As a concerned University of Texas at Austin student, I want to warn University of Houston students about a bill in the Texas Legislature that will increase the likelihood that students throughout Texas will be raped, sexually assaulted or robbed.
Currently, landlords can be held responsible when their negligence allows criminals to prey on innocent tenants. But Texas legislators are now considering proposals that would shield even the worst off-campus landlords from responsibilities for crimes that occur on their premises.
This legislation would eliminate nearly all incentives for your landlord to invest in your safety, which leaves the door open to landlord negligence and criminal intrusions.
In 1995, six robberies and three aggravated assaults were reported to the UH Police Department, along with 447 property crimes. The City of Houston reported 316 murders, 837 rapes, 11,885 aggravated assaults, 9,222 robberies and 109,342 property crimes.
Across Texas, 8,526 rapes were reported in 1995. Texas rape figures rise to as high as 23,000 a year when estimating unreported rapes.
One-third of these assaults occur in rental housing. Landlords who don't make reasonable investments in the safety of their tenants must be held accountable.
An important 1991 Texas case established this point. Nurse Juli Bliskey sued the managers of her rented Corpus Christi apartment. The managers refused her request to install a dead bolt on her home that could not be opened by an outside key. They also left spare apartment keys and files containing tenants' personal information in the management office.
Convicted felon Bryan Ewers forced his way into the poorly secured office one night, rifled the files, identified three single women, helped himself to the keys, quietly unlocked Bliskey's door and raped her.
A Texas jury found the management company guilty of negligence, awarding the victim damages.
The case also helped prompt the Texas Legislature to pass a 1993 law requiring landlords to install $10 night latches on outside doors at a tenant's request.
On March 12, Texas executed John Kennedy Barefield for the 1986 rape and murder of Rice University student Cindy Rounsaville. Barefield, who led a gang on a rampage through Houston apartment complexes, abducted Rounsaville from her apartment parking lot.
Housing is one of the biggest expenses in a student budget. Students should expect their rent to cover good outdoor lighting and solid locks - these are not luxury options. Students who pay their rent are entitled to a sense of security.
Landlords are organized into a well-funded and aggressive lobby that gives them power beyond their numbers. Texas Ethics Commission records state that real estate, construction and developer interests were the largest contributors to the lobbying effort promoting this anti-tenant legislation in the last election cycle. These lobbyists were betting that students and other tenants would not react to the threat of this irresponsible legislation.
Fifty-five percent of Houston residents live in rental housing. Without organized opposition, our legislators are likely to approve this special-interest legislation so the real estate industry will continue to pour money into campaign war chests.
UH students can defend themselves from this self-serving agenda by contacting area Rep. Paul Hilbert at (281) 537-5252. Tell him to protect students and other tenants from violent crimes in Houston by opposing House Bill 1202.
If you would like to do more about this issue, contact Public Citizen consumer public interest group at (512) 477-1155.
Erskine is a journalism/public relations senior at UT and a Public Citizen intern.