CITY OF FARMERS BRANCH
ORDINANCE NO. 2892
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 26, BUSINESSES, ARTICLE IV APARTMENT
COMPLEX RENTAL, MANDATING A CITIZENSHIP CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENT
PURSUANT TO 24 CFR 5 ET SEQ.; PROVIDING FOR ENFORCEMENT; PROVIDING A
PENALTY; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE;
AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.
WHEREAS, in response to the widespread concern of future
terrorist attacks following the events of September 11, 2001, landlords
and property managers throughout the country have been developing new
security procedures to protect their buildings and residents; and
WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination because of race,
color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and familial status
in most housing related transactions and further makes it unlawful to
indicate any preference or limitation on these bases when advertising
the sale or rental of a dwelling; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
regulations stipulate that rental tenants must submit evidence of
citizenship or immigration status consistent with 24 CFR 5, et seq.; and
WHEREAS, the Fair Housing Act does not prohibit distinctions based
solely on a person’s citizenship status; and
WHEREAS, 24 CFR 5, et seq. provides for a uniform and non-discriminatory
certification process for citizenship and immigration status; and
WHEREAS, the HUD certification process has been in place for many years,
and is currently in use; and
WHEREAS, the City was previously dismissed from the Walker litigation
upon agreeing to participate in HUD’s Section 8 housing program; and
WHEREAS, the HUD certification process for citizenship and immigration
status applies to HUD’s Section 8 program; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds and determines that the benefits and
protections provided through the HUD citizenship and immigration status
certification processes would also benefit the City; and
WHEREAS, the City of Farmers Branch is authorized to adopt ordinances
pursuant to its police power to protect the health, safety, and welfare
of its citizens; and
WHEREAS, the City of Farmers Branch has determined that it is a necessity
to adopt citizenship and immigration certification requirements for
apartment complexes to safeguard the public, consistent with the
provisions of 24 CFR 5, et seq.; and
WHEREAS, the City intends to adopt these provisions on a pilot basis for
apartment complex rentals; and
WHEREAS, Section 26-118 of the Code of Ordinances provides for an appeal
process that provides adequate due process; and
WHEREAS, the City will evaluate the success of these provisions within
180 days of the date this Ordinance goes into effect to consider their
revision and/or expansion, including but not limited to the coverage of
single family rental units and non-rental residential units; and
WHEREAS, the provisions adopted herein shall be applied uniformly and in
a nondiscriminatory manner, and the application of these provisions must
not differ based on a person's race, religion, or national origin; and
WHEREAS, the City of Farmers Branch is authorized by law to adopt the
provisions contained herein, and has complied with all the prerequisites
necessary for the passage of this Ordinance; and
WHEREAS, all statutory and constitutional requirements for the passage of
this Ordinance have been adhered to, including but not limited to the
Texas Open Meetings Act; and
WHEREAS, the purposes of this Ordinance are to promote the public health,
safety, and general welfare of the citizens of the City of Farmers Branch.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF FARMERS BRANCH, TEXAS:
That the following ordinance shall be approved and passed
into law and duly codified in the City’s Code of Ordinances:
Section 1: That all matters stated hereinabove are found to
be true and correct and are incorporated into the body of this Ordinance
by reference as if copied in their entirety.
Section 2: Chapter 26, Businesses, Article IV, Apartment
Complex Rental, is hereby amended as follows:
A. Section 26-116(d)(3)is
hereby amended by the addition of the following:
“(c) Proof of compliance with
the provisions of 26-116(f).”
B. Section 26-116, License
Standards, is hereby amended by the addition of the following:
“(f). Citizenship or
Immigration Status Verification
(1) Definitions
The following definitions,
consistent with 24 CFR 5.504, are hereby adopted as part of this subsection:
Citizen means a citizen or national
of the United States.
Evidence of citizenship or eligible status means the documents which
must be submitted to evidence citizenship or eligible immigration status.
Head of household means the adult member of the family who is the head
of the household for purpose of determining income eligibility and rent.
Noncitizen means a person who is neither a citizen nor national of the
United States.
(2) The owner and/or
property manager shall require as a prerequisite to entering into any
lease or rental arrangement, including any lease or rental renewals or
extensions, the submission of evidence of citizenship or eligible
immigration status for each tenant family consistent with subsection (3).
(3) Evidence of citizenship or eligible immigration status.
Each family member, regardless of age, must submit the following
evidence to the owner and/or property manager.
i. For U.S. citizens or U.S. nationals, the evidence consists of a
signed declaration of U.S. citizenship or U.S. nationality. The
verification of the declaration shall be confirmed by requiring
presentation of a United States passport or other appropriate
documentation in a form designated by the Immigration and Customs
Enforcement Department (“ICE”) as acceptable evidence of citizneship status.
ii. For all other noncitizens, the evidence consists of:
a. A signed declaration of eligible immigration status;
b. A form designated by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Department (“ICE”) as acceptable evidence of immigration status; and
c. A signed verification consent form.
(4) General.
i. The owner and/or property manager shall request and review original
documents of eligible citizenship or immigration status. The owner
and/or property manager shall retain photocopies of the documents for
its own records and return the original documents to the family. Copies
shall be retained by the owner and/or property manager for a period of
not less than two (2) years after the end of the family’s lease or rental.
ii. For each family
member, the family shall be required to submit evidence of citizenship
or immigration status only once during continuous occupancy. The owner
and/or property manager is prohibited from allowing the occupancy of any
unit by any family which has not submitted the required evidence of
citizenship or eligible immigration status under this Section.
iii. These provisions shall
be applied uniformly and in a nondiscriminatory manner. The owner and/or
property manager’s application of these provisions must not differ based
on the person's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability,
or familial status .
iv. These provisions shall
not impair any existing lease or rental agreement, and shall apply only
to a lease or rental agreement or extension entered into after the
effective date of this ordinance.
v. A rebuttable presumption
is hereby created that the tenant is either a citizen or a documented
alien upon the tenant presenting either signed Declaration of U.S.
Citizenship or U.S. Nationality and a United States passport or other
appropriate documentation in a form designated by ICE as acceptable
evidence of citizenship status, or by a non-citizen presenting a signed
Declaration of Eligible Immigration Status and a form designated by ICE
as acceptable evidence of immigration status.”
Section 3: If any section, paragraph, subdivision, clause
or phrase 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 of any provision thereof other than the
part so decided to be invalid or unconstitutional. The sole intention
of this Ordinance and the exercise of the police power of the City is
for the purposes of assisting the United States Government in its
enforcement of the Federal Immigration Laws and not an attempt or effort
to promulgate new and additional Immigration Laws or to conflict in any
manner with the Federal Government’s promulgation and enforcement of
Immigration Laws.
Section 4: Penalty: That any person violating any of the
provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and
upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not to exceed $500 and a
separate offense shall be deemed committed upon each day during or on
which a violation occurs or continues.
Section 5: The City shall distribute a copy of this
Ordinance to the owner and/or property manager of all existing apartment
complexes in the City. The ordinance shall become effective on the 12th
day of January, 2007, sixty (60) days from the date of approval.
Section 6. The fact that the present ordinances and regulations of the
City of Farmers Branch, Texas are inadequate to properly safeguard the
health, safety, morals, peace and general welfare of the public creates
an emergency which requires that this ordinance become effective as
provided for herein, and it is accordingly so ordained.
ATTEST:
APPROVED:
Cindee Peters, City Secretary Bob
Phelps, Mayor
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
John F. Boyle, Jr., City Attorney
http://www.ci.farmers-branch.tx.us/Communication/Ordinance%20No%202892.html
It's about time
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