83R6031 NC-D
 
  By: Bonnen of Brazoria H.B. No. 2757
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to authorizing a municipality to file a lien on homestead
  property for the costs incurred by the municipality related to a
  dangerous structure on the property.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 214.001(n), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (n)  If a municipality incurs expenses under Subsection (m),
  the municipality may assess the expenses on, and the municipality
  has a lien against, [unless it is a homestead as protected by the
  Texas Constitution,] the property on which the building was
  located. The lien is extinguished if the property owner or another
  person having an interest in the legal title to the property
  reimburses the municipality for the expenses. The lien arises and
  attaches to the property at the time the notice of the lien is
  recorded and indexed in the office of the county clerk in the county
  in which the property is located. The notice must contain the name
  and address of the owner if that information can be determined with
  a reasonable effort, a legal description of the real property on
  which the building was located, the amount of expenses incurred by
  the municipality, and the balance due.
         SECTION 2.  Section 214.0015(d), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (d)  The municipality shall impose a lien against the land on
  which the building stands or stood[, unless it is a homestead as
  protected by the Texas Constitution,] to secure the payment of the
  repair, removal, or demolition expenses or the civil penalty.
  Promptly after the imposition of the lien, the municipality must
  file for record, in recordable form in the office of the county
  clerk of the county in which the land is located, a written notice
  of the imposition of the lien. The notice must contain a legal
  description of the land.
         SECTION 3.  Section 214.101(e), Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (e)  If a municipality incurs expenses under this
  subchapter, the municipality may assess the expenses on, and the
  municipality has a lien against, [unless it is a homestead as
  protected by the Texas Constitution,] the property on which the
  swimming pool or the enclosure or fence is situated. The lien is
  extinguished if the property owner or another person having an
  interest in the legal title to the property reimburses the
  municipality for the expenses. The lien arises and attaches to the
  property at the time the notice of the lien is recorded in the
  office of the county clerk in the county in which the property is
  situated. The notice must contain the name and address of the owner
  if that information can be determined with a reasonable effort, a
  legal description of the real property on which the swimming pool or
  the enclosure or fence is situated, the amount of expenses incurred
  by the municipality, and the balance due. The lien is a privileged
  lien subordinate only to tax liens and all previously recorded bona
  fide mortgage liens attached to the real property to which the
  municipality's lien attaches.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2014, but only
  if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 83rd Legislature,
  Regular Session, 2013, authorizing the foreclosure of a lien
  against homestead property for costs incurred by a municipality to
  vacate, secure, repair, remove, or demolish a dangerous structure
  on the homestead property is approved by the voters. If that
  amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.