H.B. No. 1129
AN ACT
relating to enforcement of certain types of restrictions in certain
municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 212.132, Local Government Code, as
redesignated by Chapter 1420, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 212.132. DEFINITION. In this subchapter,
"restriction" means a land-use regulation [limitation] that:
(1) affects the character of the use to which real
property, including residential and rental property, may be put;
(2) fixes the distance that a structure must be set
back from property lines, street lines, or lot lines; [or]
(3) affects the size of a lot or the size, type, and
number of structures that may be built on the lot;
(4) regulates or restricts the type of activities that
may take place on the property, including commercial activities,
sweepstakes activities, keeping of animals, use of fire, nuisance
activities, vehicle storage, and parking;
(5) regulates architectural features of a structure,
construction of fences, landscaping, garbage disposal, or noise
levels; or
(6) specifies the type of maintenance that must be
performed on a lot or structure, including maintenance of a yard or
fence.
SECTION 2. Section 212.133, Local Government Code, as
redesignated by Chapter 1420, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 212.133. SUIT TO ENFORCE RESTRICTIONS. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), the [The] municipality may sue in any
court of competent jurisdiction to enjoin or abate a violation of a
restriction contained or incorporated by reference in a properly
recorded plan, plat, or other instrument that affects a subdivision
located inside the boundaries of the municipality.
(b) The municipality may not initiate or maintain a suit to
enjoin or abate a violation of a restriction if a property owners'
association with the authority to enforce the restriction files
suit to enforce the restriction.
(c) In a suit by a property owners' association to enforce a
restriction, the association may not submit into evidence or
otherwise use the work product of the municipality's legal counsel.
(d) In a suit filed under this section alleging that any of
the following activities violates a restriction limiting property
to residential use, it is not a defense that the activity is
incidental to the residential use of the property:
(1) storing a tow truck, crane, moving van or truck,
dump truck, cement mixer, earth-moving device, or trailer longer
than 20 feet; or
(2) repairing or offering for sale more than two motor
vehicles in a 12-month period.
(e) A municipality may not enforce a deed restriction which
purports to regulate or restrict the rights granted to public
utilities to install, operate, maintain, replace, and remove
facilities within easements and private or public rights-of-way.
SECTION 3. Section 212.133, Local Government Code, as
redesignated by Chapter 1420, Acts of the 77th Legislature, Regular
Session, 2001, and amended by this Act, applies only to a suit filed
on or after the effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
immediately before that date, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 4. Subchapter E, Chapter 212, Local Government
Code, as redesignated by Chapter 1420, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section
212.1335 to read as follows:
Sec. 212.1335. FORECLOSURE BY PROPERTY OWNERS'
ASSOCIATION. (a) A municipality may not participate in a suit or
other proceeding to foreclose a property owners' association's lien
on real property.
(b) In a suit or other proceeding to foreclose a property
owners' association's lien on real property in the subdivision, the
association may not submit into evidence or otherwise use the work
product of the municipality's legal counsel.
SECTION 5. Subchapter E, Chapter 212, Local Government
Code, as redesignated by Chapter 1420, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is amended by adding Section
212.138 to read as follows:
Sec. 212.138. EFFECT ON OTHER LAW. This subchapter does not
prohibit the exhibition, play, or necessary incidental action
thereto of a sweepstakes not prohibited by Chapter 43, Business &
Commerce Code, as added by Chapter 1119, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001.
SECTION 6. Section 212.1335, Local Government Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to a suit filed on or after the
effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the effective date
of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before that
date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1129 was passed by the House on May 6,
2003, by a non-record vote; that the House refused to concur in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1129 on May 29, 2003, and requested
the appointment of a conference committee to consider the
differences between the two houses; and that the House adopted the
conference committee report on H.B. No. 1129 on May 31, 2003, by a
non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1129 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 28, 2003, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
1129 on June 1, 2003, by a viva-voce vote.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor