SB 1567: Bettencourt Occupancy Bill Covers Only College Towns Under 250,000

Caption

relating to the authority of home-rule municipalities to regulate the occupancy of dwelling units.

Summary

No occupancy caps based on who’s related. The campus must top 20,000 students. Tenants can sue.

The bill bars certain Texas cities from capping how many people can live in a home based on age, family status, occupation, relationship status, or whether the occupants are related. It covers only home-rule cities under 250,000 people that host, or sit next to, a college campus with more than 20,000 students, so renters, landlords and property owners in those college towns are affected. Those cities can still set occupancy limits by bedroom square footage, building and fire codes, health standards or affordable housing rules, but they cannot demand leases from brokers to count unrelated tenants, and owners or tenants can sue the city and collect attorney's fees.

Labels

Labels: BUZZER BEATER. Final vote May 30, 2025: the Senate concurred in the House amendments. 3 days before the session ended Jun 2, 2025.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-SB1567 · 2025-02-24

SOLD BY

Sen. Paul BettencourtRSenate 7

+ 1 coauthor

ITEM

relating to the authority of home-rule municipalities to regulate the occupancy of dwelling units.

WHAT IT DOES

No occupancy caps based on who’s related. The campus must top 20,000 students. Tenants can sue.

The bill bars certain Texas cities from capping how many people can live in a home based on age, family status, occupation, relationship status, or whether the occupants are related. It covers only home-rule cities under 250,000 people that host, or sit next to, a college campus with more than 20,000 students, so renters, landlords and property owners in those college towns are affected. Those cities can still set occupancy limits by bedroom square footage, building and fire codes, health standards or affordable housing rules, but they cannot demand leases from brokers to count unrelated tenants, and owners or tenants can sue the city and collect attorney's fees.

CHARGES

[x] BRACKET BILLanalysis confidence 55%

THE TEXT

“This subchapter applies only to a home-rule municipality with a population of less than 250,000:”

Bill text, enrolled version (F)

The caption reads as a rule for home-rule cities in general, but the text limits it to smaller cities that host or border a large college campus. The author's statement openly says the bill was bracketed this way, and the bracket still reaches a group of college towns rather than one place.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version F · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version F · May 29, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

Feb 24, 2025Received by the Secretary of the Senate
Feb 24, 2025Filed
Mar 6, 2025Read first time
Mar 6, 2025Referred to Local Government
Mar 11, 2025Co-author authorized
Mar 17, 2025Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
Mar 17, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 17, 2025Testimony taken in committee
Mar 17, 2025Left pending in committee
Mar 24, 2025Considered in public hearing
Mar 24, 2025Vote taken in committee
Mar 25, 2025Reported favorably as substituted
Mar 25, 2025Committee report printed and distributed
Apr 10, 2025Placed on intent calendar
Apr 14, 2025Rules suspended-Regular order of business
Apr 14, 2025Vote recorded in Journal
Apr 14, 2025Read 2nd time & passed to engrossment
Apr 14, 2025Vote recorded in Journal
Apr 14, 2025Three day rule suspended
Apr 14, 2025Record vote
Apr 14, 2025Read 3rd time
Apr 14, 2025Passed
Apr 14, 2025Record vote
Apr 14, 2025Reported engrossed
Apr 15, 2025Received from the Senate
Apr 17, 2025Read first time
Apr 17, 2025Referred to Land & Resource Management
Apr 28, 2025Considered in formal meeting
Apr 28, 2025Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
May 2, 2025Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
May 2, 2025Committee report distributed
May 5, 2025Committee report sent to Calendars
May 22, 2025Considered in Calendars
May 24, 2025Placed on General State Calendar
May 26, 2025Read 2nd time
May 26, 2025Amendment(s) offered 1-Vasut
May 26, 2025Point of order withdrawn (amendment) Rule 11, Section 2
May 26, 2025Amended 1-Vasut
May 26, 2025Record vote RV#3605
May 26, 2025Amended 2-Schofield and Vasut
May 26, 2025Record vote RV#3606
May 26, 2025Amended 3-Tepper
May 26, 2025Record vote RV#3607
May 26, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 26, 2025Passed to 3rd reading as amended
May 26, 2025Record vote RV#3608
May 26, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 27, 2025Read 3rd time
May 27, 2025Postponed 5/28/25 8:00 AM
May 28, 2025Laid out as postponed business
May 28, 2025Amended 1-Vasut, Shofner, Slawson, Schofield, and Tepper
May 28, 2025Passed as amended
May 28, 2025Record vote RV#3924
May 28, 2025Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
May 28, 2025House passage as amended reported
May 30, 2025House amendment(s) laid before the Senate
May 30, 2025Read
May 30, 2025Senate concurs in House amendment(s)
May 30, 2025Record vote
May 31, 2025Senate concurs in House amendment(s)-reported
May 31, 2025Reported enrolled
May 31, 2025Signed in the Senate
Jun 1, 2025Signed in the House
Jun 1, 2025Sent to the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Signed by the Governor
Jun 20, 2025Effective on 9/1/25

FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 101 yea · 29 nay

Senate · 30 yea · 1 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · May 28, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate: Final passage · Apr 14, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

Paul Bettencourt

Donors

Donors report through Friends of Paul Bettencourt.

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 27, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

Votes9

Senate May 30, 2025

Yea: 30
Nay: 1
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

SchwertnerNay

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

Senator Bettencourt moved to concur in the House amendments to SB 1567. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 30 (published)
Nay: 1 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 28, 2025

Yea: 101
Nay: 29
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 11
Excused: 7

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3924

SB 1567, as amended, was passed by (Record 3924): 101 Yeas, 29 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 101 (published)
Nay: 29 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 11 (derived from named list)
Excused: 7 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 26, 2025

Yea: 96
Nay: 44
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 8
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3608

SB 1567, as amended, was passed to third reading by (Record 3608): 96 Yeas, 44 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 96 (published)
Nay: 44 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 8 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 26, 2025

Yea: 114
Nay: 24
Present, not voting: 2
Absent: 9
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3607

Amendment No. 3 was adopted by (Record 3607): 114 Yeas, 24 Nays, 2 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 114 (published)
Nay: 24 (published)
Present, not voting: 2 (published)
Absent: 9 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 26, 2025

Yea: 113
Nay: 24
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 11
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3606

Amendment No. 2 was adopted by (Record 3606): 113 Yeas, 24 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 113 (published)
Nay: 24 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 11 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House May 26, 2025

Yea: 93
Nay: 45
Present, not voting: 1
Absent: 10
Excused: 1

Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 3605

Amendment No. 1 was adopted by (Record 3605): 93 Yeas, 45 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 93 (published)
Nay: 45 (published)
Present, not voting: 1 (published)
Absent: 10 (derived from named list)
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 14, 2025

Yea: 30
Nay: 1
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

SchwertnerNay

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

The bill was read third time and was passed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1. (Same as previous roll call)

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 30 (published)
Nay: 1 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 14, 2025

Yea: 30
Nay: 1
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

SchwertnerNay

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Sources

Senator Bettencourt moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that CSSB 1567 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: 30 (published)
Nay: 1 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Senate Apr 14, 2025

Yea: Not printed
Nay: Not printed
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Names

SchwertnerNay

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

Senate journal

Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.

Voice vote. No numeric tally or individual yeas are inferred.

Sources

Senator Bettencourt moved to suspend the regular order of business to take up for consideration CSSB 1567 at this time on its second reading: CSSB 1567, Relating to the authority of home-rule municipalities to regulate the occupancy of dwelling units. The motion prevailed. Senator Schwertner asked to be recorded as voting "Nay" on suspension of the regular order of business. The bill was read second time and was passed to engrossment by a viva voce vote.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

Yea: Not printed
Nay: Not printed
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: Not printed

Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses31

For: 22
Against: 9
On: 0

Names

For

Dallas Housing Coalition1 registration
Self6 registrations
Self; Americans for Prosperity1 registration
Self; Institute for Justice1 registration
Self; TAMU SGA1 registration
Self; Texans For Housing1 registration
Self; Texas A&M Student Government Assosiation1 registration
Self; Texas Appleseed1 registration
Texans for Reasonable Solutions1 registration
Texas Apartment Association1 registration
Texas Farm Bureau1 registration
Texas Public Policy Foundation2 registrations
Texas Realtors3 registrations
Texas20361 registration

Against

City of Leander1 registration
Self3 registrations
Self; College Station Association of Neighborhoods2 registrations
Self; College station Association of Neighborhoods1 registration
Self; College Station Association of Neighborhoods (CSAN)1 registration
Texas Neighborhood Association1 registration

Sources

31 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

Senate witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version F · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version F · May 29, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Analysis of text version F by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas Senate · Filed Feb 24, 2025

06/20/2025 E Effective on 9/1/25

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · Senate Committee Report · Engrossed · House Committee Report · Enrolled

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 2:09 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors

Sarah EckhardtDSenate 14

Companion

HB 2797 by Vasut (identical)

Subjects

City Government--Land Use & Zoning

Civil Remedies & Liabilities

County Government--Land Use & Zoning

Housing--General

Text

The text as introduced · 386 words

89R4653 DRS-F

By: Bettencourt
S.B. No. 1567

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of home-rule municipalities to regulate

the occupancy of dwelling units.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 211, Local Government Code, is amended

by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER D. RESIDENTIAL ZONING LIMITATIONS RELATED TO OCCUPANCY

IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES

Sec. 211.051. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "dwelling

unit" means a house, apartment unit, or any unit in a multiunit

residential structure. The term does not include a unit in a hotel,

motel, or other establishment in which more than half of the units

are intended to be used for transient accommodations.

Sec. 211.052. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only

to a home-rule municipality.

Sec. 211.053. DWELLING UNIT OCCUPANCY REQUIREMENTS. A

municipality may not adopt or enforce a zoning ordinance, rule, or

other regulation that limits the number of people who may occupy a

dwelling unit based on:

(1) age;

(2) familial status;

(3) occupation;

(4) relationship status; or

(5) whether the occupants are related to each other by

a certain degree of affinity or consanguinity.

Sec. 211.054. NO EFFECT ON OTHER ZONING AUTHORITY. This

subchapter does not prohibit a municipality from imposing a limit

on the number of people who may occupy a dwelling unit based on

health and safety standards contained in:

(1) a building code as adopted under Subchapter G,

Chapter 214;

(2) a fire code;

(3) standards adopted by the Department of State

Health Services; or

(4) local, state, or federal affordable housing

program guidelines.

Sec. 211.055. NO EFFECT ON PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS

AND OTHER PRIVATE AGREEMENTS. This subchapter does not prohibit a

property owner from enforcing rules or deed restrictions imposed by

a property owners' association or by other private agreement.

Sec. 211.056. PROPERTY OWNER ACTION. (a) A property owner

in a municipality that violates this subchapter may bring an action

against the municipality for damages incurred due to the violation

and for appropriate equitable relief.

(b) Governmental immunity of the municipality to suit and

from liability is waived to the extent of liability created by this

section.

(c) A court may award a prevailing claimant reasonable

attorney's fees incurred in bringing an action under this section.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

Verdict: Smells

The receipt

SOLD BY

ITEM

WHAT IT DOES

CHARGES

TOTAL

HISTORY

SIGNED FOR BY

Donors

Senate May 30, 2025

House May 28, 2025

House May 26, 2025

House May 26, 2025

House May 26, 2025

House May 26, 2025

Senate Apr 14, 2025

Senate Apr 14, 2025

Senate Apr 14, 2025

For

Against

Companion