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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to a residential tenant's right to summon police or other |
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emergency assistance. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Sections 92.015(a) and (b), Property Code, are |
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amended to read as follows: |
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(a) A landlord may not: |
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(1) prohibit or limit a residential tenant's right to |
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summon police or other emergency assistance based on the tenant's |
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reasonable belief that an individual is in need of intervention or |
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emergency assistance [in response to family violence]; or |
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(2) impose monetary or other penalties on a tenant who |
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summons police or emergency assistance if the assistance was |
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requested or dispatched based on the tenant's reasonable belief |
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that an individual was in need of intervention or emergency |
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assistance [in response to family violence]. |
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(b) A provision in a lease is void if the provision purports |
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to: |
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(1) waive a tenant's right to summon police or other |
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emergency assistance based on the tenant's reasonable belief that |
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an individual is in need of intervention or emergency assistance |
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[in response to family violence]; or |
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(2) exempt any party from a liability or a duty under |
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this section. |
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SECTION 2. Section 92.015(e), Property Code, is repealed. |
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SECTION 3. Section 92.015, Property Code, as amended by |
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this Act, applies only to a lease entered into or renewed on or |
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after the effective date of this Act. A lease entered into or |
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renewed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law |
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as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and |
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that law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |