Section 303.0425 - Additional Requirements For Beneficial Tax Treatment Relating To Certain Public Facilities(a) In this section: (1) "Developer" means a private entity that constructs a development, including the rehabilitation, renovation, reconstruction, or repair of a development. (2) "Housing choice voucher program" means the housing choice voucher program under Section 8, United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. Section 1437f) . (3) "Lower income housing unit" means a residential unit reserved for occupancy by an individual or family earning not more than 60 percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (4) "Moderate income housing unit" means a residential unit reserved for occupancy by an individual or family earning not more than 80 percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (5) "Public facility user" means a public-private partnership entity or a developer or other private entity that has an ownership interest or a leasehold or other possessory interest in a public facility that is a multifamily residential development. (b) The percentage of lower and moderate income housing units reserved in each category of units in the development, based on the number of bedrooms per unit, must be the same as the percentage of each category of housing units reserved in the development as a whole. (c) The monthly rent charged per unit may not exceed: (1) for a lower income housing unit, 30 percent of 60 percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development; or (2) for a moderate income housing unit, 30 percent of 80 percent of the area median income, adjusted for family size, as defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. (d) In calculating the income of an individual or family for a lower or moderate income housing unit, the public facility user must use the definition of annual income described in 24 C.F.R. Section 5.609, as implemented by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. If the income of a tenant exceeds an applicable limit at the time of the renewal of a lease agreement for a residential unit, the provisions of Section 42(g)(2)(D), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, apply in determining whether the unit may still qualify as a lower or moderate income housing unit. (e) The public facility user may not: (1) refuse to rent a residential unit to an individual or family because the individual or family participates in the housing choice voucher program; or (2) use a financial or minimum income standard that requires an individual or family participating in the housing choice voucher program to have a monthly income of more than 250 percent of the individual's or family's share of the total monthly rent payable for a unit. (f) A public facility user may require an individual or family participating in the housing choice voucher program to pay the difference between the monthly rent for the applicable unit and the amount of the monthly voucher if the amount of the voucher is less than the rent. (g) A corporation that owns or leases to a public facility user a public facility used as a multifamily residential development shall publish on its Internet website information about the development's: (1) compliance with the requirements of this section; and (2) policies regarding tenant participation in the housing choice voucher program. (h) The public facility user shall: (1) affirmatively market available residential units directly to individuals and families participating in the housing choice voucher program; and (2) notify local housing authorities of the multifamily residential development's acceptance of tenants in the housing choice voucher program.(i) Each lease agreement for a residential unit in a multifamily residential development subject to this section must provide that: (1) the landlord may not retaliate against the tenant or the tenant's guests by taking an action because the tenant established, attempted to establish, or participated in a tenant organization; (2) the landlord may only choose to not renew the lease if the tenant: (A) is in material noncompliance with the lease, including nonpayment of rent; (B) committed one or more substantial violations of the lease; (C) failed to provide required information on the income, composition, or eligibility of the tenant's household; or (D) committed repeated minor violations of the lease that: (i) disrupt the livability of the property; (ii) adversely affect the health and safety of any person or the right to quiet enjoyment of the leased premises and related development facilities; (iii) interfere with the management of the development; or (iv) have an adverse financial effect on the development, including the failure of the tenant to pay rent in a timely manner; and (3) to not renew the lease, the landlord must serve a written notice of proposed nonrenewal on the tenant not later than the 30th day before the effective date of nonrenewal. (j) A tenant may not waive the protections provided by Subsection (i). (k) Requirements under this subchapter relating to the reservation of income-restricted residential units or income restrictions applicable to tenants of a multifamily residential development subject to this subchapter must be documented in a land use restriction agreement or a similar restrictive instrument that: (1) ensures that the applicable restrictions are in effect for not less than 10 years; and (2) is recorded in the real property records of the county in which the development is located. (l) An agreement or instrument recorded under Subsection (k) may be terminated if the development that is the subject of the agreement or instrument: (1) is the subject of a foreclosure sale; or (2) becomes ineligible for an exemption under Section 303.042(c) for a reason other than the failure to comply with restrictions recorded in the agreement or instrument. Tex. Loc. Gov't. Code § 303.0425
Added by Acts 2023, Texas Acts of the 88th Leg.- Regular Session, ch. 1169,Sec. 8, eff. 6/18/2023.