By: Canales, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Lucio) H.B. No. 1099

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 24, 2017; May 3, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce; May 17, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 17, 2017, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a residential tenant's right to summon police or other emergency assistance.

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

SECTION 1. Sections 92.015(a) and (b), Property Code, are amended to read as follows:

(a) A landlord may not:

(1) prohibit or limit a residential tenant's right to summon police or other emergency assistance based on the tenant's reasonable belief that an individual is in need of intervention or emergency assistance [in response to family violence]; or

(2) impose monetary or other penalties on a tenant who summons police or emergency assistance if the assistance was requested or dispatched based on the tenant's reasonable belief that an individual was in need of intervention or emergency assistance [in response to family violence].

(b) A provision in a lease is void if the provision purports to:

(1) waive a tenant's right to summon police or other emergency assistance based on the tenant's reasonable belief that an individual is in need of intervention or emergency assistance [in response to family violence]; or

(2) exempt any party from a liability or a duty under this section.

SECTION 2. Section 92.015(e), Property Code, is repealed.

SECTION 3. Section 92.015, Property Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a lease entered into or renewed on or after the effective date of this Act. A lease entered into or renewed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.

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