3)  records of the secretary of state;

2-14                 (4)  assumed name records of the county in which the

2-15     building is located;

2-16                 (5)  tax records of the municipality; and

2-17                 (6)  utility records of the municipality.

2-18           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-19     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-20     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-21     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-22     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

2-23     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

2-24     passage, and it is so enacted.

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