Lea este artículo en español:

Propuesto Proyecto de Ley Permitiría a los Tejanos Romper Contratos de Arrendamiento Después de la Pérdida de Servicios Públicos Causada por Clima Extrema

A proposed bill in the current Texas legislative session would allow tenants to break their leases following a loss of essential utilities caused by weather events — similar to the outages during the February 2021 winter storm and this past week’s ice storm. 

“Anyone who pays to rent a home or apartment should have access to essential utilities like running water,” Texas Rep. Terry Meza said in an email statement. “However, some landlords do not prioritize repairing basic infrastructure when it breaks. The tenants end up stuck in a residence that is not fit to inhabit.”

HB 1173 aims to prevent extended inaccessibility to electricity, natural gas or water due to storm damage. However it does not cover periods when a utility company intentionally interrupts usage, as the bill covers landlord-specific obligations. Meza, who introduced the bill, said staff in her office experienced outages lasting as long as a week due to repair delays during February 2021. She told KXAN that the bill’s inspiration came from seeing the impacts of that storm.

“HB 1173 seeks to address the power imbalance many renters face,” Meza said in the statement. “Giving renters the ability to terminate a lease because of outages in essential utilities will help balance the scales of power and encourage landlords to deliver on basic human needs.

In February 2021, Winter Storm Uri caused the Austin area to experience temperatures as low as 6 degrees according to the National Weather Service. The storm led to 4.5 million Texans losing power and a boil water notice was issued in Austin, according to KXAN.  

During this week’s storm, 155,977 Austin Energy users had no power as of Wednesday, according to KXAN — including students living in West Campus.

Olivia Ham, a Stoneleigh Condominiums resident, said their power was abruptly shut off at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday because of the winter weather, and they have received no update on its return time. 

“We’ve contacted management a few times and they haven’t done anything, and we assume it’s at the city level because of that,” said Ham, a rhetoric and writing senior. 

Under HB1173, tenants would be able to break their leases if the landlord is aware of the interruption of utilities and they are not restarted within 48 hours. However, according to Lisa Alexander, a property manager with Emerald Property Management Services who services the West Campus area, Texas property code provides management seven days to repair utilities. 

“I don’t think (48 hours is) enough time; property code gives seven business days for other alternatives,” Alexander said. “In the UT area at this time of year, there’s literally no vacancy and if (apartments) are vacant, the price points are usually higher. I think if it’s everybody, where are they gonna go?”

Alexander said the time limit currently listed on the bill eliminates its purpose. Between hiring a contractor, getting supplies and repairing the issues, at least 48 hours have already passed. If it’s during a large-scale winter event such as February 2021, it would take even longer as an increased amount of people would need repairs. 

“I could see how (it) could be helpful,” Ham said. “Especially if a certain building notoriously had worse issues than the surrounding buildings and nobody was doing anything about (it).”