83R2606 AJZ-D

By: Gutierrez H.B. No. 2068

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to establishment and functions of certain urban land bank programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 374.022, Local Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(c) An urban renewal agency created under this subchapter may serve as a land bank under Chapter 379E.

SECTION 2. Section 379E.003, Local Government Code, is amended by amending Subdivision (3) and adding Subdivision (4-a) to read as follows:

(3) "Land bank" means an entity established or approved by the governing body of a municipality for the purpose of acquiring, holding, and transferring [unimproved real] property under this chapter.

(4-a) "Property" means real property and includes tax-foreclosed properties and any other type of property conveyed to a land bank under this chapter.

SECTION 3. Section 379E.004, Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 379E.004. URBAN LAND BANK PROGRAM. (a) The governing body of a municipality may:

(1) adopt an urban land bank program in which the officer charged with selling [real] property ordered sold pursuant to foreclosure of a tax lien may sell certain eligible [real] property by private sale for purposes of affordable housing development as provided by this chapter;

(2) enter into an interlocal agreement with any taxing authority or other governmental entity to allow a type of property other than a tax-foreclosed property to be conveyed to the land bank;

(3) approve an urban renewal agency created under Chapter 374 to serve as a land bank; and

(4) enter into an interlocal agreement with another municipality to administer a joint urban land bank program under this chapter.

(b) The governing body of a municipality that adopts an urban land bank program shall establish or approve a land bank for the purpose of acquiring, holding, and transferring [unimproved real] property under this chapter.

(c) A land bank established as part of a joint urban land bank program under this chapter may be dissolved by resolution of the governing body of any municipality that is a party to the agreement establishing the land bank. At any time, a participating municipality may withdraw from the agreement establishing the program without requiring a dissolution of the land bank.

SECTION 4. Section 379E.007(b), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) The city manager or the city manager's designee shall provide notice of the hearing to:

(1) all community housing development organizations and to any other known qualified participating developers; and

(2) all [to] neighborhood associations identified by the municipality as serving the neighborhoods in which properties anticipated to be available for sale to the land bank under this chapter are located.

SECTION 5. Section 379E.008, Local Government Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (j) and (k) to read as follows:

(a) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by Subsection (f), property that is ordered sold pursuant to foreclosure of a tax lien may be sold in a private sale to a land bank by the officer charged with the sale of the property without first offering the property for sale as otherwise provided by Section 34.01, Tax Code, if:

(1) the market value of the property as specified in the judgment of foreclosure is less than the total amount due under the judgment, including all taxes, penalties, and interest, plus the value of nontax liens held by a taxing unit and awarded by the judgment, court costs, and the cost of the sale;

(2) the property is not improved with a habitable building or buildings, as described by the municipality's health and safety code;

(3) there are delinquent taxes on the property for a total of at least two [five] years; and

(4) the municipality has executed with the other taxing units that are parties to the tax suit an interlocal agreement that enables those units to agree to participate in the program while retaining the right to withhold consent to the sale of specific properties to the land bank.

(j) Notwithstanding any other law, public property may be conveyed to a land bank without providing prior public notification with the consent of each governmental entity holding an interest in the property.

(k) Notwithstanding any other provisions in this section or any other law, a land bank may acquire property through voluntary donations or transfers from private owners.

SECTION 6. Chapter 379E, Local Government Code, is amended by adding Section 379E.0081 to read as follows:

Sec. 379E.0081. ACQUISITION AND DISPOSAL OF PROPERTY BY LAND BANK. (a) A land bank shall hold in its own name all property conveyed to the land bank. The property must be held for the benefit of any governmental entity establishing or approving the land bank for the purposes of this chapter.

(b) A land bank may, at the time the land bank sells or otherwise disposes of property, extinguish all delinquent property taxes owed on the property and all other nontax liens on the property if all affected taxing units enter into an interlocal agreement for that purpose.

(c) A land bank:

(1) shall inventory and appraise all property held by the land bank, with the appraisal value to be determined by the local county tax appraisal district and the inventory to be maintained as a public record;

(2) on the basis of suitability for use, shall organize and classify all property held by the land bank; and

(3) may manage, maintain, protect, rent, lease, repair, insure, alter, sell, trade, exchange, or otherwise dispose of any property held by the land bank if the disposition complies with any applicable law or agreement.

(d) A land bank may determine the sale price of a property to be sold by the land bank. The proceeds, if any, from the sale of property by a land bank must be:

(1) used in furtherance of land bank operations;

(2) used for the recovery of land bank expenses; and

(3) distributed pursuant to a resolution of the governing body of the municipality.

(e) A land bank may receive, from the date of the actual sale and for a period to be determined by agreement, a percentage of the property tax revenues of a property sold by the land bank if the affected taxing units agree to assign a portion of that revenue to the land bank.

SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.