§ 8-38. Authority of city to secure building before a hearing.

(a)

The code enforcement director or building official may, before notice and hearing, secure a building that violates the minimum standards in this chapter and is unoccupied or is occupied only by persons who do not have a right of possession if:

(1)

Before the eleventh day after the building is secured, the owner is given notice by:

a.

Personally serving the owner with written notice;

b.

Depositing the notice in the United States mail addressed to the owner at the owner's post office address;

c.

Publishing the notice at least twice within a ten-day period in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the building is located if personal service cannot be obtained and the owner's post office address is unknown; or

d.

Posting the notice on or near the front door of the building if personal service cannot be obtained and the owner's post office address is unknown.

(b)

The notice pursuant to this section must contain:

(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;

(3)

A statement that the city will secure or has secured, as the case may be, the building; and

(4)

An explanation of the owner's entitlement to request a hearing about any matter relating to the city's securing of the building.

(c)

The commission shall conduct a hearing pursuant to this section at which the owner may testify or present witnesses or written information about any matter relating to the city's securing of the building if, within thirty (30) days after the date the city secures the building, the owner files with the city a written request for the hearing. The commission shall conduct the hearing within twenty (20) days after the date the request is filed.

(d)

The city has the same authority to assess expenses under this section as it has to assess expenses under section 8-44 herein. A lien is created under this section in the same manner that a lien is created under section 8-44 herein and is subject to the same conditions as a lien created under that section.

(e)

The authority granted in this section is in addition to that granted by section 214.001 of the Texas Local Government Code and other sections in this article.

(Ord. No. 2008-9000, § 2, 10-2-08)