AUSTIN (Nexstar) -- The Texas House voted 85-49 Friday to send Senate Bill 38 to a third reading after adding four amendments on the House floor. The bill speeds up the process of eviction, which supporters say is necessary to combat the problem of 'squatters' -- people who unlawfully live in an unoccupied home and refuse to leave.
Opponents of SB 38 claim it's a device to make it easier to evict tenants, rather than to address the problem of squatting.
'I couldn't find the definition of squatters'
"I couldn't find the definition of squatters in this bill anywhere. Do you know where it is, if it is?" State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, asked of three invited witnesses speaking on behalf of the Texas Apartment Association during a Senate State Affairs Committee meeting on March 24.
"We'll have an attorney up after this, who I think can provide that for you," Stephanie Graves, President of Q10 Property Advisors, said. "I believe that it was in the bill; it might have been taken out in a revision."
Texas House bans THC products, reduces criminal penalty for possessing intoxicating hempThe initial version of SB 38 made no distinction between any person who failed to pay rent. The word 'squatter' never appears in the bill.
"There's the concept in the law, it's kind of a two-prong," Corey Rogers with the Texas Apartment Association said. "It's the 'forcible detainer' which is a person that's defaulted but who would have a right to be there, but there's also the 'forcible entry and detainer'... and that's when they're forcibly entering into a unit."
But the only time the phrase 'forcible entry and detainer' appeared in the initial version of SB 38 is in the sentence "eviction suits include forcible entry and detainer and forcible detainer suits," meaning for the purposes of SB 38, there's no distinction between being a squatter or a leaseholder late on rent.
"We looked at the concept, Sen. Zaffirini, of trying to do a whole definition based on squatters, and the problem is that's not a commonly-used definition in the U.S., so we basically handled -- besides the forcible entry and [detainer] -- we looked at this as a nonpayment of rent," State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, said. "The other way, we were having to go all the way back to English common law to even find any definitions."
"Right, but all three witnesses used the term squatter," Zaffirini replied.
"Well, that's right, we use that to explain to the public that's listening, for lack of a better description," Bettencourt said.
Woman who won $83.5 million jackpot not paid 3 months later, sues Texas Lottery CommissionHowever, Dallas-based attorney and tenants' rights advocate Mark Melton said that because of the lack of distinction, the bill is geared towards anyone who's even a couple of days late on rent.
"Texas is one of four or five states that doesn't have a right to cure, which just means if you're late on rent, then you have a few days grace period where, under law, if you show up with the full amount of rent the landlord has to take it," Melton said. "What happens here is maybe you've got a tenant that complained too loudly because their air conditioner didn't work in August, and then they're late on Sept. 1. When they show up on Sept. 2 to pay the rent, you say, 'No, no, you can keep the money, I refuse to take it. You're now late, and I'm just going to evict you. We see those kinds of retaliatory issues happen all the time."
What the bill does
The main goal of SB 38 is to speed up the timing of the eviction process, to "alleviate the strain the eviction process can place on property owners."
The bill would replace a requirement for landlords to give tenants an opportunity to respond to the notice of proposed eviction before handing them a notice to vacate, allowing both notices to come at the same time.
SB 38 also increases the methods in which a notice can be given, including any "delivery to the inside of the premises" and "hand delivery to any tenant of the premises." A House floor amendment was voted on to make sure the notices aren't hidden within homes or hand-delivered to children 15 or younger.
SB 38 prevents local governments from making any additional eviction proceeding rules other than what's in the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, including any requirements of mediation or pretrial conference.
The most transformative aspect of SB 38 was the authorization of judges to rule a "summary disposition" -- allowing the landlord to win without going to trial.
Under the bill, the landlord files a sworn petition with the court to start an eviction case, and a sheriff or constable would have to serve the papers to a tenant. The tenant would have four days to respond, and if the court finds there are no disputable facts that would prevent a judgment in favor of the landlord, the court can rule in favor of the landlord without a trial.
A House floor amendment dramatically altered the summary disposition clause, making sure it only referred to those accused of a "forcible entry and detainer." If summary disposition is denied, the trial would have to start no later than 21 days after the denial.
What's next?
SB 38 will likely be voted out of the House on Saturday with their floor amendments. In addition to the amendments listed above, another amendment was added to give Texans the right to cure their nonpayment of rent if they had never been late any other time under the lease.
The Senate will have to choose whether to accept the House's amendments or send the bill to a conference committee before sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk for signing.
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