OR 260 Residential Landlord & Tenant Ordinance AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF COPPELL, TEXAS
ORDINANCE NO. 260
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF COPPELL, TEXAS, ESTABLISHING A
RESIDENTIAL LANDLORD AND TENANT ORDINANCE; PROVIDING FOR
DEFINITIONS; PROVIDING FOR LICENSE REQUIRED, TRADENAME REGISTRATION;
PROVIDING FOR LICENSE APPLICATION, PLACE OF BUSINESS, ISSUANCE,
RENEWAL AND EXPIRATION; PROVIDING FOR FEES; PROVIDING FOR LICENSE
DISPLAY, REPLACEMENT, AND TRANSFERABILITY; ESTABLISHING APPOINTMENT,
POWERS AND DUTIES OF BUILDING INSPECTOR; PROVIDING FOR MINIMUM
STANDARDS, RESPONSIBILITIES OF LANDLORD; PROVIDING FOR
RESPONSIBILITIES OF TENANT; PROVIDING FOR REPAIR DUTIES; PROVIDING FOR
NOTICE REQUIREMENTS; PROVIDING FOR AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES; PROVIDING
FOR RENTAL AGREEMENT, DISCLOSURE, ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITIES;
PROVIDING RETALIATORY EVICTION CLAUSE; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES IN
CONFLICT WITH THIS ORDINANCE; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE;
PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION OF THIS ORDINANCE NOT TO EXCEED
THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS ($200.00) FOR EACH OFFENSE AND
DECLARING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COPPELL, TEXAS:
SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS.
For the purpose of this ordinance, the following words and phrases shall have
the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
(a) "Actor" means a person identified in a complaint as having committed an
offense under this ordinance or whose criminal responsibility is in issue in a criminal
action.
(b) "Bathroom" means an enclosed space containing one or more hathtubs,
showers, or both, and which may also include toilets, lavatories, or fixtures serving
similar purposes.
(c) "Floor 8~aee" means the total area of all habitable space.
(d) "Habitable Simee" means the space occupied by one or more persons while
living, sleeping, eating, and cooking, excluding kitchenettes, bathrooms, toilet rooms,
laundries, pantries, dressing rooms, closets, storage spaces, foyers, hallways, utility
rooms, heater rooms, boiler rooms and basement or cellar recreation rooms.
(e) "Kitchen" means a space, sixty (60) square feet or more in floor area
with a minimum width of five (5) feet, used for cooking or preparation of food.
(f) "Kitchenette" means a spaee, less than sixty (60) square feet in floor
area, used for cooking or preparation of food.
(g) "Owner" means a person claiming, or in whom is vested, the ownership,
dominion or title of real property, including, but not limited to:
1) Holder of fee simple title;
2) Holder of life estate;
3) Holder of a leasehold estate for an initial term
of five years or more;
4) The buyer in a contract for deed;
5) A mortgagee, receiver, executor or trustee in
control of real property; but not ineluding the
holder of a leasehold estate or tenancy for an
initial term of less than five years.
(h) "Plumbing Fixtures" include gas pipes, water pipes, toilets, lavatories,
sinks, laundry tubs, dishwashers, garbage disposal units, clothes washing machines, catch
basins, wash basins, bathtubs, shower baths, sewer pipes, sewage systems, septic tanks,
draim, vents, traps, and other fuel burning or water using fixtures and appliances,
together with all connections to pipes.
(i) "Property Manager" means a person who for compensation has managing
control of real property for owner.
(j) "~ruc. ture" means that which is built or constructed, an edifice or building
of any kind, or any piece of work artifically built up or composed of parts joined
together in some definite manner.
(k) "Person" includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust,
partnership or association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or
any other legal or commercial mtity.
(1) "Resid~lt Manager" means a property manager or agent of a property
manager who resides in an apartment building.
(m) "Dwelling Unit" means a structure or that part of a structure which is
used as a home, residence or sleeping place by one or by two or more persons,
maintaining a common household, to the exclusion of 811 others.
(n) "Premises" means a lot, plot, or parcel of land, including any structure
thereon, and farthermore, including a dwelling unit, appurtenances thereto, grounds and
faeilities held out for the use of tenants generally and any other area or facility whose
use is promised to the tenant.
(0) "Apartment Building" means any structure containing four or more dwelling
units.
(p) "Apartment Complex" means one or more adjacent apartmeat buildings
which are under common ownership and management.
(q) "Rental Agreement" means and includes all written agreemeats, which
establish or modify the tarms, conditions, rules, regulations, or any other provisions
concerning the use and occupancy of a dwelling unit.
(r) "Landiota' means the owner, property manager or resident manager of an
apartment building or any other parson held out by any owner or proparty manager as
the appropriate person with whom the tenant normally deals with concerning the rental
agreement or apartment building.
(s) "Tenant" means any parson who occupies a dwelling unit for living or
dwelling purposes with the landlord's consent.
(t) "Lender" means any parson who holds a mortgage, deed of trust or any
other security interest in the premises.
SECTION 2. LICENSE REQUIRED; TRADENAM]~ REC~ISTRATION.
(a) No person shall own, maintain, conduct, operate, or rent to a tenant, a
dwelling unit in an apartment complex for compensation within the City, or act as
agent for another who is renting dwelling units in an apartment complex without first
obtaining an apartment license from the building inspector. Should a person own or
maintain an apartment complex at more than one location, a duplicate license is
required for each additional location. The license issued to an owner authorizes such
owner and its bona fide agents or employees to rent dwelling units to tenants.
(b) An owner shall register with the building inspector the tradename of his
apartment complex and shall not use or permit to be used more than one tradename
at a single location.
SECTION 3. LICENSE APPLICATION, PLACE OF BUSINESS, ISSUANCE, RENEWAL AND EXPIRATION.
(a) An applicant for a license shah file with the building inspector a written
application upon a form provided for that purpose, which shah be signed by the owner
and his property manager. Should an applicant own an apartment complex at more
than one location, a separate application must be filed for each loeation. The following
information shall be required in the application:
Name, primary address, telephone number of the owner,
property manager, resident manager and lender and the street
address of the apartment building, and if ineorperated, the
name of the registered agent with the Secretary of State.
(b) All apartment complexes now in operation must apply for a permit within
sixty (60) days after the effective date of this ordinance.
(c) The apartment complex licenses expire on the 31st day of May of each
year.
(d) The building inspector may, at any time, require additional information
of the owner or property manager to clarify items on the application.
(e) When the resident manager of an apartment complex is changed, a new
license must be obtained with no fee being charged for the change.
SECTION 4. FEES.
The annual fee for an apartment complex license is $50.00 for the first location
and $25.00 for a duplicate license for each additional location. The fee for license
issued during the year will be prorated on the busis of whole months. The fee for
issuing a replacement for one lost, destroyed or mutilated is $2.00. The fee is payable
to the City upon issuance of the license. No refund of a license fee will be made.
SECTION 5. LICENSE DISPLAY, REPLACEMENT, AND TRANSFERABILITY.
(a) Each license issued pursuant to this ordinance must be posted, displayed
and kept in three (3) conspicuous places in the apartment complex to which the tenant
has access.
(b) A replacement license may be issued for one lost, destroyed or mutilated
upon application on the form provided by the building inspector. A replacement license
shah have the word "Replacement" stamped across its face and shall bear the same
number as the one it replaces.
(e) An apartmelt complex license is not assignable or transferable.
(d) An owner or property manager shall notify the building inspector within
ten (10) days of a change or partial change in ownership, lender or managemelt of
the apartment complex or a change of address or tradename.
SECTION 6. APPOINTMENT, POWERS AND DUTIES OF
BUILDING INSPECTOR.
(a) The building inspector is hereby designated as the administrator of this
ordinance.
(b) In addition to the powers and duties previously prescribed for the building
inspector, as administrator of the ordinance he is required to:
1) Administer and enforce all provisions of this
ordinance.
2) Keep records of all licenses issued.
3) Adopt rules and regulations, not inconsistent
with the provisions of this ordinance, with
respect to the form and content of application
for licenses, the investigation of applicants, and
other matters incidental or appropriate to his
powers and duties as may be necessary for the
proper administration and enforcement of the
provisions of this article; and
4) Conduct, on his own initiative, periodic
investigations of apartmelt buildings throughout
the City concerning their compliance with this
article.
SECTION 7. MINIMUM STANDARDS; RESPONSIBILrrH~ OF LANDLORD.
(a) Property standards. A landlord shaH:
1) Eliminate a hole, excavation, sharp protasion,
and other objects or conditions that exist on
the premises and is reasonably capable of
causing injury to a person;
2) Securely cover or close a well, cesspool, or
eistern;
3) Provide adequate number of solid waste
receptacles or containers on the premises;
4) Provide drainage to prevent standing water and
flooding on the land;
5) Remove dead trees and tree limbs that are
reasonably capable of causing injury to a person;
6) Keep the doors and windows of a vacant
dwelling unit or vacant portion of an apartment
building securely closed to prevent unauthorized
entry; and
7) Keep all areas of the building, grounds, facilities
and appurtenances in a clean and sanitary
condition.
(b) Structural standards. A landlord shaH:
1) Protect the exterior surfaces of a structure
which are subject to decay by application of
paint or other coating;
2) Provide and maintain railings for stairs, steps,
balconies, perches, and elsewhere as specified
in the Coppell Building Code;
3) Repair holes, cracks, and other defects
reasonably capable of causing injury to a person
in stairs, perehes, steps and balconies;
4) Maintain a dwelling unit or apartment building
in a weather-tight and water-tight condition;
5) Maintain floors, walls, ceilings and all
supperring structural members in a sound
condition, capable of bearing imposed loads
safely;
6) Repair or replace chimney flue and vent
attachments that do not function properly;
7) Repair holes, cracks, breaks, and loose surface
materials that are health or safety hazards in
or on floors, walls, and ceilings.
(c) Utility standards. A landlord shaH:
1) Provide and maintain in working order
connections to discharge sewage from a
structure or land into a public sewer system;
2) Provide and maintain in working order a toilet
connected to a water source and to a public
sewer in each dwelling unit;
3) Provide and maintain in working order
connections and pipes to supply potable water
at adequate pressure to a dwelling unit;
4) Provide and maintain a device to supply hot
water of a constant minimum temperature of
120° Fahrenheit within each dwelling unit;
5) Provide, connect and maintain in working order
a kitchen sink, bathtub or shower and lavatory
to a cold end hot water source in a dwelling
unit;
G) Connect plumbing fixtures and heating
equipment that the owner supplies in accordance
with the City Plumbing Code end City
Mechanical Code;
Provide heating equipment capable of
m,~ntaining a minimum inside temperature of
68 Fahrenheit in each room of a dwelling unit;
8) Provide and maintain air conditioning equipment
capable of maintaining a maximum inside
temperature of 78o Fahrenheit with en outside
temperature of 98 Fahrenheit;
9) Provide and maintain supply lines for electrical
service to each dwelling unit;
10) Connect each heating device that burns solid
fuel to chimney or flue;
11) Provide end maintain electrical nireuits and
outlets sufficient to safely carry a load imposed
by normal use of appliences and fixtures;
12) Maintain all electrical, plumbing, heating and
other facilities supplied by Owner in good
working condition at all times; and
13) Pay all utility bills on time to prevent all
cut-off of utilities by utility companies.
(d) Health standards. A Landlord shall:
1) Eliminate rodents and vermin in or on the lend;
2) Maintain the interior of a vacant structure or
vacant pertion of a structure free from rubbish
and garbage;
3) Keep the interior of a vacant structure or
vacant portion of a structure free from insects,
rodents, end vermin; and
4) Provide and maintain appropriate receptacles
and conveniences for the removal of ashes,
rubbish, garbage and any other waste material
end to arrange for frequent removal of such
waste materials.
re) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) of this section that
the premises concerned is the site of new construction and reasonable and continuous
progress is being made to complete the construction.
SECTION 8. RESPONSIBILITIES OF TENANT.
(a) A Tenant shall:
1) Maintain the interior of a dwelling unit occupied
by tenant free from rubbish and garbage;
2) Remove an animal or animals from a dwelling
unit if the presence of the animal or animals
is a health hazard to a tenant;
3) Connect plumbing fixtures and heating
equipment that the tenant supplies in
accordance with the City Plumbing Code and
the City Mechanical Code;
4) Place all ashes, rubbish, garbage and any other
waste material in the appropriate receptacles
provided for same by said landlord;
5) Not alter a structure or its facilities so as to
create a nonconformity with Section 7 of this
ordinance;
6) Use in a reasonable manner all electrical,
plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air
conditioning, and other facilities and appliances
including elevators in the premises;
7) Not deliberately or intentionally destroy,
deface, damage, impair, or remove any part of
the premises or knowingly permit any person
to do so;
8) Conduct himself and require other persons on
the premises with his consent to conduct
themselves in a manner that will not disturb
his neighbors peaceful enjoyment of the
premises. For purposes of this ordinance, such
unpermitted conduct includes, but is not limited
to, any loud playing of music, television, radio,
instrument or any other mechanical devise; and
9) When vacating the apartment, remove all trash
and debris or risk the loss of a portion of the
security deposit.
SECTION 9. REPAIR DUTIES.
(a) The landlord has the duty to furnish and maintain premises in accordance
with the standards enumerated in Section 7 of this ordinance. In addition, the landlord
shall at all times during the occupancy of a tenant make all repairs necessary to keep
and maintain the premises in accordance with the standards provided for in Section 7
hereof.
(b) The landlord shall provide to all tenants an emergency telephone number
which is answered at all times during night or day.
(c) Upon notice by the tenant in writing of any defective condition in the
premises or dwelling unit in noncompliance with the standards stated in Section 7, the
landlord shall repair such condition within a reasonable period of time. If the landlord
fails to complete such repairs within seven (7) days, the tenant may file a complaint
in writing to the building inspector for enforcement of the ordinance. The building
inspector shall establish a time in which the repair must be completed and shall issue
a citation if the defect is not corrected.
(d) In emergency situations, tenant shall notify the landlord immediately by
way of the emergency telephone number. For purposes of this ordinance, 'emergency
situations" are defined as a stopped up comode, overflowing bathtub or sink, broken
pipes, leaking roof, emergency electrical malfunction or other situations having
immediate adverse effects on the health or safety of the tenant or his/her property.
Upon notification, the landlord shall respond immediately and furnish assistance to the
tenant within one (1) hour from such notification.
SECTION 10. NOTICE REQUIREMENTS,
(a) A person "notifies" or "gives a notiee" or notification to another person
by taking steps reasonably calculated to inform the other in ordinary course whether
or not the other actually comes to know of it. A person "reeeives" a notice or
notification when (1) it comes to his attention. or (2) in ease of the landlord, it is
delivered at the place of business of the landlord through which the rental agreement
was made or at any place held out by him as the place for receipt of the communication
or in the ease of the tenant it is delivered in hand to the tenant or mailed by registered
or eertified mail to him at the place held out by him as the place for receipt of the
communication, or in the absence of such designation, to his last known place of
residence.
(b) A tenant may not file a complaint with the Building Inspector under the
terms of this ordinance until seven (7) days have elapsed foilowing written notice to
the manager.
SECTION 11. AFFIEMATIVE DEFENSES.
Notwithstanding all other sections of this ordinance, it will be an affirmative
defense to a complaint if the defendant landlord or tenant is able to establish that:
(a) The noncomplying condition described in the complaint was repaired within
the prescribed time limits set forth in Section 9 of this ordinance;
(b) The noncomplying condition was repaired within the time limits established
by the Building Inspector;
(e) The required notice in Section 10 of this ordinance was not provided;
(d) The noncomplying condition was caused by the deliberate or intentional
conduct of the complaining party;
(e) The noncomplying condition could have been corrected but for the tenant's
refusal to permit access to his apartment.
SECTION 12. RENTAL AGREEMENT, DISCLOSURE,
ADMINIgrRATIVE RRSPONSIBILrFiI~8.
(a) A landlord shall disclose to the tenant by properly posting in the office
the name and address of:
1) Each property manager and resident manager;
2) The management company responsible for the
operation of the company.
(b) A landlord shall leave notice of entry whenever it is necessary to enter
an apartment without the specific permission of the tenant. Such notice shall include
date, time, purpose and the person who has entered the apartment unit.
(c) A landlord shall distribute to all tenants a copy of this ordinance describing
the rights and responsibilities of the tenants.
(d) A landlord shall return a tenant's security deposit within thirty (30) days
of a moveout, as outlined in Article 5236e of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, a
copy of which is attached to this ordinance.
(e) A landlord may not remove a tenant's furnishings or possessions except
as outlined in Article 5236d of Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes, a copy of which is
attached to this ordinance.
SECTION 13. RET~,LI&TORY EVICTION.
A landlord shall not retaliate against a tenant by increasing rent or cutting off
utilities, or evict the tenant from the premises because:
1) The tenant has made a complaint to the building inspector about conditions
in the apartment or dwelling unit which might not be in compliance with the health,
housing, fire codes of this ordinance, and which conditions materially affect the health
and safety of the tenant, and the condition was not caused by the tenant;
2) The tenant makes a general complaint to the landlord about violation of
his rights under this ordinance;
3) The tenant files a complaint against landlord under this ordinance.
Even if the tenant claims "retaliation," the landlord may still evict him or her
if:
1) The rent is overdue;
2) There are code violations eansed by the tenant or his or her
visitor;
3) The tenant is damaging property, disturbing the peace, or
using the apartment for illegal purposes.
SECTION 14. REPEALING CLAUSE.
All ordinances, or parts of ordinances, inconsistent or in conflict with the
provisions of this ordinance are hereby repealed.
SECTION 15. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE.
If any article, paragraph or subdivision, clause or provision of this ordinance
shall be adjudged invalid or held unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity
of this ordinance as a whole or any part or provision thereof, other than the part so
decided to be invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 16. PENALTY CLAUSE.
Any person, firm or eorperation violating any of the provisions of this ordinance
shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished by a
penalty of fine not to exceed the sum of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) for each
offense, and each and every day such offense is continued shall constitute a new and
separate offense.
SECTION 17. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This ordinance shall take effect immediately from and after the publication of
its caption, as the law in such cases provides.
DULY PASSED by the City Council of the City of Coppell, Texas, on this the
_w~ day of C~AJ~ J , 1982.
ATTEST:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
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