1-1     By:  Barrientos                                       S.B. No. 1621
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2001; March 14, 2001, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
 1-4     April 24, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
 1-5     Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 24, 2001,
 1-6     sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1621                  By:  Duncan
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to discrimination against tenants of federally subsidized
1-11     or assisted housing converted to market rate housing.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Title 15, Property Code, is amended by adding
1-14     Chapter 302 to read as follows:
1-15                CHAPTER 302.  DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TENANTS
1-16             OF CERTAIN FEDERALLY SUBSIDIZED OR ASSISTED HOUSING
1-17           Sec. 302.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
1-18                 (1)  "Housing conversion" means:
1-19                       (A)  prepayment of a mortgage by an owner of a
1-20     subsidized or assisted development; or
1-21                       (B)  nonrenewal of an expiring Section 8
1-22     project-based or rent supplement project-based contract by an owner
1-23     of a subsidized or assisted development.
1-24                 (2)  "Subsidized or assisted development" means a
1-25     multifamily housing development subsidized or assisted by the
1-26     United States Department of Housing and Urban Development under
1-27     Section 8, United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Section
1-28     1437f).
1-29           Sec. 302.002.  PROHIBITED DISCRIMINATION AGAINST TENANT OF
1-30     SUBSIDIZED OR ASSISTED DEVELOPMENT.  An owner of a subsidized or
1-31     assisted development in which a housing conversion has occurred or
1-32     the owner's agent may not without good cause refuse or fail to
1-33     enter into a lease agreement with a tenant of the development under
1-34     the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program for any reason related
1-35     to the tenant's participation in the program.
1-36           Sec. 302.003.  CIVIL ACTION.  A tenant of a subsidized or
1-37     assisted development in which a housing conversion has occurred may
1-38     bring a civil action against an owner of the development if the
1-39     owner or the owner's agent without good cause refuses or fails to
1-40     enter into a lease agreement with the tenant as described by
1-41     Section 302.002.
1-42           Sec. 302.004.  RELIEF GRANTED.  (a)  If in an action brought
1-43     under Section 302.003 the court finds that an owner of a subsidized
1-44     or assisted development in which a housing conversion has occurred
1-45     or the owner's agent without good cause has refused or failed to
1-46     enter into a lease agreement with a tenant as described by Section
1-47     302.002, the court shall award to the tenant:
1-48                 (1)  actual damages;
1-49                 (2)  attorney's fees, court costs, and any other
1-50     reasonable costs incurred in bringing the action; and
1-51                 (3)  any appropriate injunctive relief, including
1-52     prohibiting the owner or the owner's agent from engaging in
1-53     discrimination as described by this chapter or ordering appropriate
1-54     affirmative action.
1-55           (b)  The court may award a civil penalty of $100 plus three
1-56     times the tenant's fair market monthly rent if the court makes the
1-57     finding described by Subsection (a) and an additional finding that:
1-58                 (1)  the tenant, before bringing the action, gave the
1-59     owner or the owner's agent a written demand that the owner or the
1-60     owner's agent enter into a lease agreement with the tenant under
1-61     the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program; and
1-62                 (2)  the owner or the owner's agent without good cause
1-63     refused or failed to enter into the lease agreement before the
1-64     expiration of the 10th day after the date of receipt of the
 2-1     tenant's demand.
 2-2           Sec. 302.005.  DEFENSE TO FORCIBLE DETAINER ACTION.  It is a
 2-3     defense to a forcible detainer action under Chapter 24 that the
 2-4     underlying basis of the claim for possession, in whole or in part,
 2-5     is the refusal or failure of the owner of a subsidized or assisted
 2-6     development in which a housing conversion has occurred or the
 2-7     owner's agent to enter into a lease agreement with the defendant as
 2-8     described by Section 302.002, absent good cause for the refusal or
 2-9     failure.
2-10           Sec. 302.006.  BURDEN ON OWNER OF DEVELOPMENT.  The owner has
2-11     the burden of pleading and proving good cause to refuse or fail to
2-12     enter into a lease agreement with the tenant as described by
2-13     Section 302.002.
2-14           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-15                                  * * * * *