Hearings after permit revocation or summary abatement.
Houston Code of Ordinances § 10-412
in effectSec. 10-412. - Hearings after permit revocation or summary abatement.
(a) Before the fifteenth day after the day on which the fire code official either (1) revokes a permit pursuant to Section 105.5.3 of the Fire Code or (2) summarily abates a serious and immediate fire hazard pursuant to Section 110.3 of the Fire Code, the fire code official shall give written notice in the manner described in Section 214.0011(c), Texas Local Government Code, to each owner, lienholder, and mortgagee of the subject property, which notice shall (1) notify the said person(s) of the right to request an administrative hearing to determine whether the permit revocation or summary abatement was duly authorized by law and (2) state an address to which such a request shall be delivered or mailed.
(b) A request responsive to the notice described in subsection (a) of this section must be received by the fire code official within thirty days after the day on which the person submitting the request was served with the notice. In the absence of such a request for hearing, the permit revocation or summary abatement shall be deemed to have been authorized by law.
(c) No later than 30 days after the fire code official's receipt of a request to which subsection (b) of this section refers, the fire code official shall give a written notice of hearing to each owner, lienholder, and mortgagee of the subject property in the manner described in Section 214.0011(c), Texas Local Government Code. The notice of hearing shall include the following information:
(1) That a hearing will be held on a stated date and at a stated time and place, which date shall be as soon as practicable but in any case no later than ninety days after the day on which the fire code official receives a request to which subsection (b) of this section refers;
(2) That the hearing will be held before a hearing official to consider whether the permit revocation or summary abatement was authorized by law;
(3) That any person having a legal interest in the property (as evidenced by the real property records of the county in which the property is located) may appear in person, may be represented by an attorney, may present testimony and other evidence, and may cross-examine all witnesses; and
(4) That the hearing will be conducted "in accordance with Division 8 of Article IX of Chapter 10 of the Code of Ordinances, Houston, Texas, which Code is available for public review at www.houstontx.gov/codes."
(d) The hearing officer shall conduct the hearing to which subsection (c) of this section refers.
(1) If the hearing is a record proceeding, the hearing shall be recorded by a court reporter certified by the Texas Court Reporters Certification Board.
(2) The hearing may be postponed once for good cause shown; the existence of 'good cause' shall be determined by the hearing officer in the exercise of his sole but reasonable discretion.
(3) After consideration of the evidence presented at the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written order, the substance of which order shall be limited to the following:
a. A statement of the date, time, and place of the hearing and of the authority pursuant to which the hearing was conducted;
b. A list of all persons who attended all or part of the hearing, to the extent known by the hearing officer;
c. A general description of the evidence considered by the hearing officer; and
d. A declaration that the permit revocation or summary abatement was or was not authorized by law.
(4) In the event that the hearing official declares that the revocation of a permit was not authorized by law, the fire code official shall reissue the permit.
(5) If no person having a legal or equitable interest in the property appears before the hearing officer on the date and at the time for which notice was given, the hearing officer shall issue a written order, the substance of which order shall be limited to the following:
a. A statement of the date, time, and place of the hearing and of the authority pursuant to which the hearing was conducted;
b. A list of all persons who attended all or part of the hearing, to the extent known by the hearing officer;
c. A statement that no person having a legal or equitable interest in the property appeared before the hearing officer on the date and at the time for which notice was given; and
d. A declaration that the permit revocation or summary abatement is presumed to have been authorized by law.
(Ord. No. 2013-296, § 20, 4-3-2013)
Source: City of Houston, Code of Ordinances and City Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tx/houston/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=COOR_CH10BUNEPR_ARTIXBUST_DIV8SPHEUNFICO_S10-412HEAFPERESUABFetched: 10/26/2026