Texas Local Government Code - Section 214.003. Receiver
Legal Research Home >
Texas Laws > Local Government Code > Texas Local Government Code - Section 214.003. Receiver
§ 214.003. RECEIVER. (a) A home-rule municipality may
bring an action in district court against an owner of residential
property that is not in substantial compliance with the municipal
ordinances regarding:
(1) fire protection;
(2) structural integrity;
(3) zoning; or
(4) disposal of refuse.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the court may
appoint as a receiver for the property a nonprofit organization
with a demonstrated record of rehabilitating residential
properties if the court finds that:
(1) the structures on the property are in violation of
the standards set forth in Section 214.001(b) and an ordinance
described by Subsection (a);
(2) notice of violation was given to the record owner
of the property; and
(3) a public hearing as required by Section 214.001(d)
has been conducted.
(c) The court may appoint as a receiver for historic
property subject to Section 214.00111 a nonprofit organization or
an individual with a demonstrated record of rehabilitating
historical buildings if the court finds that:
(1) the structures on the property are in violation of
the standards established under Section 214.001(b) and an ordinance
described by Subsection (a);
(2) the structure has been reviewed by the municipal
historic preservation board and the structure meets the criteria
set forth in Section 214.00111;
(3) notice of the violation was given to the record
owner of the property; and
(4) a public hearing as required by Section 214.001
has been conducted.
(d) For the purposes of this section, if the record owner
does not appear at the hearing required by Section 214.001(d), the
hearing shall be conducted as if the owner had personally appeared.
(e) In the action, the record owners and any lienholders of
record of the property shall be served with personal notice of the
proceedings or, if not available after due diligence, may be served
by publication. Actual service or service by publication on the
record owners or lienholders constitutes notice to all unrecorded
owners or lienholders.
(f) The court may issue, on a showing of imminent risk of
injury to any person occupying the property or a person in the
community, any mandatory or prohibitory temporary restraining
orders and temporary injunctions necessary to protect the public
health and safety.
(g) A receiver appointed by the court may:
(1) take control of the property;
(2) collect rents due on the property;
(3) make or have made any repairs necessary to bring
the property into compliance with:
(A) minimum standards in local ordinances; or
(B) guidelines for rehabilitating historic
properties established by the secretary of the interior under 16
U.S.C.A. Section 470 et seq. or the municipal historic preservation
board, if the property is considered historic property under
Section 214.00111;
(4) make payments necessary for the maintenance or
restoration of utilities to the properties;
(5) purchase materials necessary to accomplish
repairs;
(6) renew existing rental contracts and leases;
(7) enter into new rental contracts and leases;
(8) affirm, renew, or enter into a new contract
providing for insurance coverage on the property; and
(9) exercise all other authority that an owner of the
property would have except for the authority to sell the property.
(h) On the completion of the restoration to the property of
the minimum code standards of the municipality or guidelines for
rehabilitating historic property:
(1) the receiver shall file with the court a full
accounting of all costs and expenses incurred in the repairs,
including reasonable costs for labor and supervision, and all
income received from the property;
(2) if the income exceeds the cost and expense of
rehabilitation, the rehabilitated property shall be restored to the
owners and any net income shall be returned to the owners; and
(3) if costs and expenses exceed the income received
during the receivership, the receiver shall maintain control of the
property until the time all rehabilitation and maintenance costs
are recovered.
(i) Any record lienholder may, after initiation of an action
by a municipality:
(1) intervene in the action; and
(2) request appointment as a receiver:
(A) under the same conditions as the nonprofit
organization; and
(B) on a demonstration to the court of an ability
and willingness to rehabilitate the property.
(j) For the purposes of this section, the interests and
rights of an unrecorded lienholder or unrecorded property owner
are, in all respects, inferior to the rights of a duly appointed
receiver.
(k) The court may not appoint a receiver for any property
that:
(1) is an owner-occupied, single-family residence; or
(2) is zoned nonresidential and used in a
nonresidential character.
(l) A receiver appointed by a district court under this
section, or the home-rule municipality that filed the action under
which the receiver was appointed, may petition the court to
terminate the receivership and order the sale of the property:
(1) if the receiver has been in control of the property
for more than two years and no legal owner has been identified after
a diligent search; or
(2) after the receiver has been in control of the
property for more than three years, if an owner has been identified
and served with notices but has failed to assume control or repay
all rehabilitation and maintenance costs of the receiver.
(m) In the action, the record owners and any lienholders of
record of the property shall be served with personal notice of the
proceedings or, if not found after due diligence, may be served by
publication. Actual service or service by publication on all
record owners and lienholders of record constitutes notice to all
unrecorded owners and lienholders.
(n) The court may order the sale of the property if the court
finds that:
(1) notice was given to each record owner of the
property and each lienholder of record;
(2) the receiver has been in control of the property
for more than two years and no legal owner has been identified after
a diligent search, or the receiver has been in control of the
property for more than three years and an owner has been identified
but has failed to repay all rehabilitation and maintenance costs of
the receiver; and
(3) no lienholder of record has intervened in the
action and offered to repay the costs of the receiver and assume
control of the property.
(o) The court shall order the sale to be conducted by the
petitioner in the same manner that a sale is conducted under Chapter
51, Property Code. If the record owners and lienholders are
identified, notice of the date and time of the sale must be sent in
the same manner as provided by Chapter 51, Property Code. If the
owner cannot be located after due diligence, the owner may be served
notice by publication. The receiver may bid on the property at the
sale. The petitioner shall make a report of the sale to the court.
(p) The court shall confirm the sale and order a
distribution of the proceeds of the sale in the following order:
(1) court costs;
(2) costs and expenses of the receiver; and
(3) valid liens.
(q) Any remaining sums must be paid to the owner. If the
owner is not identified or cannot be located, the court shall order
the remaining sums to be deposited in an interest-bearing account
with the district clerk's office in the district in which the action
is pending, and the clerk shall hold the funds as provided by other
law.
(r) After the proceeds are distributed, the court shall
award fee title to the purchaser subject to any recorded bona fide
liens that were not paid by the proceeds of the sale.
Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 389, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.
Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 49, § 1, eff. April 29,
1991; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 158, § 2, eff. Aug. 28, 1995;
Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, § 12.106, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Section: 213.005 214.001 214.0011 214.00111 214.0012 214.0015 214.002 214.003 214.004 214.005 214.011 214.012 214.013 214.014 214.015
Last modified: August 11, 2007
|
