Texas Local Government Code 214.0011 – Additional Authority to Secure Substandard Building
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(a) A municipality by ordinance may establish minimum standards for the use and occupancy of buildings in the municipality regardless of the date of their construction and may adopt other ordinances as necessary to carry out this section.
(b) The municipality may secure a building the municipality determines:
(1) violates the minimum standards; and
(2) is unoccupied or is occupied only by persons who do not have a right of possession to the building.
Terms Used In Texas Local Government Code 214.0011
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Municipality: means a general-law municipality, home-rule municipality, or special-law municipality. See Texas Local Government Code 1.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Testify: Answer questions in court.
- United States: includes a department, bureau, or other agency of the United States of America. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) Before the 11th day after the date the building is secured, the municipality shall give notice to the owner by:
(1) personally serving the owner with written notice;
(2) depositing the notice in the United States mail addressed to the owner at the owner’s post office address;
(3) publishing the notice at least twice within a 10-day period in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the building is located if personal service cannot be obtained and the owner’s post office address is unknown; or
(4) posting the notice on or near the front door of the building if personal service cannot be obtained and the owner’s post office address is unknown.
(d) The notice must contain:
(1) an identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the building and the property on which it is located;
(2) a description of the violation of the municipal standards that is present at the building;
(3) a statement that the municipality will secure or has secured, as the case may be, the building; and
(4) an explanation of the owner’s entitlement to request a hearing about any matter relating to the municipality’s securing of the building.
(e) The municipality shall conduct a hearing at which the owner may testify or present witnesses or written information about any matter relating to the municipality’s securing of the building if, within 30 days after the date the municipality secures the building, the owner files with the municipality a written request for the hearing. The municipality shall conduct the hearing within 20 days after the date the request is filed.
(f) A municipality has the same authority to assess expenses under this section as it has to assess expenses under § 214.001(n). A lien is created under this section in the same manner that a lien is created under § 214.001(n) and is subject to the same conditions as a lien created under that section.
(g) The authority granted by this section is in addition to that granted by § 214.001.