§ 6-94. Action by city on noncompliance with order of the building and standards commission.

(a)

If an owner does not take the action ordered by the commission within the allotted time, the city shall make a diligent effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder having an interest in the building or property on which the building is located. The city shall personally deliver, send by certified mail with return receipt requested, or deliver by the United States Postal Service using signature confirmation service, to each identified mortgagee and lienholder a notice containing:

(1)

An identification, which is not required to be a legal description, of the building and the property on which it is located;

(2)

A description of the violation that is present at the building or property; and

(3)

A statement that the city will vacate, secure, remove, or demolish the building or relocate the occupants of the building if the ordered action is not taken within a reasonable time.

(b)

As an alternative to subsection (a):

(1)

The city may make a diligent effort to discover each mortgagee and lienholder before conducting the commission's public hearing and may give them a notice of and an opportunity to comment at the hearing.

(2)

In addition, the city may file notice of the hearing in the official public records of real property in Denton County.

a.

The notice must contain the name and address of the owner of the affected property if that information can be determined, a legal description of the affected property, and a description of the hearing.

b.

The filing of the notice is binding on subsequent grantees, lienholders, or other transferees of an interest in the property who acquire such interest after the filing of the notice, and constitutes notice of the hearing on any subsequent recipient of any interest in the property who acquires such interest after the filing of the notice.

(3)

If the city operates under this subsection, the order issued by the commission may specify a reasonable time as provided by the time limits described in section 6-91 herein for the building, structure, or improvement to be vacated, secured, repaired, removed, or demolished by the owner or for the occupants to be relocated by the owner and an additional reasonable time as provided by section 6-91 for the ordered action to be taken by any of the mortgagees or lienholders in the event the owner fails to comply with the order within the time provided for action by the owner.

(4)

Under this subsection, the city is not required to furnish any notice to a mortgagee or lienholder other than a copy of the order in the event the owner fails to timely take the ordered action.

(c)

If a building, structure, or improvement is not vacated, secured, repaired, removed, or demolished, or the occupants are not relocated within the allotted time, the city following 30 calendar days after the date a copy of the order of the commission is personally delivered, mailed by first class mail, certified return receipt requested, or delivered to them by the United States Postal Service using signature confirmation service, to all persons to whom notice is required to be sent under V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 54.035, as amended, and consistent with V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 214.0012(a), as amended, may:

(1)

Vacate, secure, remove, or demolish the building, structure, or improvement or relocate the occupants at its own expense and then collect on a bond or other financial guaranty that may be required in this chapter;

(2)

If the building is a residential building with ten or fewer dwelling units, repair the building to the extent necessary to bring the building into compliance with the minimum standards; and

(3)

Withdraw the owner's certificate of occupancy and cancel the license authorized by this chapter for those units or structures in violation.

(d)

If the city incurs expenses under this section, the city may assess the expenses on, and the city has a lien against, unless it is a homestead as protected by the Texas Constitution, the property on which the building, structure, or improvement was located. The lien is extinguished if the property owner or another person having an interest in the legal title to the property reimburses the city for the expenses. The lien arises and attaches to the property at the time the notice of the lien is recorded and indexed in the office of the Denton County Clerk. The notice must contain the name and address of the owner if that information can be determined with a reasonable effort, a legal description of the real property on which the building was located, the amount of expenses incurred by the city, and the balance due.

(e)

If the notice is given and the opportunity to relocate the residents of the building, or to repair, remove, or demolish the building, structure, or improvement is afforded to each mortgagee and lienholder as authorized herein, the lien is a privileged lien subordinate only to tax liens.

(f)

In any judicial proceeding regarding enforcement of the city's rights under V.T.C.A., Local Government Code § 214.0015 and this article, the prevailing party is entitled to recover reasonable attorney's fees from the nonprevailing party.

(Ord. No. 2010-1871, § 3, 10-5-2010; Ord. No. 2012-1953, § 2, 5-1-2012; Ord. No. 2015-2167 , § 9, 9-15-2015)