78(R) HB 1129 - Senate Committee Report version


                                                                                


By:  Farrar (Senate Sponsor - Gallegos)                           H.B. No. 1129
	(In the Senate - Received from the House May 7, 2003; 
May 9, 2003, read first time and referred to Committee on 
Intergovernmental Relations; May 22, 2003, reported adversely, 
with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 5, 
Nays 0; May 22, 2003, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1129                                   By:  Gallegos


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

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 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.                           



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