AN ACT
1-1 relating to submetered and nonsubmetered water utility service
1-2 provided to residents of apartment houses and manufactured home
1-3 rental communities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter M, Chapter 13, Water Code, is amended
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER M. SUBMETERING AND NONSUBMETERING FOR APARTMENTS
1-8 AND MANUFACTURED HOME RENTAL COMMUNITIES
1-9 [MOBILE HOME PARKS] AND OTHER MULTIPLE USE FACILITIES
1-10 Sec. 13.501. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-11 (1) "Apartment house" means one or more buildings
1-12 containing five or more dwelling units which are occupied primarily
1-13 for nontransient use, including a residential condominium whether
1-14 rented or owner occupied, and having rental paid, if a dwelling
1-15 unit is rented, at intervals of one month or longer.
1-16 (2) "Dwelling unit" means:
1-17 (A) one or more rooms in an apartment house or
1-18 condominium, suitable for occupancy as a residence, and containing
1-19 kitchen and bathroom facilities; or
1-20 (B) a manufactured [mobile] home in a
1-21 manufactured home rental community [mobile home park].
1-22 (3) "Customer" means the individual, firm, or
1-23 corporation in whose name a master meter has been connected by the
1-24 utility service provider.
2-1 (4) "Nonsubmetered master metered utility service"
2-2 means water utility service that is master metered for the
2-3 apartment house but not submetered, and wastewater utility service
2-4 based on master metered water utility service.
2-5 (5) "Owner" means the legal titleholder of an
2-6 apartment house, manufactured home rental community [mobile home
2-7 park], or multiple use facility and any individual, firm, or
2-8 corporation that purports to be the landlord of tenants in the
2-9 apartment house, manufactured home rental community [mobile home
2-10 park], or multiple use facility.
2-11 (6) "Tenant" means a person who is entitled to occupy
2-12 a dwelling unit or multiple use facility unit to the exclusion of
2-13 others and who is obligated to pay for the occupancy under a
2-14 written or oral rental agreement.
2-15 (7) "Multiple use facility" means commercial or
2-16 industrial parks, office complexes, marinas, and others
2-17 specifically identified in commission rules with five or more
2-18 units.
2-19 (8) "Manufactured home rental community" ["Mobile home
2-20 park"] means a property on which [parking] spaces are rented for
2-21 the occupancy of manufactured homes [to mobile dwelling units
2-22 primarily] for nontransient residential use and for which rental is
2-23 paid at intervals of one month or longer.
2-24 Sec. 13.502. SUBMETERING. An apartment house owner,
2-25 manufactured home rental community [mobile home park] owner,
2-26 multiple use facility owner, or condominium manager may provide for
3-1 submetering of each dwelling unit or rental unit for the
3-2 measurement of the quantity of water, if any, consumed by the
3-3 occupants of that unit.
3-4 Sec. 13.503. SUBMETERING RULES. (a) The commission shall
3-5 encourage submetering of individual rental or dwelling units by
3-6 master meter operators to enhance the conservation of water
3-7 resources.
3-8 (b) Notwithstanding any other law, the commission shall
3-9 adopt rules and standards under which an owner, operator, or
3-10 manager of an apartment house, manufactured home rental community
3-11 [mobile home park], or multiple use facility that is not
3-12 individually metered for water for each rental or dwelling unit may
3-13 install submetering equipment for each individual rental or
3-14 dwelling unit for the purpose of fairly allocating the cost of each
3-15 individual rental or dwelling unit's water consumption, including
3-16 wastewater charges based on water consumption. In addition to
3-17 other appropriate safeguards for the tenant, the rules shall
3-18 require that an apartment house owner, manufactured home rental
3-19 community [mobile home park] owner, multiple use facility owner, or
3-20 condominium manager may not impose on the tenant any extra charges,
3-21 over and above the cost per gallon and any other applicable taxes
3-22 and surcharges that are [is] charged by the retail public utility
3-23 to the owner or manager, and that the rental unit or apartment
3-24 house owner or manager shall maintain adequate records regarding
3-25 submetering and make the records available for inspection by the
3-26 tenant during reasonable business hours. All submetering equipment
4-1 is subject to the rules and standards established by the commission
4-2 for accuracy, testing, and record keeping of meters installed by
4-3 utilities and to the meter-testing requirements of Section 13.140
4-4 of this code.
4-5 (c) In addition to the charges permitted under Subsection
4-6 (b), the rules shall authorize a manufactured home rental community
4-7 owner or manager to impose a service charge of not more than nine
4-8 percent of the costs related to submetering allocated to each
4-9 submetered rental or dwelling unit.
4-10 (d) For purposes of Subsection (c), "costs related to
4-11 submetering" means water costs as well as any other applicable
4-12 taxes and surcharges that are charged by the retail public utility
4-13 to the manufactured home rental community owner or manager.
4-14 Sec. 13.5031. NONSUBMETERING RULES. Notwithstanding any
4-15 other law, the commission shall adopt rules and standards governing
4-16 billing systems or methods used by manufactured home rental
4-17 community owners, apartment house owners, condominium managers, or
4-18 owners of other multiple use facilities for prorating or allocating
4-19 among tenants nonsubmetered master metered utility service costs.
4-20 In addition to other appropriate safeguards for the tenant, those
4-21 rules shall require that:
4-22 (1) the rental agreement contain a clear written
4-23 description of the method of calculation of the allocation of
4-24 nonsubmetered master metered utilities for the manufactured home
4-25 rental community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
4-26 (2) the rental agreement contain a statement of the
5-1 average manufactured home, apartment, or multiple use facility unit
5-2 monthly bill for all units for any allocation of those utilities
5-3 for the previous calendar year;
5-4 (3) an owner or condominium manager may not impose
5-5 additional charges on a tenant in excess of the actual charges
5-6 imposed on the owner or condominium manager for utility consumption
5-7 by the manufactured home rental community, apartment house, or
5-8 multiple use facility;
5-9 (4) the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
5-10 adequate records regarding the utility consumption of the
5-11 manufactured home rental community, apartment house, or multiple
5-12 use facility, the charges assessed by the retail public utility,
5-13 and the allocation of the utility costs to the tenants; and
5-14 (5) the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
5-15 all necessary records concerning utility allocations, including the
5-16 retail public utility's bills, and shall make the records available
5-17 for inspection by the tenants during normal business hours.
5-18 Sec. 13.504. IMPROPER RENTAL RATE INCREASE. If, during the
5-19 90-day period preceding the installation of individual meters or
5-20 submeters, an owner, operator, or manager of an apartment house,
5-21 manufactured home rental community, [mobile home park] or other
5-22 multiple use facility has increased rental rates and the increase
5-23 is attributable to increased costs of utilities, the owner,
5-24 operator, or manager shall immediately reduce the rental rate by
5-25 the amount of the increase and refund all of the increase that has
5-26 previously been collected within the 90-day period.
6-1 Sec. 13.505. ENFORCEMENT. In addition to the enforcement
6-2 provisions contained in Subchapter K of this chapter, if an
6-3 apartment house owner, condominium manager, manufactured home
6-4 rental community [mobile home park] owner, or other multiple use
6-5 facility owner violates a rule of the commission regarding
6-6 submetering of utility service consumed exclusively within the
6-7 tenant's dwelling unit or multiple use facility unit or
6-8 nonsubmetered master metered utility costs, the tenant may recover
6-9 three times the amount of any overcharge, a civil penalty equal to
6-10 one month's rent, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs from
6-11 the owner or condominium manager. However, an owner of an
6-12 apartment house, manufactured home rental community [mobile home
6-13 park], or other multiple use facility or condominium manager is not
6-14 liable for a civil penalty if the owner or condominium manager
6-15 proves the violation was a good faith, unintentional mistake.
6-16 SECTION 2. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation
6-17 Commission shall adopt rules to implement the changes made to
6-18 Subchapter M, Chapter 13, Water Code, by this Act as soon after the
6-19 effective date of this Act as possible.
6-20 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
6-21 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-22 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-23 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-24 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
6-25 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
6-26 passage, and it is so enacted.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 950 passed the Senate on
April 15, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 950 passed the House on
April 28, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor