BILL ANALYSIS |
C.S.H.B. 1821 |
By: Clardy |
Business & Industry |
Committee Report (Substituted) |
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Interested parties contend that the amount of the late fee a landlord may charge a tenant for the failure to pay rent is unclear and that this uncertainty may lead to costly and unnecessary litigation over this issue. C.S.H.B. 1821 seeks to reduce this uncertainty by establishing standardized fees for the failure to pay rent that are capped at specified amounts.
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CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
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RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
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ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 1821 amends the Property Code to change one of the required conditions that trigger an exception to the prohibition against a landlord charging a tenant a late fee for failing to pay rent from such a fee being a reasonable estimate of uncertain damages to the landlord that are incapable of precise calculation and result from late payment of rent to the initial late fee not exceeding eight percent of one month's rent and each subsequent daily late fee not exceeding one percent of one month's rent. The bill caps at 15 the number of days for which a daily late fee may be charged for the rent remaining unpaid after the date the rent was originally due.
C.S.H.B. 1821 repeals Section 92.019(b), Property Code.
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EFFECTIVE DATE
January 1, 2018.
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COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 1821 may differ from the original in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following comparison is organized and formatted in a manner that indicates the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
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