From: texastenantsunion@yahoo.com
Sent: Sat 3/14/09 5:30 PM
To: Texas Tenants' Union (texastenantsunion@yahoo.com)

A number of bills have been filed in the Texas Legislature to advance tenants' rights. A few have been filed that don't. Many of TTU's legislative priorities are being addressed.

Have you ever:
been unfairly reported to the credit bureau by a landlord?
been forced to move after your landlord was foreclosed upon?
been unpleasantly surprised by the condition of your apartment upon move-in because you were only shown the model?
had your landlord come into your home without giving any notice?
wanted to terminate a lease because of crime or loss of job?
been forced to move when your landlord redeveloped the property or the city closed it down?
received an outrageously high electric bill because your landlord used your utilities to make repairs?
had trouble finding a place to live because you receive a housing subsidy?
or dealt with several other unfair situations ...
Now is the time to contact your State Senator and Representative in Austin to ask them to support the bills that have been filed to protect your rights and oppose those that don't. You can find out who they are and how to reach them at this link: http://www.fyi.legis.state.tx.us/ Write, call, and/or visit (local office or Austin) to let them know your concerns. Please send us copies of the correspondence you send so that we can get them to the authors of the bills, and the committee members who will vote on the bills.

If you are interested in going to Austin to attend the hearing(s) on any of these bills, or attending a press conference in Dallas about this legislation, please let us know. Hearings on bills affecting your rights related to crime, foreclosure, repairs, and charges for early termination are being held this Tuesday, March 17th.

Here are some of the key bills that have been filed. A few more were filed before yesterday's deadline, but the text isn't available yet. A full, up-to-date list can be found on our website at www.txtenants.org and at this link http://www.legis.state.tx.us/Reports...

HB 2427 Author: Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Port Arthur)
Last Action: 03/11/2009 H Referred to Business & Industry
Caption: Relating to the rights and responsibilities of residential tenants.
� Gives tenant the right to terminate a lease if they lose a job, through no fault of their own, and the income from that job provides the majority of the income for the household.
� Gives tenant the right to terminate a lease if the leased premises were the scene of a violent criminal act without fault of the tenant.
� Prohibits landlords from collecting damages from tenants who terminate a lease without cause beyond the amount of rent required to be paid for the remainder of the lease term. Landlords would continue to have a duty to mitigate damages by re-renting the dwelling to reduce the tenant's liability.
� Requires landlords to give at least 24 hours notice before entering, unless it is an emergency. Allows tenants to sue for one month's rent plus $750, actual damages, court costs, attorney's fees and injunctive relief for violations.
� Prohibits landlords from reporting sums "owed" by the tenant to a consumer reporting agency if there is controversy concerning the amounts past due and owed. Allows tenant to sue for a civil penalty of $1,000 or three times the tenant's actual damages, court costs and attorney's fees, and injunctive relief.
� Gives tenant 7 days to pay rent before a lease can be terminated. Requires rent or other amounts due to be equal to at least one month's rent.
� Requires landlords to obtain permission from the tenant and reimburse them within 10 days for the cost of electricity used to complete repairs or renovations.
� Amends the Texas Fair H

Herez alil poem that I've always cherished. Enjoy pplz!!!

I'M NOT GIVING MY BLACK BACK!!!

I'm not giving up my greens or my grits or saying "girl" and
putting my hands on my hips. You see...

Life for me ain't been no crystal stair and I'm not giving up
Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hammer, Mary McLeod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, Madame C. J. Walker, Toni Morrison or Dr. Maya Angelou, 'cause you see, I am a
phenomenal woman and I'm not giving my black back.

I'm not giving up my crown, waves, braids, curls, locks, kinks, scarves or Hebrew garb. I'm not giving up sitting in Ma's kitchen eating peach
cobbler or sweet potato pie and hearing her ask me, "How you doing baby"?

I'm not giving up going to "You Buy, We Fry" on Fridays, or barbecues on
Saturday playing Bid Whist and slammin' those dominoes. I'm not giving back
Harriet Tubman's train, Soul Train, Coltrane or the midnight train to Georgia.
Now, you can meet me at the function at the junction but I still won't give
up B.B. King, the Whispers, Fancy Ms. Nancy, Lena Horne, the Philadelphia
Sound, Motown or the Temptations.

'Cause you see, it's the way we do the things we do, like building the
pyramids that still stand made by our forefathers' hands where the
diamonds, oil, silver and gold are buried in our rich dark land. I'm not giving my black back!

I'm happy being nappy with my wide hips and my wide nose and the rich
melanin in my skin.

I love putting lotion on my ashy legs. Oh, I'm happy being nappy and being
in the skin that I'm in.

I won't deny or forget my ancestors who lay in a wet grave at the bottom of
the sea in the Middle Passage from slave trade.

And I won't give up on our youth of today who still need a way made. I won't
give back Miles even though he didn't smile. I won't give back Marvin Gaye, Richard Pryor, Phyllis Hyman, Billie Holiday or Billy Eckstine, Jackie Robinson or Jackie Wilson.

I won't give back the electric slide, Alvin Ailey, Bojangles or Debbie Allen.
You think I'd give up reading my Jet, Ebony, Essence, Emerge, Black
Enterprise, Heart and Soul or Upscale magazines?

For we are a colorful people. Like Curtis Mayfield sang, we are a people
that are "darker than blue." We are honey, cinnamon, mahogany and
chocolate.

We are REDD Fox, James BROWN, Barry WHITE, The Mothers of the
Church dressed in WHITE, The Color PURPLE, the Lady Who Sings the BLUES and we are Al GREEN with love and happiness. Oh, NO... I'm not giving my black back!

I'm not giving back Maxine (Waters), Martin, Medgar, Malcolm, Mandela,
Marley, Marcus, Muhammad Ali, Michael (Jordan) or the Million Man March.

I'm not giving my Black back!

-author unknown-

WOULD YOU?!?

Originally Posted by 4biddenluv

...A slightly different approach to Afrikan/Black History month... I present to you a series of informational links used in the making of my movie- "Historia Afrikana: Reggaeton Version". Enjoy and plz don't 4get 2 rate, sav2fav, comment, but most of 2 tell a friend!?! Gracias mi gente!!!

http://puertorico1797.com/index_file...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuyorican

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-La...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuerzas...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_h...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean