Bill Text: TX HB4771 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed


Bill Title: Relating to the creation of tenant legal services offices by local governments to assist low-income residential tenants in eviction cases and in cases involving discrimination based on the tenants' disabilities.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-16 - Referred to Local Government [HB4771 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-HB4771-Engrossed.html
  88R26188 MZM-F
 
  By: Bhojani, Rosenthal, Jones of Harris, H.B. No. 4771
      Stucky, Lambert
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of tenant legal services offices by local
  governments to assist low-income residential tenants in eviction
  cases and in cases involving discrimination based on the tenants'
  disabilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle C, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
  amended by adding Chapter 181 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 181. TENANT LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE
         Sec. 181.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Brief legal assistance" means individualized
  legal assistance provided in a single consultation by a tenant
  legal services office to a tenant.
               (2)  "Disability" has the meaning assigned by Section
  301.003, Property Code.
               (3)  "Full legal representation" means ongoing legal
  services provided by a tenant legal services office to a tenant,
  including court filings and appearances and other legal advice,
  advocacy, or assistance associated with a tenant's case.
               (4)  "Indigent" means having earnings that are not more
  than 200 percent of the income standard established by applicable
  federal poverty guidelines.
               (5)  "Local government" means a municipality or county
  or any combination of municipalities or counties.
               (6)  "Low-income" means having earnings that are not
  more than 400 percent of the income standard established by
  applicable federal poverty guidelines.
               (7)  "Reasonable accommodation" is a change,
  exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service
  that may be necessary for a tenant with disabilities to have an
  equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and
  common use spaces.
               (8)  "Reasonable modification" means a reasonable
  structural change made to existing premises that may be necessary
  for a tenant with disabilities to have full enjoyment of a dwelling,
  including public and common use spaces.
         Sec. 181.002.  TENANT LEGAL SERVICES OFFICE. (a) A local
  government may create a tenant legal services office to provide
  legal representation and services to tenants as provided by
  Subsection (b).
         (b)  A tenant legal services office may provide:
               (1)  full legal representation to a tenant:
                     (A)  in a residential eviction case if the tenant
  is indigent; or
                     (B)  in a case involving a violation of Section
  301.025, Property Code, if the tenant is a low-income individual
  with a disability; or
               (2)  brief legal assistance to a tenant in a
  residential eviction case if the tenant is a low-income individual
  who is not indigent.
         (c)  A local government may establish a department of the
  local government or by contract may designate a nonprofit
  corporation to serve as the tenant legal services office for the
  local government.
         (d)  Any combination of municipalities or counties may agree
  by entering into an interlocal contract under Chapter 791,
  Government Code, to jointly implement or administer a tenant legal
  services office under this chapter.
         (e)  A local government by ordinance, order, or interlocal
  contract may adopt rules and procedures necessary to implement this
  chapter.
         Sec. 181.003.  PROPOSALS BY NONPROFIT CORPORATIONS. (a)
  Before contracting with a nonprofit corporation to serve as a
  tenant legal services office, a local government shall solicit
  proposals for the office.
         (b)  A local government shall require a written plan from a
  nonprofit corporation proposing to serve as a tenant legal services
  office.
         (c)  The written plan must include:
               (1)  a budget for the tenant legal services office,
  including salaries;
               (2)  a description of each personnel position,
  including the director of legal services position;
               (3)  the maximum allowable caseload for each attorney
  employed by the office;
               (4)  provisions for personnel training;
               (5)  a description of anticipated overhead costs for
  the office; and
               (6)  a policy to ensure that the director of legal
  services and other attorneys employed by the office do not provide
  representation to a tenant if doing so would create a conflict of
  interest that has not been waived by the client.
         (d)  After considering each proposal submitted by a
  nonprofit corporation to a local government under this section, the
  local government shall select a proposal that reasonably
  demonstrates that the proposed tenant legal services office will
  provide adequate quality representation for tenants in disputes
  described by Section 181.002(b).
         (e)  The total cost of a proposal may not be the sole
  consideration in selecting the proposal.
         Sec. 181.004.  DIRECTOR OF LEGAL SERVICES. A tenant legal
  services office must be directed by a director of legal services
  who:
               (1)  is a member of the State Bar of Texas;
               (2)  has practiced law for at least three years; and
               (3)  has substantial experience in the practice of
  landlord-tenant law.
         Sec. 181.005.  FUNDING. (a)  A tenant legal services office
  is entitled to receive funds for personnel costs and expenses
  incurred in operating the office in amounts determined by the local
  government and paid out of the appropriate local fund.
         (b)  This chapter does not authorize a local government to
  disburse, administer, or otherwise allocate funds received by the
  local government from the basic civil legal services account
  established under Section 51.943, Government Code, to create or
  operate a tenant legal services office.
         Sec. 181.006.  EMPLOYEES. (a) A tenant legal services
  office may employ attorneys and other personnel necessary to
  perform the duties of the office as specified by the local
  government.
         (b)  The director of a tenant legal services office must
  designate at least one employee of the office to assist tenants with
  disabilities in obtaining compliance with laws that apply to
  housing for tenants with disabilities.
         Sec. 181.007.  DENIAL OF REPRESENTATION. A tenant legal
  services office may not represent a tenant if:
               (1)  a conflict of interest exists that has not been
  waived by the client;
               (2)  the office has insufficient resources to provide
  adequate representation for the tenant;
               (3)  the office is incapable of providing
  representation for the tenant in accordance with the rules of
  professional conduct; or
               (4)  the office shows other good cause for not
  accepting the request for representation by the tenant.
         Sec. 181.008.  INVESTIGATION OF FINANCIAL CONDITION. A
  tenant legal services office may investigate the financial
  condition of a tenant who requests representation by the office.
         Sec. 181.009.  PUBLIC HEARING. (a) The director of a tenant
  legal services office shall hold an annual public hearing to
  receive recommendations about the office.
         (b)  Not later than the 30th day before the date of the
  hearing, the director shall:
               (1)  provide notice of the hearing:
                     (A)  to each interested party and official; and
                     (B)  by publishing the notice in a newspaper of
  general circulation in the local government;
               (2)  provide a copy of the notice to an appropriate
  officer or employee of the local government who shall post the
  notice:
                     (A)  in each department or office of the local
  government responsible for providing social services for the
  residents of the local government; and
                     (B)  if the local government maintains an Internet
  website, on:
                           (i)  the website of the local government;
  and
                           (ii)  if applicable, each webpage of the
  website dedicated to a department or office described by Paragraph
  (A); and
               (3)  provide a copy of the notice to an appropriate
  officer or employee of each local court that has original
  jurisdiction over eviction cases or cases regarding violations of
  Section 301.025, Property Code, who shall post the notice in an
  appropriate place at the court on behalf of the director.
         (c)  The director shall produce a transcript of the hearing
  and post the transcript on the local government's Internet website
  not later than the 30th day after the date of the hearing.
         Sec. 181.010.  REPORT. Not later than September 1 of each
  even-numbered year, the director of a tenant legal services office
  shall submit a report to the governing body of the local government
  and post the report on the local government's Internet website that
  contains the following information that relates to the office for
  the preceding two years:
               (1)  the estimated number of tenants in the office's
  jurisdiction that are eligible for legal services;
               (2)  the number of tenants that received legal
  services, disaggregated by the following characteristics of the
  tenants, if voluntarily disclosed by the tenant:
                     (A)  household size;
                     (B)  estimated length of tenancy;
                     (C)  approximate household income;
                     (D)  disability; and
                     (E)  types of reasonable accommodations or
  modifications needed;
               (3)  the types of legal services provided;
               (4)  the outcomes immediately following the provision
  of full legal representation, as applicable and available,
  including the number of:
                     (A)  case dispositions in which:
                           (i)  tenants remained in their residences;
                           (ii)  tenants were evicted from their
  residences;
                           (iii)  tenants with disabilities remained in
  their residences; and
                           (iv)  tenants with disabilities were
  displaced from their residences;
                     (B)  case dispositions regarding reasonable
  accommodations or modifications for tenants with disabilities
  that:
                           (i)  were approved, including the types of
  accommodations or modifications that were approved; and
                           (ii)  were disapproved, including the types
  of accommodations or modifications that were disapproved; and
                     (C)  cases in which the attorney was discharged or
  withdrew;
               (5)  the expenditures for the office; and
               (6)  any other information required by the local
  government.
         SECTION 2.  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, 2023.
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