Texas Water Code 13.501 – Definitions
Terms Used In Texas Water Code 13.501
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Month: means a calendar month. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
In this subchapter:
(1) “Apartment house” means one or more buildings containing five or more dwelling units which are occupied primarily for nontransient use, including a residential condominium whether rented or owner occupied, and having rental paid, if a dwelling unit is rented, at intervals of one month or longer.
(1-a) “Condominium manager” or “manager of a condominium” means a condominium unit owners’ association organized under § 82.101, Property Code, or an incorporated or unincorporated entity comprising the council of owners under Chapter 81, Property Code.
(2) “Dwelling unit” means:
(A) one or more rooms in an apartment house or condominium, suitable for occupancy as a residence, and containing kitchen and bathroom facilities; or
(B) a manufactured home in a manufactured home rental community.
(3) “Customer” means the individual, firm, or corporation in whose name a master meter has been connected by the utility service provider.
(4) “Nonsubmetered master metered utility service” means water utility service that is master metered for the apartment house but not submetered, and wastewater utility service based on master metered water utility service.
(5) “Owner” means the legal titleholder of an apartment house, manufactured home rental community, or multiple use facility and any individual, firm, or corporation expressly identified in a lease agreement as the landlord of tenants in the apartment house, manufactured home rental community, or multiple use facility. The term does not include the manager of an apartment home unless the manager is expressly identified as the landlord in the lease agreement.
(6) “Tenant” means a person who is entitled to occupy a dwelling unit or multiple use facility unit to the exclusion of others and who is obligated to pay for the occupancy under a written or oral rental agreement.
(7) “Multiple use facility” means commercial or industrial parks, office complexes, marinas, and others specifically identified in utility commission rules with five or more units.
(8) “Manufactured home rental community” means a property on which spaces are rented for the occupancy of manufactured homes for nontransient residential use and for which rental is paid at intervals of one month or longer.
(9) “Utility costs” or “utility service costs” means any amount charged to the owner by a retail public utility for water or wastewater service.