AI-assisted research summary: A municipality may not make customers pay another customer’s past utility charges or require a third-party guarantee as a condition of service, but it may set varying utility deposits and may place a lien on property for delinquent municipal utility bills, subject to stated exceptions.
Sec. 552.0025. CONNECTION, DISCONNECTION, AND LIABILITY FOR MUNICIPAL UTILITY SERVICES. (a) A municipality may not require a customer to pay for utility service previously furnished to another customer at the same service connection as a condition of connecting or continuing service. (b) A municipality may not require a customer's utility bill to be guaranteed by a third party as a condition of connecting or continuing service. (c) A municipality may require varying utility deposits for customers as it deems appropriate in each case. (d) Except as provided in Subsections (e) and (f), a municipality may by ordinance impose a lien against an owner's property, unless it is a homestead as protected by the Texas Constitution, for delinquent bills for municipal utility service to the property. (e) The municipality's lien shall not apply to bills for service connected in a tenant's name after notice by the property owner to the municipality that the property is rental property. (f) The municipality's lien shall not apply to bills for service connected in a tenant's name prior to the effective date of the ordinance imposing the lien. This subsection shall not apply to ordinances adopted prior to the effective date of this Act. (g) The municipality's lien shall be perfected by recording in the real property records of the county where the property is located a notice of lien containing a legal description of the property and the utility's account number for the delinquent charges. The municipality's lien may include penalties, interest, and collection costs. (h) The municipality's lien is inferior to a bona fide mortgage lien that is recorded before the recording of the municipality's lien in the real property records of the county where the property is located. The municipality's lien is superior to all other liens, including previously recorded judgment liens and any liens recorded after the municipality's lien. Added by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 304, Sec. 1, eff. Aug. 28, 1989. Renumbered from Local Government Code, Section 402.0025 by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 885 (H.B. 2278), Sec. 3.76(a)(2), eff. April 1, 2009.