By:  Barrientos, Gallegos                             S.B. No. 1621
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to discrimination against tenants of federally subsidized
 1-3     or assisted housing converted to market rate housing.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Title 15, Property Code, is amended by adding
 1-6     Chapter 302 to read as follows:
 1-7                CHAPTER 302.  DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TENANTS
 1-8             OF CERTAIN FEDERALLY SUBSIDIZED OR ASSISTED HOUSING
 1-9           Sec. 302.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
1-10                 (1)  "Housing conversion" means:
1-11                       (A)  prepayment of a mortgage by an owner of a
1-12     subsidized or assisted development; or
1-13                       (B)  nonrenewal of an expiring Section 8
1-14     project-based or rent supplement project-based contract by an owner
1-15     of a subsidized or assisted development.
1-16                 (2)  "Subsidized or assisted development" means a
1-17     multifamily housing development subsidized or assisted by the
1-18     United States Department of Housing and Urban Development under
1-19     Section 8, United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Section
1-20     1437f).
1-21           Sec. 302.002.  PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TENANT OF
1-22     SUBSIDIZED OR ASSISTED DEVELOPMENT.  An owner of a subsidized or
1-23     assisted development in which a housing conversion has occurred or
1-24     the owner's agent may not without good cause refuse or fail to
1-25     enter into a lease agreement with a tenant of the development under
 2-1     the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program for any reason related
 2-2     to the tenant's participation in the program.
 2-3           Sec. 302.003.  CIVIL ACTION.  A tenant of a subsidized or
 2-4     assisted development in which a housing conversion has occurred may
 2-5     bring a civil action against an owner of the development if the
 2-6     owner or the owner's agent without good cause refuses or fails to
 2-7     enter into a lease agreement with the tenant as described by
 2-8     Section 302.002.
 2-9           Sec. 302.004.  RELIEF GRANTED.  (a)  If in an action brought
2-10     under Section 302.003 the court finds that an owner of a subsidized
2-11     or assisted development in which a housing conversion has occurred
2-12     or the owner's agent without good cause has refused or failed to
2-13     enter into a lease agreement with a tenant as described by Section
2-14     302.002, the court shall award to the tenant:
2-15                 (1)  actual damages;
2-16                 (2)  attorney's fees, court costs, and any other
2-17     reasonable costs incurred in bringing the action; and
2-18                 (3)  any appropriate injunctive relief, including
2-19     prohibiting the owner or the owner's agent from engaging in
2-20     discrimination as described by this chapter or ordering appropriate
2-21     affirmative action.
2-22           (b)  The court may award a civil penalty of $100 plus three
2-23     times the tenant's fair market monthly rent if the court makes the
2-24     finding described by Subsection (a) and an additional finding that:
2-25                 (1)  the tenant, before bringing the action, gave the
2-26     owner or the owner's agent a written demand that the owner or the
 3-1     owner's agent enter into a lease agreement with the tenant under
 3-2     the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; and
 3-3                 (2)  the owner or the owner's agent without good cause
 3-4     refused or failed to enter into the lease agreement before the
 3-5     expiration of the 10th day after the date of receipt of the
 3-6     tenant's demand.
 3-7           Sec. 302.005.  DEFENSE TO FORCIBLE DETAINER ACTION.  It is a
 3-8     defense to a forcible detainer action under Chapter 24 that the
 3-9     underlying basis of the claim for possession, in whole or in part,
3-10     is the refusal or failure of the owner of a subsidized or assisted
3-11     development in which a housing conversion has occurred or the
3-12     owner's agent to enter into a lease agreement with the defendant as
3-13     described by Section 302.002, absent good cause for the refusal or
3-14     failure.
3-15           Sec. 302.006.  BURDEN ON OWNER OF DEVELOPMENT.  The owner has
3-16     the burden of pleading and proving good cause to refuse or fail to
3-17     enter into a lease agreement with the tenant as described by
3-18     Section 302.002.
3-19           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.