Property Management- New Texas Laws Effective September
1st
2013
In Texas new or modified laws take
affect the first day of September of each year.
September 7th -11th
2013, I attended the Texas Association REALTORS® Conference
in Dallas Texas, attended several seminars and took many
educational classes on Property Managements during the
five-day seminar. There were a lot of new laws, rules, and
issues affecting Property Management effective September
1st, 2013. I have summarized and highlighted some
(not necessarily all) of them here for your information:
Misappropriation: was, as it
was expected, one of the most important issues. As a
reminder and emphasizes see the Trust Accounts requirements
below:
Trust
Accounts: As you all know you must have Trust Account to
handle other people money. If you manage your own property
too, you must have separate Trust Accounts one for managing
other people’s properties and one for managing your own
properties.
Statement: It is now the Law
that you must provide account statements to the owner, every
month.
New Protected Class from NAR:
Gender Identification
Pets: You may ask Shots Records
or even ask to meet the Pet first, before accepting the
tenants!
if you are in leasing or property management business;
Know the federal laws, state and local laws, city ordinances, and
don’t forget the HOA (Home Owner Association) rules and
restrictions about having pets, service animals, companion
animals, Emotional Supporting Animals in the property. Read my
other article about when
Can a chicken be claimed to be a Service Animal.
It seems the size, weight, breed and how vicious and
dangerous the animal could be is irrelevant. It comes down
to the attorneys, expert witnesses (e.g., Doctor, Doctor’s
note, etc) and the Judge. Just be aware of this kind of
problems.
Rules on Service Animals Security
Deposits:
Remember, Service Animals are not considered PETS and the
owner should not fill the pet application nor pay pet
security deposit. Service animals could be comforting
animals too! - See an interesting court case about claiming
chicken to be a service or comforting animal at:
Can a chicken be claimed to be a Service Animal.
Copy of the Lease: Starting
September 1st, 2013; At least one tenant must be
given a copy of the lease within 3 days
Application Issues: Privacy is a
big issue and causes a red flag. Per TREC (Texas Real Estate
Commission) you must keep all applications for 4 years.
However, if you keep it after 4 years and there is a need
from a court, the court can ask and get it as evidence.
Therefore, it was suggested to destroy the applications
after 4 years. |
