SB243

SB243 expands enforcement of migrant labor housing standards, with complaint deadlines, relocation rules, anti-retaliation protection and revised civil penalties. It became law without the governor’s signature on June 20, 2025, and took effect September 1, 2025. Its new penalty, complaint, remediation, retaliation and attorney-fee provisions apply only to violations occurring on or after that effective date; a violation with any earlier element stays under prior law. Official history; Final law.

Complaints to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs may come from current or prospective occupants, their authorized representatives, or individuals who observe a clear violation. TDHCA must notify the operator within five days of receiving a complaint. An authorized representative has a conditional protection against revealing a worker’s name after the department reviews and verifies the written authorization; the bill does not promise universal anonymity.

Ordinary complaints generally must be remedied within seven days after notice is received, with proof through visual evidence and a sworn affidavit or the specified inspection process. The separate provision for violations TDHCA determines pose an imminent health or safety hazard allows up to 30 days, subject to relocation when remediation is projected to take longer. TDHCA may refer these complaints for immediate local inspection. Required replacement housing must meet standards, be in the same vicinity and charge no more rent than the vacated housing; this relocation provision does not apply to workers temporarily in the United States on H-2A visas.

The former $200-per-day civil penalty becomes a minimum of $50 per affected occupant per day, with increasing penalties for repeat violations. Accrual depends on the statutory failure-to-remedy findings or the 31st day after notice for the special hazard process, subject to the relocation exception—not automatically the day a complaint arrives. Collection actions are barred while specified agency, injunction or government cases are pending, while the operator awaits the specified remediation inspection, or while qualifying relocation housing is being provided.

TDHCA may pursue penalties through a contested case; county attorneys or the attorney general may act at TDHCA’s request. A worker may sue for the civil penalty only after a complaint has been submitted and if, when submitted, the worker lived in that facility and was not temporarily present on an H-2A visa. Courts may award reasonable fees to the prevailing party, not automatically only to workers. The bill separately prohibits retaliation for good-faith complaints or information, requires multilingual outreach and research, and restricts interagency information to locating unlicensed facilities, without individual worker identification and with confidentiality.

TDHCA adopted implementing rules effective February 25, 2026, before the law’s March 1 rulemaking deadline. Among the later rules, required relocation must be completed within seven days and the provider pays moving expenses. These implementation details are separate from the enacted statute. The agency’s general program webpage still displayed older $200 penalty language when checked; use the enacted law and adopted rules for the revised provisions. Official rule adoption and text; Agency program page.