1-1 By: Pickett, Solomons (Senate Sponsor - Cain) H.B. No. 2769 1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 1999; 1-3 April 27, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on State 1-4 Affairs; May 14, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote: 1-5 Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent to printer.) 1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-7 AN ACT 1-8 relating to the disposition of the personal property and security 1-9 deposit of a deceased residential tenant. 1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-11 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 92, Property Code, is 1-12 amended by adding Section 92.013 to read as follows: 1-13 Sec. 92.013. PERSONAL PROPERTY AND SECURITY DEPOSIT OF 1-14 DECEASED TENANT. (a) Upon written request of a landlord, the 1-15 landlord's tenant shall: 1-16 (1) provide the landlord with the name, address, and 1-17 telephone number of a person to contact in the event of the 1-18 tenant's death; and 1-19 (2) sign a statement authorizing the landlord in the 1-20 event of the tenant's death to: 1-21 (A) grant to the person designated under 1-22 Subdivision (1) access to the premises at a reasonable time and in 1-23 the presence of the landlord or the landlord's agent; 1-24 (B) allow the person designated under 1-25 Subdivision (1) to remove any of the tenant's property found at the 1-26 leased premises; and 1-27 (C) refund the tenant's security deposit, less 1-28 lawful deductions, to the person designated under Subdivision (1). 1-29 (b) A tenant may, without request from the landlord, provide 1-30 the landlord with the information in Subsection (a). 1-31 (c) Except as provided in Subsection (d), in the event of 1-32 the death of a tenant who is the sole occupant of a rental 1-33 dwelling: 1-34 (1) the landlord may remove and store all property 1-35 found in the tenant's leased premises; 1-36 (2) the landlord shall turn over possession of the 1-37 property to the person who was designated by the tenant under 1-38 Subsection (a) or (b) or to any other person lawfully entitled to 1-39 the property if the request is made prior to the property being 1-40 discarded under Subdivision (5); 1-41 (3) the landlord shall refund the tenant's security 1-42 deposit, less lawful deductions, including the cost of removing and 1-43 storing the property, to the person designated under Subsection (a) 1-44 or (b) or to any other person lawfully entitled to the refund; 1-45 (4) the landlord may require any person who removes 1-46 the property from the tenant's leased premises to sign an inventory 1-47 of the property being removed; and 1-48 (5) the landlord may discard the property removed by 1-49 the landlord from the tenant's leased premises if: 1-50 (A) the landlord has mailed a written request by 1-51 certified mail, return receipt requested, to the person designated 1-52 under Subsection (a) or (b), requesting that the property be 1-53 removed; 1-54 (B) the person failed to remove the property by 1-55 the 30th day after the postmark date of the notice; and 1-56 (C) the landlord, prior to the date of 1-57 discarding the property, has not been contacted by anyone claiming 1-58 the property. 1-59 (d) In a written lease or other agreement, a landlord and a 1-60 tenant may agree to a procedure different than the procedure in 1-61 this section for removing, storing, or disposing of property in the 1-62 leased premises of a deceased tenant. 1-63 (e) If a tenant, after being furnished with a copy of this 1-64 subchapter, knowingly violates Subsection (a), the landlord shall 2-1 have no responsibility after the tenant's death for removal, 2-2 storage, disappearance, damage, or disposition of property in the 2-3 tenant's leased premises. 2-4 (f) If a landlord, after being furnished with a copy of this 2-5 subchapter, knowingly violates Subsection (c), the landlord shall 2-6 be liable to the estate of the deceased tenant for actual damages. 2-7 SECTION 2. Section 92.005(a), Property Code, is amended to 2-8 read as follows: 2-9 (a) A party who prevails in a suit brought under this 2-10 subchapter or Subchapter B, E, or F may recover the party's costs 2-11 of court and reasonable attorney's fees in relation to work 2-12 reasonably expended. 2-13 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 2-14 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the 2-15 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-16 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-17 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-18 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended. 2-19 * * * * *