SRC-LBB H.B. 3190 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   H.B. 3190
78R9095 QS-DBy: Uresti (Carona)
Business & Commerce
5/20/2003
Engrossed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

In 2001, the Property Code was amended to require commercial landlords to
timely return security deposits.  The bill provided for a 60-day deadline
for return, but the reference to a 30-day deadline was inadvertently not
changed.  H.B. 3190 amends the Property Code by changing from a 30-day
deadline to a 60 day deadline, the time in which a landlord is required to
refund a security deposit or to provide documentation of why the deposit
will not be refunded. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to
a state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 93.005(a), Property Code, to require the
landlord to refund the security deposit to the tenant not later than the
60th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises and provides
notice to the landlord or the landlord's agent of the tenant's forwarding
address under Section 93.009. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 93.011(d), Property Code, to provide that a
landlord who fails to return a security deposit or to provide a written
description and itemized list of deductions on or before the 60th, rather
than 30th, day after the date the tenant surrenders possession is presumed
to have acted in bad faith. 

SECTION 3.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

SECTION 4.  Effective date:  September 1, 2003.