By Alvarado H.B. No. 2629
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the maintenance and use of keys to units in a
1-3 residential multiunit complex by landlords and contractors.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 92, Property Code, is amended by adding
1-6 Subchapter J to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER J. MAINTENANCE AND USE OF KEYS IN RESIDENTIAL
1-8 MULTIUNIT COMPLEX
1-9 Sec. 92.401. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-10 (1) "Contractor" means a person contracting with a
1-11 landlord directly or through the landlord's agent to perform work
1-12 or a service for the landlord. The term does not include an
1-13 employee of the landlord.
1-14 (2) "Key" means the key, magnetic card, or similar
1-15 device that permits access to the interior of a unit in a
1-16 residential multiunit complex.
1-17 (3) "Landlord" means the owner or lessor of a
1-18 residential multiunit complex or another person acting on the
1-19 owner's or lessor's behalf, including a management company or
1-20 managing agent.
1-21 (4) "Residential multiunit complex" means 15 or more
2-1 dwellings in one or more buildings that:
2-2 (A) are under common ownership;
2-3 (B) are managed by the same owner, agent, or
2-4 management company; and
2-5 (C) are located on the same lot or tract or
2-6 adjacent lots or tracts of land, including those physically
2-7 separated by a public right-of-way.
2-8 (5) "Tenant" means a person who is authorized by a
2-9 lease to occupy a unit in a residential multiunit complex.
2-10 Sec. 92.402. APPLICATION OF SUBCHAPTER. (a) This
2-11 subchapter applies only to a residential multiunit complex.
2-12 (b) This subchapter does not apply to:
2-13 (1) a hotel, motel, or inn or similar transient
2-14 housing; or
2-15 (2) residential housing owned or operated by:
2-16 (A) an institution of higher education
2-17 accredited by an accrediting organization recognized by the Texas
2-18 Higher Education Coordinating Board; or
2-19 (B) a preparatory school accredited by an
2-20 accrediting agency recognized by the commissioner of education.
2-21 (c) This subchapter does not affect the requirements of
2-22 Subchapter D.
2-23 Sec. 92.403. MAINTENANCE OF KEYS. A landlord shall keep
2-24 all keys to the units of the residential multiunit complex that are
2-25 under the landlord's control in a locked safe at all times the keys
3-1 are not in use, not in transit for use, or not in transit for
3-2 return after use.
3-3 Sec. 92.404. SIGNED STATEMENT RELATING TO USE OF KEYS. (a)
3-4 If a contractor requires access to individual units in the
3-5 residential multiunit complex to perform work for the landlord,
3-6 the landlord shall require the contractor to sign and date a
3-7 statement that lists the number of keys provided to the contractor
3-8 by the landlord and all units in the complex to which the keys
3-9 provide access. The landlord shall retain the statement for at
3-10 least 90 days and during that period shall permit any tenant to
3-11 read the statement on request.
3-12 (b) If the landlord provides a contractor with keys but
3-13 fails to obtain the statement required by Subsection (a), the
3-14 tenant of each affected unit is entitled to recover a $50 fee per
3-15 unit from the landlord, which may be deducted from the rent
3-16 payment.
3-17 Sec. 92.405. RETURN OF KEYS. (a) At the time a contractor
3-18 completes the contractor's work for the landlord and returns the
3-19 keys, the landlord shall count the number of keys returned and sign
3-20 a statement that lists the number of keys returned by the
3-21 contractor.
3-22 (b) The landlord shall compare the statement signed under
3-23 Subsection (a) with the statement signed under Section 92.404(a).
3-24 If the contractor did not return the same number of keys listed in
3-25 the statement signed under Section 92.404(a), the landlord shall
4-1 charge the contractor a fee of $1,000 for each missing key. The
4-2 landlord shall give $200 of the fee to the tenant of the affected
4-3 unit, which may be deducted from rent due.
4-4 (c) The landlord shall rekey a unit not later than 24 hours
4-5 after the contractor fails to return to the landlord a key to the
4-6 unit.
4-7 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
4-8 applies only to a contractor who obtains a key to a unit in a
4-9 residential multiunit complex from a landlord on or after the
4-10 effective date of this Act. A contractor who obtained a key to a
4-11 unit in a residential multiunit complex from a landlord before the
4-12 effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect at the
4-13 time the key was obtained, and that law is continued in effect for
4-14 that purpose.
4-15 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.