| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to a mortgage servicer's notice of sale to a debtor and the |
|
|
debtor's subsequent notice to tenant. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 24.005(b), Property Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(b) If the occupant is a tenant at will or by sufferance, the |
|
|
landlord must give the tenant at least three days' written notice to |
|
|
vacate before the landlord files a forcible detainer suit unless |
|
|
the parties have contracted for a shorter or longer notice period in |
|
|
a written lease or agreement. If a property is subject to a notice |
|
|
of foreclosure sale under Section 51.002(b), a debtor who provides |
|
|
to a tenant a copy of the notice as provided by Section 51.0022 may |
|
|
require the tenant to vacate the property before the date of the |
|
|
sale stated in the notice only for failure to pay any rent or other |
|
|
payment, including a late fee, due under the lease agreement as of |
|
|
the date the tenant is required to vacate the premises. If a |
|
|
building is purchased at a tax foreclosure sale or a trustee's |
|
|
foreclosure sale under a lien superior to the tenant's lease and the |
|
|
tenant timely pays rent and is not otherwise in default under the |
|
|
tenant's lease after foreclosure, the purchaser must give a |
|
|
residential tenant of the building at least 30 days' written notice |
|
|
to vacate if the purchaser chooses not to continue the lease. The |
|
|
tenant is considered to timely pay the rent under this subsection |
|
|
if, during the month of the foreclosure sale, the tenant pays the |
|
|
rent for that month to the landlord before receiving any notice that |
|
|
a foreclosure sale is scheduled during the month or pays the rent |
|
|
for that month to the foreclosing lienholder or the purchaser at |
|
|
foreclosure not later than the fifth day after the date of receipt |
|
|
of a written notice of the name and address of the purchaser that |
|
|
requests payment. Before a foreclosure sale, a foreclosing |
|
|
lienholder may give written notice to a tenant stating that a |
|
|
foreclosure notice has been given to the landlord or owner of the |
|
|
property and specifying the date of the foreclosure. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Sections 51.002(b) and (g), Property Code, are |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), notice of the |
|
|
sale, which must include a statement of the earliest time at which |
|
|
the sale will begin, must be given at least 60 [21] days before the |
|
|
date of the sale by: |
|
|
(1) posting at the courthouse door of each county in |
|
|
which the property is located a written notice designating the |
|
|
county in which the property will be sold; |
|
|
(2) filing in the office of the county clerk of each |
|
|
county in which the property is located a copy of the notice posted |
|
|
under Subdivision (1); and |
|
|
(3) serving written notice of the sale by certified |
|
|
mail on each debtor who, according to the records of the mortgage |
|
|
servicer of the debt, is obligated to pay the debt. |
|
|
(g) The entire calendar day on which the notice of sale is |
|
|
given, regardless of the time of day at which the notice is given, |
|
|
is included in computing the 60-day [21-day] notice period required |
|
|
by Subsection (b), and the entire calendar day of the foreclosure |
|
|
sale is excluded. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Chapter 51, Property Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 51.0022 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 51.0022. NOTICE OF SALE TO TENANT. Not later than the |
|
|
seventh day after the date a debtor receives a notice of sale under |
|
|
Section 51.002(b), the debtor shall serve a copy of the notice on |
|
|
each tenant of the property by any one of the following methods: |
|
|
(1) personal delivery to the tenant; |
|
|
(2) certified mail, return receipt requested, to the |
|
|
tenant; or |
|
|
(3) leaving the notice inside the dwelling, as defined |
|
|
by Section 92.001, in a conspicuous place if notice in that manner |
|
|
is authorized in a written lease. |
|
|
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by Sections 24.005(b) and |
|
|
51.002, Property Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a |
|
|
notice of sale required to be provided on or after September 1, |
|
|
2009. A notice required to be provided before September 1, 2009, is |
|
|
governed by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that |
|
|
law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |