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.