Who do I call about an abandoned house in Texas?
Inside city limits, the city: Texas law lets a city, by ordinance, order a run-down, substandard building that's a hazard to be secured, repaired or torn down, and make owners keep their land free of weeds, brush and certain public nuisances.
In Austin, for example, you can report a code violation to Austin 3-1-1 by phone, through the app or online. Austin says you do not need to give your name, and reports can be anonymous.
Austin's code team opens a case and sends an inspector; if it confirms a violation, it tells the owner and gives a deadline to fix it.
Outside city limits, see the county rules below. You can also tell me where it is. I'll find out who owns it and reach out about buying it and fixing it up.
Can a Texas city make an owner fix or tear down a vacant house?
Yes, after notice and a public hearing. If the hearing finds a violation, the city may order the owner to vacate, secure, repair, remove or demolish the building within a reasonable time.
The city's ordinance must give the owner proper notice and provide for a public hearing on whether the building meets the city's standards. At the hearing, the city must require the owner, lienholder or mortgage lender to secure the building, or to repair, remove or demolish it, within 30 days, unless they show the work cannot reasonably be done in 30 days.
If the owner does not act in time, the city must make a diligent effort to find each mortgage lender and lienholder with an interest in the building or the land. If the work is still not done in the time allowed, the city may vacate, secure, remove or demolish the building itself, at its own expense.
The city can then charge those costs to the property and has a lien on it, unless the property is a homestead protected by the Texas Constitution. The lien ends when the owner, or another person with an interest in the title, pays the city back.
A Texas city may also charge the owner a civil penalty for failing to repair, remove or demolish a substandard building. A city may set up a building and standards commission to hear cases about alleged violations of its ordinances. A Texas city can also go to court to force the repair or demolition of a structure, or to get approval to remove it and recover the cost.
Can a Texas city board up an empty house that's left open?
Yes. A city may secure a building on its own if the building breaks the city's minimum standards and is empty or occupied only by people with no right to be there. A Texas city's substandard-building ordinance can also cover a building that, whatever its condition, sits empty and unsecured, so trespassers or children could get in.
The city must give the owner notice before the 11th day after it secures the building. The owner can ask in writing for a hearing within 30 days after the city secures the building.
The city can get a lien for the cost of securing the building, the same way it can for its other costs under this law.
Can the city mow an overgrown vacant lot in Texas and bill the owner?
Yes. If the owner doesn't fix the problem within seven days of notice, the city can do the work itself and charge the cost to the owner. The city can charge its costs against the land where the work was done.
A mailed notice that comes back marked refused or unclaimed still counts as delivered. The city's notice can also warn the owner that if the same kind of violation happens again within a year and endangers public health and safety, the city may fix it without further notice and charge the owner.
The city's lien covers what it spent plus interest at 10 percent. The city can sue to foreclose that lien to get its money back.
A city may cut weeds without giving notice first if they are taller than 48 inches and an immediate danger to anyone's health, life or safety.
What about an abandoned house outside city limits in Texas?
In the parts of a county outside any city (unincorporated areas), Texas law says no one may cause or allow a public nuisance. The list of public nuisances includes keeping a building that is structurally unsafe or a hazard because of poor upkeep, dilapidation, damage or abandonment.
It also includes letting weeds grow on property in a neighborhood within 300 feet of another home or business.
A county's notice must warn that if the nuisance is not fixed, the county may fix it, charge the costs, and put a lien on the property if the person responsible has an interest in it.
In unincorporated areas, a county or district court can order a nuisance stopped or cleaned up, and a county, a neighbor or a neighborhood group affected by it can ask for that order.