§ 125.0017.Notice by Law Enforcement of Certain Activities

A short notice provision aimed at one problem, and it does more work than its length suggests.

Where a law enforcement agency has reason to believe that prostitution, compelling prostitution, or massage services in violation of the Occupations Code has occurred at property leased to a person operating a massage establishment, the agency may provide written notice by certified mail to each person maintaining the property.

The provision addresses a specific gap. Illicit massage businesses operate from leased premises, and a landlord can say — and often truthfully — that the tenant’s conduct was unknown to them.

Notice removes that answer. Read with the evidence section, service of this notice converts later proof of the activity into prima facie evidence that the landlord knowingly tolerated it and failed to make reasonable attempts to abate it.

Both elements are supplied at once, which is what makes the notice consequential — those are two of the three things a plaintiff must otherwise prove.

The threshold for sending it is low: reason to believe the activity has occurred. No charge, conviction or finding is required.

"Each person maintaining the property" reaches beyond the named owner to management companies and others responsible for it.

Certified mail is required, and the reason is timing. The evidence section treats notice as given the earlier of seven days after the postmark or actual receipt, so the mailing date starts a clock.

The agency "may" send the notice. It is a tool for law enforcement rather than a step a plaintiff can compel.