According to industry representatives and state representative Gary Gates (R-Rosenberg ), homebuilders and developers can sue cities for illegal code enforcement, but even a successful lawsuit can be a Pyrrhic victory.
Cities are vying against organizations that have limited resources and are armed with sovereign immunity. In the end, Gates, who owns and operates apartments and whose main policy frequently concentrates on accommodation and open banking, thinks the Texas Legislature might develop on the wave of housing reform bills it passed in 2025.
According to J. D. Hale, sin president of state matters for the Texas Association of Builders, homebuilders are frequently advised to stop work once they file a petition with a city. Homebuilders are therefore encouraged to grin and keep the needs of the city, Hale told The Texan.
The initiative freezes if a contractor or developer files a lawsuit against a city or county. They are in complete control of that task until the lawsuit is settled. Time is money, Hale said, and that’s true for us.
Another factor in our struggle to find people who are willing to take that proactive approach is because they are aware that the task will be put on hold until it is resolved.
Earlier this month, Hale addressed the express Senate Local Government Committee about some new state laws intended to increase cover affordability.
Senate Bill ( SB ) 15, SB 840, and SB 2477, all three bills from the 89th Legislative Session’s agenda passed with bipartisan support. However, Gates told The Texan that many have encountered city-level opposition.
Numerous suburban towns passed legislation that raise the cost of such tasks, such as essential amenities that aren’t required somewhere, just before the effective date of SB 840, which requires cities to permit housing growth in industrial areas without rezoning.
Gates argued that the” that’s thing that’s purposefully designed to prevent a designer from even using that tool.”
Most people, in a lawsuit between a programmer or contractor and a city, simply crater and follow the city’s instructions because of the deadline. Therefore, what I’m attempting to do in my council is to find a way to remove their somewhat arbitrary royal immunity.
On the other hand, Jackson Su, the founding partner of Bridge Tower, a built-to-rent programmer in North Texas, agreed that dispute is “hold the task to some extent,” but that it’s typically simple for designers to avoid lawsuits at the outset of a job.
According to Su,” I would say that about 90 % of those lawsuits would occur before the project started to fail,” Su said.
Developers reach a development agreement with the local government before construction begins that establishes land use. This stage of the process is typically the most susceptible to litigation for developers, Su told The Texan. For instance,” there’s a chance for litigation” if the city refuses to apply a zoning variance while the land for a project is within the city’s purview.
” Most of the time, if you have a good lawyer or a good developer, those things get flushed out during the development agreement,” Su said.” Everyone just adheres to the development agreement from the perspective of a developer.”
