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House Bill 556 |
House Author: Kuempel |
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Effective: 9-1-09 |
Senate Sponsor: Harris |
Previous law authorized a court to award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party in a suit for the possession of real property between a person claiming possession under record title to the property and one claiming possession by adverse possession if the prevailing party recovered possession from a person unlawfully in actual possession. House Bill 556 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to require a court to award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party if the court finds that the person unlawfully in actual possession made a claim of adverse possession that was groundless and made in bad faith and to authorize the court to award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party in the absence of such a finding.