Local legislator’s bill aims to raise the stakes on posting bandit signs
Lawmakers in Austin are poised to send a message to companies cluttering telephone poles, road medians and public rights-of-way with offers of jobs, houses and predatory loans: Bandit signs are not funny business anymore.
Bandit signs are illegal in Texas, but as anyone who has seen a Houston street can attest, making them against the law has not shrunk their popularity as an advertising medium.
Under changes proposed by state Sen. Borris Miles, D-Houston, it could become a more costly one, however.
Miles’ bill, SB 355, would keep fines for a first violation at $1,000, but increase them significantly from there. Second offenses would jump to $5,000 before doubling to $10,000 for third and subsequent offenses.
“When we catch them, they laugh and consider it a cost of doing business,” said Houston District K Councilwoman Martha Castex-Tatum, noting the $1,000 maximum fine for posting signs on public land has proven less than a deterrent.
Under existing law, cities and counties pursue the fines as civil penalties, meaning they take businesses or individuals to court to decide if the penalty is warranted, or settle the matter during the legal process.
Miles’ bill also allows for fining
the businesses being advertised, loosening the rules slightly so cities and counties do not have to prove they commissioned the sign’s placement.
“If we can’t catch the individual in the act of placing the sign, we then go the the business being advertised,” Miles told members of the Senate Transportation Committee last week.
Any additional revenue from costlier fines would go to cities and counties, which Miles said could use the money to increase enforcement.
Political signs exempt
Miles’ bill was passed unanimously out of the committee with slight changes and is scheduled for discussion Tuesday on the Senate floor. An identical bill is working its way through the Texas House, authored by Dallasarea Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos, though that bill has not received a committee hearing.
Castex-Tatum, whose southwest Houston district is saturated with the signs, said she is hopeful lawmakers will proceed, noting the proliferation of the signs affects many cities statewide. According to city estimates provided to the state, Houston confiscates 3,174 bandit signs, issues 25 citations, and receives 87 reports of signs per month.
Miles said the changes are aimed at abusers of the public right of way, assuring lawmakers the occasional yard sale sign that is removed in a timely manner is not going to lead to fines.
Elected officials also have nothing to fear, Miles said.
“No, it does not cover political campaigns,” he said, responding a question from Sen. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen. “I almost put them in there because we have had some problems in the city of Houston. … We give them consideration to remove the sign and then we have a strong conversation with them.”
Signs rules in Texas typically give political signs some latitude, to ward off claims that incumbents punish challengers or to prevent a campaign from planting signs and blaming the opponent.
Politics aside, Houston remains a hotbed for bandit signs and a constant battleground between companies erecting the signs and the crews tasked with removing them. The proliferation leaves neighborhood groups and residents vexed, though some said the signs may be losing their effectiveness because they are so common.
“Those ‘We buy houses’ signs, I don’t pay attention to them,” said Charlotte Matthews, 33, who lives in Greenspoint. “I can’t tell you what the phone number is, and I see the signs every day.”
Texas toughened rules on bandit signs erected in public rights of way in 2009, allowing a civil penalty even when the person placing the sign was not caught in the act. Prior to that, police had to catch the placement, which led companies to swarm neighborhoods in the middle of the night.
Now, many of those companies and new ones find even more elaborate methods, CastexTatum said. Many use ladders and special lengthened hammers to hang signs as high as possible on poles to make them more cumbersome to remove.
Predatory nature, scams
Castex-Tatum formed a special district cleaning crew to address the signs when she took office in mid-2018, but said her office still struggles to keep up with complaints.
“My team is picking these signs up as soon as (offenders) are putting them out,” she said. “There will be more the next day.”
Many neighborhoods contend with the constant churn, though like any business there are ups and downs. Crews for the East End Management District often see spikes in early spring around tax season, during summer when lawn care and other services are busy and fall for financial reasons and home sales, said Dan Joyce, director of public affairs for the district.
Bandit signs have declined slightly during the pandemic, Joyce noted.
Still, Castex-Tatum said the signs remain a constant problem, especially in low-income areas. Part of her concern, she added, is the predatory nature of many of the signs found in poorer communities, such as those offering loans and check cashing for exorbitant fees.
Scams also are prevalent, she said, ranging from offers to purchase medical supplies such as diabetic test strips — companies nationally have been accused of offering cash for the unused diabetes control supplies and never sending the promised payment — to job offers. Castex-Tatum told state lawmakers she called the phone number on a recent job advertisement.
“They asked for my bank account number,” she said.
Holding the companies advertised and those putting up the signs accountable is necessary, both in terms of fairness and finding a way to end their use.
Often, when confronted, Castex-Tatum said businesses deny hanging up the signs. What they never do is deny the problem.
“I have not had one person say ‘I should be able to do it,’” she said.