Bill Text: TX HB1952 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Relating to community homes for persons with disabilities; creating a criminal offense.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-05 - Referred to Business & Industry [HB1952 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB1952-Introduced.html

---

86R6920 BEE-F
By: Zerwas H.B. No. 1952

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to community homes for persons with disabilities; creating
a criminal offense.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 123.002, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 123.002. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. In this chapter:
(1) "Community home" means a community-based
residential home or assisted living facility that qualifies as a
community home under Section 123.004.
(2) "Person [, "person] with a disability" means a
person whose ability to care for himself or herself, perform manual
tasks, learn, work, walk, see, hear, speak, or breathe is
substantially limited because the person has:
(A) [(1)] an orthopedic, visual, speech, or
hearing impairment;
(B) [(2)] Alzheimer's disease;
(C) [(3)] pre-senile dementia;
(D) [(4)] cerebral palsy;
(E) [(5)] epilepsy;
(F) [(6)] muscular dystrophy;
(G) [(7)] multiple sclerosis;
(H) [(8)] cancer;
(I) [(9)] heart disease;
(J) [(10)] diabetes;
(K) [(11)] an intellectual disability;
(L) [(12)] autism; or
(M) [(13)] mental illness.
(3) "Property owners' association" and "restrictive
covenant" have the meanings assigned by Section 202.001, Property
Code.
SECTION 2. Section 123.003(b), Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A restriction, reservation, exception, or other
provision in an instrument created or amended on or after September
1, 1985, that relates to the transfer, sale, lease, or use of
property may not prohibit or effectively prohibit the use of the
property as a community home.
SECTION 3. Section 123.004, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 123.004. QUALIFICATION AS COMMUNITY HOME. To qualify
as a community home, an entity must comply with Sections 123.005
through 123.008 and be:
(1) a community-based residential home operated by:
(A) the Health and Human Services Commission
[Department of Aging and Disability Services];
(B) a community center organized under
Subchapter A, Chapter 534, Health and Safety Code, that provides
services to persons with disabilities;
(C) an entity subject to the Texas Nonprofit
Corporation Law as described by Section 1.008(d), Business
Organizations Code; or
(D) an entity certified by the Health and Human
Services Commission [Department of Aging and Disability Services]
as a provider under the ICF-IID medical assistance program; or
(2) an assisted living facility licensed under Chapter
247, Health and Safety Code, provided that the exterior structure
retains compatibility with the surrounding residential dwellings.
SECTION 4. Section 123.009, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 123.009. LIMITATION ON NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLES;
OFFENSE. (a) Except as otherwise provided by municipal ordinance
or by a restrictive covenant enforced by a property owners'
association, the residents of a community home may not keep for the
use of the residents of the home, either on the premises of the home
or on a public right-of-way adjacent to the home, motor vehicles in
numbers that exceed the number of bedrooms in the home as recorded
in the appraisal records of the county in which the home is located.
(b) A person commits an offense if the person keeps a motor
vehicle in violation of Subsection (a).
(c) An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
(d) A motor vehicle kept in violation of Subsection (a) may
be towed at the expense of the owner of the vehicle.
SECTION 5. Section 123.010, Human Resources Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 123.010. ENSURING SAFETY OF RESIDENTS OF COMMUNITY
HOME AND AFFECTED NEIGHBORHOOD. (a) The Health and Human Services
Commission [Department of Aging and Disability Services] shall make
every reasonable effort to ensure the safety of residents of a
community home operated by or under the regulatory jurisdiction of
the commission [department] and the residents of a neighborhood
that is affected by the location of the community home.
(b) A property owners' association or an affected property
owner in a neighborhood in which a community home is located may
report to an entity with regulatory jurisdiction over or that
operates the home that the home:
(1) has violated a provision of this chapter; or
(2) poses a hazard to the safety or well-being of the
neighborhood or community.
(c) An entity that receives a report under Subsection (b)
shall investigate the report in a timely manner and take
appropriate action, including, as applicable, revocation of the
entity's authorization to operate the community home.
SECTION 6. Section 202.002(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) This chapter does not affect the requirements of Chapter
123, Human Resources Code [the Community Homes for Disabled Persons
Location Act (Article 1011n, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)].
SECTION 7. Section 202.003(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) In this subsection, "community [family] home" has the
meaning assigned by Section 123.002, Human Resources Code [is a
residential home that meets the definition of and requirements
applicable to a family home under the Community Homes for Disabled
Persons Location Act (Article 1011n, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes)]. A dedicatory instrument or restrictive covenant may
not be construed to prevent the use of property as a community
[family] home. However, any restrictive covenant that applies to
property used as a community [family] home shall be liberally
construed to give effect to its purposes and intent except to the
extent that the construction would restrict the use as a community
[family] home.
SECTION 8. Chapter 202, Property Code, is amended by adding
Section 202.0045 to read as follows:
Sec. 202.0045. ENFORCEMENT OF RESTRICTIVE COVENANT ON
PROPERTY USED AS COMMUNITY HOME. (a) A property owners'
association may enforce a restrictive covenant that applies to
property used as a community home, as defined by Section 123.002,
Human Resources Code, to the same extent and in the same manner as
the restrictive covenant is or would be enforced with respect to any
other property that is subject to the restrictive covenant.
(b) This section does not authorize a property owners'
association to enforce a restriction that prohibits or effectively
prohibits the use of property as a community home.
SECTION 9. As soon as is practicable after the effective
date of this Act, an entity with regulatory jurisdiction over a
community home under Section 123.004, Human Resources Code, as
amended by this Act, shall adopt the rules necessary to implement
Section 123.010, Human Resources Code, as amended by this Act.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.