The city hereby adopts the provisions of Tex. Loc. Gov’t
Code ch. 214, subch. A, regarding dangerous structures and substandard
buildings.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.01)
To meet the minimum standards for continued use and occupancy
required by this article, a building or structure located within the
corporate limits of the city must be eligible for the issuance of
a certificate of occupancy pursuant to the provisions of section R110
of the International Residential Code heretofore adopted by city Ordinance
No. 0457 [2004-57].
(2004 Code, sec. 152.02)
(a)
It
shall be unlawful for any person, business, or corporation to maintain
within the corporate limits of the city a substandard building or
structure that is:
(1)
Dilapidated, substandard or unfit for human habitation and a hazard
to the public health, safety, and welfare;
(2)
Regardless of its structural condition, unoccupied by its owners,
lessees, or other invitees and is unsecured from unauthorized entry
to the extent that it could be entered or used by vagrants or other
uninvited persons as a place of harborage or could be entered or used
by children; or
(3)
Boarded up, fenced, or otherwise secured in any manner if:
(A)
The building constitutes a danger to the public even though secured
from entry; or
(B)
The means used to secure the building are inadequate to prevent unauthorized
entry or use of the building by vagrants or other uninvited persons
as a place of harborage or could be entered or used by children.
(b)
Such
a substandard building or structure is hereby declared to be a building
or structure not meeting the minimum standards for continued use or
occupancy within the city and not meeting the standards required by
this article.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.03)
Pursuant to Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code ch. 214, subch. A, and
after notice and hearings required by this article, a building or
structure may be ordered secured, repaired, removed or demolished
if the building or structure is:
(1)
Dilapidated,
substandard or unfit for human habitation and a hazard to the public
health, safety, and welfare;
(2)
Regardless
of its structural condition, unoccupied by its owners, lessees, or
other invitees and is unsecured from unauthorized entry to the extent
that it could be entered or used by vagrants or other uninvited persons
as a place of harborage or could be entered or used by children; or
(3)
Boarded
up, fenced, or otherwise secured in any manner if:
(A)
The building constitutes a danger to the public even though secured
from entry; or
(B)
The means used to secure the building are inadequate to prevent unauthorized
entry or use of the building by vagrants or other uninvited persons
as a place of harborage or [the building] could be entered or used
by children.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.04)
The city building and standards commission is hereby designated
as the quasi-judicial body to hold hearings for the city pursuant
to this section and issue any orders and findings required by this
article. The city council shall designate the appropriate official
of the city who shall present all cases before the commission arising
out of this section to determine whether a building or structure complies
with the standards set out in this article. Such person shall make
a diligent effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder before
conducting the public hearing and give them a notice of and an opportunity
to comment at the hearing. In addition, a notice of the hearing may
be filed in the official public records of real property in the county
in which the property is located. Such notice shall contain the name
and address of the owner of the affected property if that information
can be determined, a legal description of the affected property, and
a description of the hearing. The filing of the notice is binding
on any subsequent grantee, lienholder or other transferees of an interest
in the property who acquire such interest after the filing of the
notice and constitutes notice of the hearing on any subsequent recipient
of any interest in the property who acquires such interest after the
filing of the notice.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.05)
If, after the public hearing, the building or structure is found
in violation of the standards set out in this article, the building
and standards commission may order that the building or structure
be secured, repaired, removed, or demolished by the owner within a
reasonable time specified in the order and an additional reasonable
time for the ordered action to be taken by any mortgagee or lienholder
in the event the owner fails to comply with the order within the time
provided for action by the owner. The only notice required to be furnished
to a mortgagee or lienholder is a copy of the order in the event the
owner fails to timely take the ordered action.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.06)
Within ten days after the date that the order is signed by the
chairman of the building and standards commission, a copy of the order
shall be filed in the office of the city secretary and a notice shall
be published in the official newspaper of the city containing the
street address or legal description of the property, the date of the
hearing, a brief statement indicating the results of the order, and
instructions stating where a complete copy of the order may be obtained.
After the hearing, the city shall also promptly mail by certified
mail, return receipt requested, or personally deliver a copy of the
order to the owner of the building and to any lienholder or mortgagee
of the building using its best efforts to determine the identity and
address of any owner, lienholder or mortgagee.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.07)
(a)
Any
order issued after a hearing authorized under this article shall require
the owner, lienholder or mortgagee of the building to, within 30 days:
(b)
If
the order allows the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee more than 30
days to repair, remove or demolish the building, the order should
establish specific time schedules for commencement and performance
of the work and require the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee to secure
the property in a reasonable manner from unauthorized entry while
the work is being performed. The order shall not allow the owner,
lienholder, or mortgagee more than 90 days to repair, remove, or demolish
the building or fully perform all work required to comply with the
order unless the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee submits a detailed
plan and time schedules for the work at the hearing and establishes
at the hearing that the work cannot reasonably be completed within
90 days because of the scope and complexity of the work. At the public
hearing, the owner, lienholder, or mortgagee has the burden of proof
to demonstrate the scope of any work that may be required and the
time it will take to reasonably perform the work.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.08)
If the building is not secured, repaired, removed or demolished,
as required by the order, the city may secure, remove or demolish
the building or structure at its own expense. If the city incurs expenses
in doing or causing such work to be done, the city may assess the
expenses on and the city shall have a lien against the property on
which the building or structure was located, unless it is a homestead
as protected by the state constitution. The lien is extinguished if
the property owner or other person having an interest in the legal
title to the property reimburses the city for the expenses. The lien
arises and attaches to the property at the time the notice of lien
is recorded and indexed in the office of the county clerk in the county
in which the property is located. The notice must contain the name
and address of the owner if that information can be determined with
reasonable effort, a legal description of the real property on which
the building was located, the amount of expenses incurred by the city
and the balance due. If the notice is given and the opportunity to
repair, remove, or demolish the building or structure is afforded
to each mortgagee or lienholder as authorized by Tex. Loc. Gov’t
Code section 214.001(d), (e) or (g), the lien is a privileged lien
subordinate only to tax liens.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.09)
The city satisfies the requirements of Tex. Loc. Gov’t
Code section 214.001 to make a diligent effort, to use its best efforts,
or to make a reasonable effort to determine the identity and addresses
of an owner, a lienholder, or a mortgagee if the following records
are searched:
(1)
County
real property records of the county in which the building or structure
is located;
(2)
Appraisal
district records of the appraisal district in which the building or
structure is located;
(3)
Records
of the secretary of state;
(4)
Assumed
name records of the county in which the building is located;
(5)
Tax
records of the municipality; and
(6)
Utility
records of the municipality.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.10)
When a notice is mailed as required by law to a property owner,
lienholder or mortgagee and the United States Postal Service returns
the notice “refused” or “unclaimed,” the notice
is considered delivered.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.11)
As an alternative to the procedure set out above, and in an
effort to work with the apparent owner, and lienholder or mortgagee
if any, the case may be presented to the building and standards commission
prior to making an exhaustive record search and after notice to the
owner and any known lienholder or mortgagee pursuant to Tex. Loc.
Gov’t Code section 214.001(c) and (d). Thereafter, if the owner
does not take the action ordered within the allotted time, a diligent
effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder having an interest
in the building or property shall be made and, if found, additional
notice by certified mail and additional time for compliance shall
be provided such lienholder or mortgagee before the city takes action
to secure, remove or demolish the building or structure at its cost.
If such alternative procedure is used, the notice to any mortgagee
or lienholder shall contain the following:
(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 city standards that is present at
the building; and
(3)
A
statement that the city will secure, remove, or demolish the building
if the ordered action is not taken within a reasonable time.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.12)
Judicial review may be had pursuant to the provisions of Tex.
Loc. Gov’t Code section 214.0012, and any owner, lienholder
or mortgagee of record of property jointly or severally aggrieved
by an order issued under this article may file in the district court
a verified petition setting forth the matters set out in said Tex.
Loc. Gov’t Code section 214.0012 to seek writ of certiorari
as therein provided. The petition must be filed by an owner, lienholder,
or mortgagee within 30 calendar days after the respective dates a
copy of the final decision of the city is personally delivered or
mailed to them by first class mail, certified return receipt requested,
or such decision shall be final as to each of them upon the expiration
of such 30-calendar-day period.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.13)
Any person, firm, company, partnership, corporation or association
violating any provision of this article shall be deemed guilty of
a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined in the
sum of not less than $100.00 and not more than $1,000.00 for each
violation. Each and every day that the provisions of this article
are violated shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
(2004 Code, sec. 152.99)
