Bill Makes Renting Out Someone Else’s Home A First-Degree Felony

The text as introduced · 1,622 words

89R1009 PRL/MEW-D

By: Harris Davila
H.B. No. 3273

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to limitations on certain suits to recover real property

held by another in adverse possession; the unauthorized sale,

rental, lease, or advertisement for sale, rental, or lease of real

property; and the removal of certain unauthorized occupants of a

dwelling; creating a criminal offense; authorizing a fee.

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

SECTION 1. Section 16.022, Civil Practice and Remedies

Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection

(a-1) to read as follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), for [ For ] the

purposes of this subchapter, a person is under a legal disability if

the person is:

(1) younger than 18 years of age, regardless of

whether the person is married;

(2) of unsound mind; or

(3) serving in the United States Armed Forces during

time of war.

(a-1) For purposes of a limitation imposed by Section

16.024, 16.025, 16.026, or 16.0265, a person is under a legal

disability if the person is:

(1) described by Subsection (a)(1) or (2);

(2) serving in the United States Armed Forces,

regardless of whether the service is during a time of war; or

(3) attending an institution of higher education or a

private or independent institution of higher education, as those

terms are defined by Section 61.003, Education Code.

SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 32, Penal Code, is amended

by adding Section 32.57 to read as follows:

Sec. 32.57. FRAUDULENT SALE, RENTAL, OR LEASE OF

RESIDENTIAL REAL PROPERTY. (a) A person commits an offense if the

person knowingly:

(1) lists or advertises for sale, rent, or lease

residential real property while knowing that the person offering to

sell, rent, or lease the property does not have legal title or

authority to sell, rent, or lease the property; or

(2) sells, rents, or leases to another person

residential real property to which the person does not have legal

title or authority to sell, rent, or lease.

(b) An offense under this section is a felony of the first

degree.

(c) If conduct that constitutes an offense under this

section also constitutes an offense under any other law, the actor

may be prosecuted under this section or the other law, but not both.

SECTION 3. Title 4, Property Code, is amended by adding

Chapter 24B to read as follows:

CHAPTER 24B. REMOVAL OF CERTAIN UNAUTHORIZED OCCUPANTS OF REAL

PROPERTY

Sec. 24B.001. RIGHT TO REQUEST REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED

OCCUPANT OF DWELLING BY SHERIFF. Notwithstanding any other law, an

owner of residential real property or the owner's agent may request

that the sheriff of the county in which the property is located

immediately remove a person who unlawfully entered and is occupying

a dwelling on the property without the owner's consent if:

(1) the property:

(A) was not open to the public when the person

entered the property; and

(B) is not the subject of pending litigation

between the owner and the person;

(2) the owner or the owner's agent has directed the

person to leave the property and the person has not done so; and

(3) the person is not:

(A) a current or former tenant of the owner under

an oral or written lease; or

(B) an immediate family member of the owner.

Sec. 24B.002. COMPLAINT TO REQUEST REMOVAL OF UNAUTHORIZED

OCCUPANT. (a) A property owner or the owner's agent may request

the removal of a person under Section 24B.001 by submitting to the

sheriff of the county in which the property is located a complaint

in substantially the following form that complies with Subsection

(b):

COMPLAINT TO REMOVE PERSON OCCUPYING DWELLING

WITHOUT OWNER'S CONSENT

I, _____ (name of complainant), declare under the penalty of

perjury that:

(Complete each item as applicable and initial each item.)

___ 1. I am the owner of residential real property

located at ______(property address) or the agent of the owner.

___ 2. A person unlawfully entered and occupies a

dwelling on the property without the owner's consent.

___ 3. The property was not open to the public when the

person entered the property.

___ 4. The property is not the subject of pending

litigation between the owner and the person.

___ 5. The owner or the owner's agent has directed the

person to leave the property and the person has not done so.

___ 6. The person is not a current or former tenant of

the owner under an oral or written lease and any lease produced by

the person is fraudulent.

___ 7. The person is not an owner or co-owner of the

property and any title to the property that lists the person as an

owner or co-owner is fraudulent.

___ 8. The person is not an immediate family member of

the owner.

___ 9. I understand that a person removed from the

property as a result of this complaint may bring an action against

me for any false statement made in the complaint or for wrongfully

submitting the complaint.

___ 10. I understand that I may be held liable for

actual damages, exemplary damages, court costs, and reasonable

attorney's fees in an action described by Item 9.

___ 11. I am requesting that the sheriff immediately

remove each person occupying the dwelling without the owner's

consent.

___ 12. A copy of my valid government-issued

identification is attached and, if I am the owner's agent, a

document evidencing my authority to act on the property owner's

behalf is attached.

I HAVE READ EACH STATEMENT IN THIS COMPLAINT AND CONFIRM EACH

STATEMENT IS TRUE AND CORRECT. I UNDERSTAND THAT A STATEMENT MADE

IN THIS COMPLAINT IS MADE UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY, PUNISHABLE

UNDER SECTION 37.02, PENAL CODE.

____________(signature of complainant)

(b) A complaint submitted under this section must be made

under oath or made as an unsworn declaration under Section 132.001,

Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

Sec. 24B.003. VERIFICATION OF COMPLAINT; SERVICE OF NOTICE

TO IMMEDIATELY VACATE. (a) A sheriff who receives a complaint

under Section 24B.002 shall verify that the complainant is:

(1) the record owner of the property that is the

subject of the complaint or the owner's agent; and

(2) otherwise entitled to the relief sought in the

complaint.

(b) On verifying the complaint under Subsection (a), the

sheriff shall without delay:

(1) serve notice to immediately vacate on the person

occupying the dwelling without the owner's consent; and

(2) put the owner in possession of the dwelling.

(c) Service of notice to immediately vacate may be

accomplished by:

(1) hand delivery to an occupant of the dwelling; or

(2) affixing the notice to the front door or entrance

of the dwelling.

(d) A sheriff serving notice to immediately vacate under

this section shall attempt to verify the identity of each person

occupying the dwelling and note each identity on the return of

service.

(e) A sheriff serving notice to immediately vacate under

this section may arrest any person found in the dwelling for an

outstanding warrant or for trespass or any other offense for which

probable cause exists.

(f) A sheriff who serves a notice to immediately vacate

under this section is entitled to receive from the complainant a fee

in an amount equal to the amount the sheriff would receive for

executing a writ of possession.

(g) After the service of notice to immediately vacate by the

sheriff under Subsection (b), the property owner or owner's agent

may request that the sheriff remain on the property to keep the

peace while the owner or owner's agent:

(1) changes any locks; and

(2) removes any personal property of an occupant from

the dwelling and places the personal property at or near the

property line of the owner's property.

(h) If a request described by Subsection (g) is made, the

sheriff may charge the person making the request a reasonable

hourly rate set by the sheriff for remaining on the property.

Sec. 24B.004. LIABILITY. (a) A sheriff is not liable to an

unauthorized occupant or any other person for loss or destruction

of or damage to property resulting from the removal of a person or

property under this chapter.

(b) Subject to Section 24B.005, a property owner or the

owner's agent is not liable to any person for loss or destruction of

or damage to personal property resulting from the removal of the

personal property from the owner's property under this chapter.

Sec. 24B.005. ACTION FOR WRONGFUL REMOVAL. (a) A person

who is wrongfully removed, or whose personal property is wrongfully

removed, from a dwelling or other real property under this chapter

may bring an action under this section to:

(1) recover possession of the real property; and

(2) recover from the person who requested the wrongful

removal:

(A) actual damages;

(B) exemplary damages equal to three times the

fair market rent of the dwelling;

(C) court costs; and

(D) reasonable attorney's fees.

(b) The court shall set an action brought under this section

for hearing at the earliest practicable date to expedite the

action.

Sec. 24B.006. NONEXCLUSIVITY. This chapter does not limit:

(1) the rights of a property owner; or

(2) the authority of a law enforcement officer to

arrest an unauthorized occupant of a dwelling for trespassing,

vandalism, theft, or another offense.

SECTION 4. Section 16.022, Civil Practice and Remedies

Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a cause of action that

accrues on or after the effective date of this Act. A cause of

action that accrued before the effective date of this Act is

governed by the law as it existed immediately before that date, and

that law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.