Alders Bill Lets Owners Collect From Cities That Won’t Enforce

The text as introduced · 957 words

89R10393 DRS-D

By: Alders
H.B. No. 4943

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to property owner claims for compensation from certain

municipalities that fail to enforce certain laws.

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

SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 229, Local Government

Code, is amended by adding Section 229.902 to read as follows:

Sec. 229.902. COMPENSATION FOR FAILURE OF MUNICIPALITY TO

ENFORCE CERTAIN LAWS OR ABATE PUBLIC NUISANCE. (a) In this section:

(1) "Fair market value" means the price real property

will bring when offered for sale by one who desires to sell, but is

not obliged to sell, and is bought by one who desires to buy, but is

under no necessity of buying.

(2) "Nuisance violation" means a violation of a state

law or a municipal ordinance or regulation prohibiting public

camping, obstructing a public thoroughfare, loitering,

panhandling, public urination or defecation, public consumption of

an alcoholic beverage, possession or use of a controlled substance,

or retail theft.

(3) "Property owner" means a person:

(A) holding fee simple title in real property; or

(B) leasing real property for which the person is

required under the terms of the lease to pay all or part of the

property taxes on the property or the cost of maintenance or

insurance for the property.

(b) This section applies only to a municipality with a

population of 900,000 or more.

(c) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by

Subsection (d), a property owner may submit a claim to a

municipality for compensation from the municipality with respect to

property located in the municipality if the municipality:

(1) adopts and follows a policy, pattern, or practice

of refusing to enforce a state law or a municipal ordinance or

regulation prohibiting a nuisance violation; or

(2) maintains a public nuisance.

(d) This section does not apply to:

(1) a decision by a municipality to exercise

prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute a nuisance violation if:

(A) the exercise of discretion is based on the

circumstances of an individual case; and

(B) the municipality publishes a public notice of

the justification for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion

described by Paragraph (A); or

(2) a municipal action required by state or federal

law.

(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a property owner

shall elect the amount of compensation paid to the property owner

under this section as determined by:

(1) the reasonably necessary documented expenses

incurred by the property owner to mitigate the effect of the

nuisance violation on the property that is the subject of the claim;

or

(2) the diminution in the fair market value of the

property owner's real property that is the subject of the claim.

(f) The amount of compensation paid to a property owner

under this section may not exceed the amount of property taxes

assessed by the municipality on the property that is the subject of

the claim and paid by the property owner for the tax year in which

the property owner submits the claim for compensation.

(g) Not later than the 30th day after the date a

municipality receives a written claim for compensation under this

section, the municipality shall accept or reject the claim and

notify the property owner.

(h) If a municipality accepts a claim for compensation under

this section, the municipality shall pay the claim in the amount

determined under Subsection (e).

(i) If a municipality rejects a claim for compensation under

this section or does not respond to a claim within the time period

prescribed by Subsection (g), the property owner who submitted the

claim may file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in the

county in which the property that is the subject of the claim is

located.

(j) In an action filed under Subsection (i):

(1) the court shall determine whether:

(A) the property owner is entitled to the

compensation claimed; and

(B) the amount of compensation claimed is

reasonable; and

(2) the municipality has the burden of establishing

that:

(A) the municipal response to the nuisance

violation that is the basis for the claim for compensation is

lawful; or

(B) the amount of compensation claimed is

unreasonable.

(k) In an action filed under Subsection (i):

(1) a municipality may not recover attorney's fees or

court costs; and

(2) a successful claimant may recover reasonable

attorney's fees and court costs from the municipality.

(l) A property owner may not submit more than one claim for

compensation in the same tax year under this section relating to a

property affected by a nuisance violation. A property owner may

submit another claim pertaining to that property in the following

tax year if:

(1) the municipality has not:

(A) stopped the policy, pattern, or practice or

abated the public nuisance that is the basis for the claim; or

(B) entered into an agreement with the property

owner to settle the claim; or

(2) the property owner submitted a claim for

compensation under this section in the preceding tax year in an

amount that exceeded the amount described by Subsection (f) for

that tax year.

(m) A property owner is not required to exhaust any other

remedies that may be available under other law before submitting a

claim for compensation under this section.

(n) A claim for compensation under this section is not

exclusive and does not preclude a property owner from seeking any

other remedy that may be available under other law.

SECTION 2. Section 229.902, Local Government Code, as added

by this Act, applies only to a claim for compensation from a

municipality based on expenses incurred by a property owner on or

after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.