85R8636 GRM-F
 
  By: Murphy H.B. No. 1964
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the authority and liability of owners and managers of
  apartment houses, manufactured home rental communities,
  condominiums, and multiple use facilities in charging tenants for
  submetered and nonsubmetered master metered water and wastewater
  services.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 13.501, Water Code, is amended by
  amending Subdivision (5) and adding Subdivision (9) to read as
  follows:
               (5)  "Owner" means the legal titleholder of an
  apartment house, manufactured home rental community, or multiple
  use facility and any individual, firm, or corporation expressly
  identified in a lease agreement as [that purports to be] the
  landlord of tenants in the apartment house, manufactured home
  rental community, or multiple use facility.
               (9)  "Utility costs" or "utility service costs" means
  any amount charged to the owner by a retail public utility for water
  or wastewater service.
         SECTION 2.  Section 13.503, Water Code, is amended by adding
  Subsection (f) to read as follows:
         (f)  This section does not limit the authority of an owner,
  operator, or manager of an apartment house, manufactured home
  rental community, or multiple use facility to charge, bill for, or
  collect rent, an assessment, an administrative fee, or any other
  amount that is unrelated to utility costs.
         SECTION 3.  Section 13.5031, Water Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         Sec. 13.5031.  NONSUBMETERING RULES.  (a) Notwithstanding
  any other law, the utility commission shall adopt rules and
  standards governing billing systems or methods used by manufactured
  home rental community owners, apartment house owners, condominium
  managers, or owners of other multiple use facilities for prorating
  or allocating among tenants nonsubmetered master metered utility
  service costs. In addition to other appropriate safeguards for the
  tenant, those rules shall require that:
               (1)  the rental agreement contain a clear written
  description of the method of calculation of the allocation of
  nonsubmetered master metered utilities for the manufactured home
  rental community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
               (2)  the rental agreement contain a statement of the
  average manufactured home, apartment, or multiple use facility unit
  monthly bill for all units for any allocation of those utilities for
  the previous calendar year;
               (3)  except as provided by this section, an owner or
  condominium manager may not impose additional charges on a tenant
  in excess of the actual charges imposed on the owner or condominium
  manager for utility consumption by the manufactured home rental
  community, apartment house, or multiple use facility;
               (4)  the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
  adequate records regarding the utility consumption of the
  manufactured home rental community, apartment house, or multiple
  use facility, the charges assessed by the retail public utility,
  and the allocation of the utility costs to the tenants;
               (5)  the owner or condominium manager shall maintain
  all necessary records concerning utility allocations, including
  the retail public utility's bills, and shall make the records
  available for inspection by the tenants during normal business
  hours; and
               (6)  the owner or condominium manager may charge a
  tenant a fee for late payment of an allocated water bill if the
  amount of the fee does not exceed five percent of the bill paid
  late.
         (b)  This section does not limit the authority of an owner,
  operator, or manager of an apartment house, manufactured home
  rental community, or multiple use facility to charge, bill for, or
  collect rent, an assessment, an administrative fee, or any other
  amount that is unrelated to utility costs.
         SECTION 4.  Section 13.505, Water Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         Sec. 13.505.  ENFORCEMENT.  (a)  In this section,
  "overcharge" means the amount, if any, a tenant is charged for
  submetered or nonsubmetered master metered utility service to the
  tenant's dwelling unit after a violation occurred relating to the
  assessment of a portion of utility costs in excess of the amount the
  tenant would have been charged under this subchapter.
         (b)  If [In addition to the enforcement provisions contained
  in Subchapter K, if] an apartment house owner, condominium manager,
  manufactured home rental community owner, or other multiple use
  facility owner violates a rule of the utility commission regarding
  utility costs, the person claiming the violation may file a
  complaint with the utility commission.  If the utility commission
  determines that the owner or condominium manager overcharged a
  complaining tenant for water or wastewater service from the retail
  public utility, the utility commission shall require the owner or
  condominium manager, as applicable, to repay the complaining tenant
  the amount overcharged.
         (c)  If the owner or condominium manager fails to comply with
  the utility commission's order to repay the overcharge, the
  complaining tenant may recover from the owner or condominium
  manager in an action brought under this section [submetering of
  utility service consumed exclusively within the tenant's dwelling
  unit or multiple use facility unit or nonsubmetered master metered
  utility costs, the tenant may recover] three times the amount of the 
  [any] overcharge, a civil penalty of $100 [equal to one month's
  rent], reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs from the owner
  or condominium manager. However, an owner of an apartment house,
  manufactured home rental community, or other multiple use facility
  or condominium manager is not liable [for a civil penalty] if the
  owner or condominium manager proves the violation was a good faith,
  unintentional mistake.
         (d)  A tenant must exhaust administrative remedies before
  the tenant brings an action in district court against an apartment
  house owner, condominium manager, manufactured home rental
  community owner, or other multiple use facility owner who violates
  a requirement of this subchapter or a rule of the utility commission
  adopted under this subchapter.
         SECTION 5.  Section 13.506, Water Code, is amended by adding
  Subsection (d) to read as follows:
         (d)  There is a rebuttable presumption that an owner of an
  apartment house or a multiple use facility or a manager of a
  condominium that adopted an existing program to submeter or
  allocate water from a previous owner or manager has not committed an
  act giving rise to a cause of action under this section.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.