(a) 
Title.
These regulations shall be known as the residential rentals and property maintenance code of the city, herein referred to as the “rental code.”
(b) 
Purpose.
The purpose of this rental code is to provide minimum standards to safeguard life or limb, health, property, and public welfare by regulating and controlling the maintenance of residential rental properties as defined herein. This rental code establishes minimum basic standards for safety from fire and for the safe and sanitary maintenance of residential rental properties. This rental code is in addition to other building and safety codes and ordinances adopted by the city in this code, including but not limited to the fire code. The city also recognizes a need in the established historic districts in the community to ensure that rental housing units meet minimum safety and health standards by providing a system for ensuring that both absentee and local landlords correct deficiencies and properly maintain rental property within the city. This purpose will be achieved by providing a system of organized inspection of residential rental units in the city’s historic districts by developing a system to monitor and inspect the orderly occupancy of residential rental units in these areas.
(c) 
Applicability.
The provisions of this rental code shall apply to all existing residential rental single-family dwellings, duplexes, triplexes, quadraplexes, short-term rentals, boarding or rooming houses, habitable rooms, and group homes or halfway houses used, designed, or intended to be used for dwelling purposes on a rental basis.
(Ordinance 2018-020, sec. 2, adopted 7/23/18; 1988 Code, sec. 7-170; Ordinance 2022-028 adopted 5/9/22)
The following words, terms, and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Duplex.
A structure containing two (2) dwelling units.
Dwelling unit.
A single unit providing complete, independent living facilities for one (1) or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.
Group home or halfway house.
A residential facility that provides training, care, supervision, treatment, or rehabilitation to persons with mental illness, persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the aged, the otherwise disabled, persons convicted of crimes, or persons suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, regardless of the number of such persons residing or receiving services therein.
Habitable room.
A room or enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for the purposes of living or sleeping, excluding bathrooms, water closet compartments, laundries, pantries, foyers, or communicating corridors, closets, and storage spaces. A room or enclosed floor space used or intended to be used for the purposes of cooking or eating shall be considered as a room or space being used or intended to be used for the purpose of living under this definition. A tent or RV is not included in the definition of a habitable room.
Inspector.
The city manager, community development director, building official, code enforcement officer, fire marshal and other persons designated by the city manager.
Multiple dwelling.
Any dwelling containing 2 or more dwelling units.
Occupant.
Any person over 1 year of age, living, sleeping, cooking or eating in or having actual possession of a dwelling unit.
Operator.
Any person who has charge, care, or control of a building or part thereof in which dwelling units are let.
Owner.
Any person, agent, operator, firm or corporation or any officer, principal or majority owner of a firm or corporation having legal or equitable interest in the property; or recorded in the official records of Lamar County as holding title to the property; or otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of the estate of any such person, and the executor or administrator of the estate of such person if ordered to take possession of real property by a court.
Person.
An individual, corporation, partnership or any other group acting as a unit.
Quadruplex.
A structure containing four (4) dwelling units.
Plumbing.
Any of the following supplied facilities and equipment: gas pipes, gas burning equipment, water pipes, garbage disposal units, waste pipes, water closets, sinks, installed dishwashers, lavatories, bathtubs, shower baths, installed clothes washing machines, catch basins, drains, vents, and any other similar supplied fixtures, together with all connections to water, sewer, or gas lines.
Rent or let property.
To permit, provide or offer possession or occupancy of a dwelling, dwelling unit, rooming unit, building, premises or structure by a person who is or is not the legal owner of record thereof, pursuant to a written or unwritten lease, agreement, or license; and shall include lease to own, contract for deed, installment sales and purchases whereby nonpayment of a periodic payment means the occupants may be evicted without the necessity of either a statutory mortgage foreclosure procedure, a statutory termination of contract for deed procedure, or a statutory repossession procedure and other similar procedures.
Renter or tenant.
A person, corporation, partnership, or group dwelling in residential rental property pursuant to a written or unwritten lease, agreement, or license with or from the owner.
Residential rental property or residential rental unit.
A structure containing a single dwelling unit, a duplex, a triplex, a quadruplex, apartment, short-term rental, a rooming or boarding house, or a group home or halfway house located within a dwelling and forming a single habitable unit.
Rooming house or boarding house.
A building arranged or occupied for lodging, with or without meals, for compensation, and not occupied as a one- or two-family dwelling.
Rooming unit.
Any room or group of rooms forming a single habitable unit occupied or intended to be occupied for sleeping or living, but not for cooking purposes.
Short-term rental.
A rental which is a furnished living space available for short periods of time, from a few days to weeks, but less than on a month-to-month basis; and are also commonly known as vacation rentals and are considered an alternative to a hotel.
Supplied.
Paid for, furnished, or provided by or under the control of the owner or operator.
Temporary housing.
Any tent, trailer, or other structure used for human shelter which is designed to be transportable and which is not attached to the ground, to another structure, or to any utilities system on the same premises for more than 30 consecutive days.
Triplex.
A structure containing three (3) dwelling units.
(Ordinance 2018-020, sec. 2, adopted 7/23/18; 1988 Code, sec. 7-171; Ordinance 2022-028 adopted 5/9/22)
(a) 
Generally.
The owner of a residential rental property as defined herein shall maintain such property in compliance with the standards set forth herein and shall not permit another person to occupy said residential rental property that is not in a sanitary and safe condition and which does not comply with the requirements of this article.
(1) 
The exterior of a structure shall be maintained in good repair, and shall be structurally sound and sanitary so as not to pose a threat to the public health, safety, or welfare. Foundation walls shall be maintained plumb and free from open breaks and shall be kept in such condition so as to discourage the entry of rodents and other pests. Exterior walls shall be free from large holes, breaks, and large areas of rotted materials.
(2) 
Exterior doors, door assemblies, and hardware shall be maintained in good functioning condition. Exterior windows shall be maintained in a sufficient condition to prevent the ready access of water, vermin, insects, and other animals, and shall not present an undue danger of bodily injury as a result of broken glass.
(3) 
All residential rental units shall be served with running water and functioning wastewater collection. Plumbing fixtures shall be properly installed and maintained in working order and shall be kept free from obstruction, leaks, and defects and be capable of performing the function for which such fixtures are designed. Fixtures shall be maintained in a safe, sanitary, and functional condition, and shall be properly connected to either a public water system or to an approved private water system and shall also be properly connected to either a public or private wastewater system or to an approved private sewage disposal system.
(4) 
Electrical and gas systems must present no hazard to the occupants of the structure. Equipment, wiring, and appliances shall be properly installed and maintained in a safe and approved manner. Flexible electric cords shall not be used for permanent wiring, or for running through doors, windows, or cabinets, or concealed within walls, floors, or ceilings.
(5) 
The roof shall be sound, tight, and free of defects that admit rain in an amount that causes or may cause deterioration of the walls or roof structure. The roof must be free of significant signs of deterioration, fatigue, or rotting; must have proper anchorage; and must be capable of supporting all nominal loads.
(b) 
Designation of unfit dwellings.
This provision applies only to vacant dwellings or dwelling units. The designation of dwellings or dwelling units as unfit for human habitation and the procedure for declaring unfit and placarding of such unfit dwellings or dwelling units shall be carried out in compliance with the following requirements:
(1) 
Placarding unfit dwellings.
The inspector may declare as unfit and placard any dwelling or dwelling unit which is found to have any of the following defects:
(A) 
One which is so damaged, decayed, dilapidated, unsanitary, unsafe, or vermin-infested that it creates a serious hazard to the health or safety of the occupants or of the public.
(B) 
One which lacks illumination, ventilation, or sanitation facilities adequate to protect the health or safety of the occupants or of the public.
(C) 
One which because of its general condition or location is unsanitary or otherwise dangerous to the health or safety of the occupants or of the public.
(2) 
Reuse of unfit dwellings.
No dwelling or dwelling unit which has been declared as unfit for human habitation and placarded shall again be used for human habitation until written approval is secured from and such placard is removed by the city. The city shall remove such placard whenever the defect or defects upon which the condemnation and placarding action were based have been eliminated.
(3) 
Defacing or removing placard.
No person shall deface or remove the placard from any dwelling or dwelling unit which has been declared as unfit for human habitation and placarded as such, except as provided in division (C) [sic].
(4) 
Hearing.
Any person affected by any notice or order relating to the declaration and placarding of a dwelling or dwelling unit as unfit for human habitation may request and shall be granted a hearing on the matter before the building and standards commission under the procedures set forth in this chapter.
(Ordinance 2018-020, sec. 2, adopted 7/23/18; 1988 Code, sec. 7-172; Ordinance 2022-028 adopted 5/9/22)
(a) 
Notice required.
In the event that any person owning occupied residential rental property within the corporate limits of the city fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of this article, the city shall give seven (7) days’ notice of the violation to the owner prior to taking any further legal action against the owner.
(b) 
Manner of notice.
(1) 
The notice shall be given:
(A) 
Personally to the owner in writing;
(B) 
By letter addressed to the owner at the owner’s address as recorded in the appraisal district records of the appraisal district in which the property is located; or
(C) 
If personal service cannot be obtained or the owner’s address is unknown:
(i) 
By publication at least once;
(ii) 
By posting notice on or near the front door of each building on the property to which the violation relates; or
(iii) 
By posting notice on a placard attached to a stake driven into the ground on the property to which the violation relates.
(2) 
Any notice forwarded to the owner by mail as provided in subsection (b)(1)(B) and returned by the United States Postal Service as “refused” or “unclaimed” shall not affect the validity of the notice, and the notice shall be considered as delivered.
(c) 
Contents of notice.
The notice shall contain:
(1) 
The name and address of the record owner;
(2) 
An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the property upon which the violation is located;
(3) 
A statement in conformance with V.T.C.A., Local Government Code section 54.005 affording a former property owner the opportunity, by sworn affidavit, to disavow current ownership and responsibility for the property;
(4) 
A statement describing the violation and the work necessary to correct the violation;
(5) 
A statement that the owner may, within five (5) days of the date of the notice of a violation, submit a written request to the appropriate person named in the notice for a hearing before the building and standards commission to contest whether the violation exists; and
(6) 
A statement that the city may, at any time after the expiration of seven (7) days from the mailing of the notice, file a criminal misdemeanor complaint in municipal court with a maximum fine in accordance with the general penalty provided in section 1.01.009 for each day the violation exists, in addition to or in lieu of any other remedy provided by law.
(d) 
Hearing.
If a written request is received according to subsection (c)(5), a hearing shall be held before the building and standards commission. Unless the owner requests and is granted an immediate hearing and waives the right to notice, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be sent to the owner by certified mail. At the hearing, the building and standards commission may consider all facts relating to the existence of a violation. After the hearing, the building and standards commission may determine that a violation requiring abatement does or does not exist and, if the commission determines a violation exists, issue orders requiring abatement of said violation or violations.
(Ordinance 2018-020, sec. 2, adopted 7/23/18; 1988 Code, sec. 7-173; Ordinance adopting 2021 Code; Ordinance 2022-028 adopted 5/9/22)
(a) 
Each individual violation of this article is hereby declared a class C misdemeanor prosecutable in the municipal court of the city, and upon adjudication of guilt thereof, any occupant, lessee, owner, lessor, agent or other person who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with or who resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this article shall be assessed a fine for each offense in accordance with the provisions of section 1.01.009. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall be deemed a separate offense for which a separate fine may be assessed. Appeals from the municipal court shall be taken in the same manner as appeals from all other judgments of that court. Violations of this article are strict liability offenses subject to the defenses to prosecution set forth in this section.
(b) 
Upon conviction or deferred disposition, the property upon which the violation or violations occurred and which is the subject of the municipal court case shall be subject to inspection by city inspectors for a period of twenty-four (24) months after the date of conviction or the entry into an agreement for deferred disposition to determine that the property is in compliance with this article. The property owner shall be assessed a fee as set forth in the fee schedule in appendix A of this code for each such inspection.
(c) 
These inspections authorized in this article shall be at the discretion of city code inspectors. Code inspectors shall give reasonable notice to the owner and the residents of the property, and efforts will be made to coordinate dates and times of inspections with the owners and/or occupants. Failure of the owner or occupant to make the property available for inspection will constitute a separate violation of this article, and any violations discovered during such inspections will be separate violations as well. Convictions and/or deferred dispositions on new violations discovered during any twenty-four (24) month inspection period will result in a new twenty-four (24) month period during which the owner or occupant must make the property available for inspection.
(d) 
(1) 
It shall be a defense to prosecution under this article that:
(A) 
The occupant or tenant of residential rental property failed to give the owner reasonable notice of a violation of this article prior to the city’s sending a violation notice to the owner; and
(B) 
The violation is corrected by no later than three (3) days prior to trial on the violation to the court or no later than ten (10) days prior to trial on the violation to a jury.
(2) 
For the purposes of this subsection, a reasonable notice from the occupant or tenant to the owner shall be twenty-four (24) hours in the case of a life- or health-threatening condition such as arcing electricity or non-functioning plumbing and five (5) business days in the event of non-health- or life-threatening conditions.
(e) 
It shall be a defense to prosecution under this article that a residential rental property lacks functioning water and sewer service if the reason for that failure is that an occupant or tenant has failed to pay a utility bill, provided that the property otherwise complies with section 4.04.003(a)(3).
(Ordinance 2018-020, sec. 2, adopted 7/23/18; 1988 Code, sec. 7-174; Ordinance adopting 2021 Code; Ordinance 2022-028 adopted 5/9/22)
(a) 
Registration required; exemptions.
(1) 
No residential rental unit in a historic overlay district shall be rented until it has been registered in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(2) 
This section shall not apply to hospital units, nursing home units, retirement home units, nor other similar units which are owned or operated by an agency or local unit of government.
(b) 
Registration requirements.
No person shall hereafter occupy, allow to be occupied, or let to another person for occupancy any rental unit within a historic overlay district for which a rental unit registration has not been issued by the city. An application for registration shall be made upon forms furnished by the city for such purpose and shall specifically require the following minimum information:
(1) 
Name, address, and phone number of the property owner.
(2) 
The street address of the rental property and the county appraisal district parcel number of the rental property.
(3) 
The number of units within the rental property.
(4) 
The name, phone number, and address of the person authorized to make or order repairs or services made to the property, if in violation of any applicable city or state codes, if the person is different than the owner or local administrator.
(c) 
Manner of registration and renewal.
Registration shall be required every two (2) years commencing upon adoption and publication of this section. The city shall be required to mail renewal forms to the property owner or designated local administrator on or before March 1st of the year prior to the renewal date. Forms may be returned by mail at the property owner or designated local administrator’s risk to the City of Paris, Texas P.O. Box 9037 Paris, Texas 75461.
(d) 
Inspections.
The city shall have the right to inspect a rental dwelling unit at the time of registration of the unit, upon change of tenancy, and upon transfer of ownership of the property. These inspections authorized in this article shall be at the discretion of city code inspectors. Code inspectors shall give reasonable notice to the owner and the residents of the property, and efforts will be made to coordinate dates and times of inspections with the owners and/or occupants.
(e) 
Transfer of property.
Every owner of a rental unit (whether as fee owner or contract purchaser) shall be required to furnish to the city the new owner’s name, address, and phone number before taking possession of the rental property upon closing of the transaction. No registration fee shall be required of the new owner when possession takes place during the 3-year period, provided that the previous owner has paid all registration fees and has complied with all requirements of this subchapter and any violations of zoning, fire, or other safety codes of the city. If any change in the type of occupancy as originally registered is contemplated by the new owner, a new registration application will be required.
(f) 
Fees.
The fees are listed in the fee schedule section of the city code and may be altered or amended by city council.
(g) 
Records.
All records, files, and documents pertaining to the rental registration and rental unit inspection program shall be maintained by the city and made available to the public as allowed or required by state law.
(h) 
Failure to grant registration; revocation, suspension, or failure to renew registration.
(1) 
The city reserves the right not to register a unit unless the rental unit or units for which registration is sought complies with the requirements of this article.
(2) 
Any registration issued under this section is subject to the right, which is hereby expressly reserved by the city, to suspend, revoke, or fail to renew the same should the registration holder or their agents, employees, representatives, or lessees directly or indirectly operate or maintain the rental dwellings contrary to the provisions of this chapter, any ordinance of the city, of any special permit issued by the city, or the laws of the state. Provided, however, registration shall not be suspended, revoked, or failed to be renewed if the registration holder complies with a compliance order or orders in a timely manner.
(3) 
The city manager or designee shall notify, in writing, the applicant that his or her registration has been denied or the registration holder that his or her registration is being suspended, removed, or not renewed. The suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal shall occur 35 days after the date of the order or at such later date as set out in the order. The notice shall be served by mailing a copy of the order to the property owner and the designated local property administrator, if any, as indicated in the records on file with the city.
(4) 
The registration holder or designated local administrator shall have the right to request a hearing before the building and standards commission by filing a written appeal from the order at the office of the city manager’s or designee as set forth in this chapter.
(5) 
The decision of the building and standards commission may be appealed by the registration holder by filing an appeal or an appropriate writ with the district court within thirty (30) days of the date of the order of the building and standards commission.
(Ordinance 2022-028 adopted 5/9/22)