By Pitts                                              H.B. No. 2163
         77R6434 AJA-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to forcible entry and detainer and forcible detainer
 1-3     suits.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1. Section 24.004, Property Code, is amended to read
 1-6     as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 24.004.  JURISDICTION; TIME FOR HEARING. (a)  A justice
 1-8     court in the precinct in which the real property is located has
 1-9     jurisdiction in eviction suits.  Eviction suits include forcible
1-10     entry and detainer and forcible detainer suits.
1-11           (b)  Not later than the seventh day after the date a petition
1-12     is filed in a suit described by Subsection (a), the court shall set
1-13     a date for a hearing on the petition.
1-14           SECTION 2. Section 24.0061(d), Property Code, is amended to
1-15     read as follows:
1-16           (d)  The writ of possession shall order the officer executing
1-17     the writ to:
1-18                 (1)  post a written warning of at least 8 1/2 by 11
1-19     inches on the exterior of the front door of the rental unit
1-20     notifying the tenant that the writ has been issued and that the
1-21     writ will be executed on or after a specific date and time stated
1-22     in the warning not sooner than 24 hours or later than 72 hours
1-23     after the warning is posted; and
1-24                 (2)  when the writ is executed:
 2-1                       (A)  deliver possession of the premises to the
 2-2     landlord;
 2-3                       (B)  instruct the tenant and all persons claiming
 2-4     under the tenant to leave the premises immediately, and, if the
 2-5     persons fail to comply, physically remove them;
 2-6                       (C)  instruct the tenant to remove or to allow
 2-7     the landlord, the landlord's representatives, or other persons
 2-8     acting under the officer's supervision to remove all personal
 2-9     property from the rental unit other than personal property claimed
2-10     to be owned by the landlord; and
2-11                       (D)  place, or have an authorized person place,
2-12     the removed personal property outside the rental unit at a nearby
2-13     location, but not blocking a public sidewalk, passageway, or street
2-14     and not while it is raining, sleeting, or snowing.
2-15           SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001, and
2-16     applies only to a forcible entry and detainer or forcible detainer
2-17     suit filed on or after that date.  A suit filed before September 1,
2-18     2001, is governed by the law in effect immediately before that
2-19     date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.