By:  Eckels                                            H.B. No. 768
       73R3305 SMH-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the right of redemption of real property sold at a tax
    1-3  sale.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 34.21, Tax Code, is amended to read as
    1-6  follows:
    1-7        Sec. 34.21.  Right of Redemption.  (a)  The owner of real
    1-8  property sold at a tax sale that was the residence homestead of the
    1-9  owner or that was land designated for agricultural use when the
   1-10  suit to collect the tax was filed may redeem the property within
   1-11  two years after the date on which the purchaser's deed is filed for
   1-12  record by paying the purchaser the amount the purchaser <he> bid
   1-13  for the property, the amount of the deed recording fee, and the
   1-14  amount paid by the purchaser as taxes, penalties, interest, and
   1-15  costs on the property, plus 25 percent of the aggregate total if
   1-16  the property is redeemed during the first year of the redemption
   1-17  period or 50 percent of the aggregate total if the property is
   1-18  redeemed during the second year of the redemption period.
   1-19        (b)  The owner of real property sold at a tax sale other than
   1-20  property covered by Subsection (a) may redeem the property within
   1-21  six months after the date on which the purchaser's deed is filed
   1-22  for record by paying the purchaser the amount the purchaser bid for
   1-23  the property, the amount of the deed recording fee, and the amount
   1-24  paid by the purchaser as taxes, penalties, interest, and costs on
    2-1  the property, plus 25 percent of the aggregate total.
    2-2        (c)  If the owner of the real property makes an affidavit
    2-3  that he has made diligent search in the county in which the
    2-4  property is located for the purchaser at the tax sale and has
    2-5  failed to find him, that the purchaser at the sale is not a
    2-6  resident of the county in which the property is located, that he
    2-7  and the purchaser cannot agree on the amount of redemption money
    2-8  due, or that the purchaser refuses to give him a quitclaim deed to
    2-9  the property, the owner may redeem the property <land> by paying
   2-10  the required amount as prescribed by Subsection (a) or (b), as
   2-11  applicable, to the assessor-collector for the county in which the
   2-12  property is located.  The assessor-collector receiving the payment
   2-13  shall give the owner a signed receipt witnessed by two persons.
   2-14  The receipt, when recorded, is notice to all persons that the
   2-15  property described has been redeemed.  The assessor-collector shall
   2-16  on demand pay the money received by him to the purchaser at the tax
   2-17  sale.
   2-18        (d) <(c)>  The right of redemption does not grant or reserve
   2-19  in the former owner of the real property the right to the use or
   2-20  possession of the property, or to receive rents, income, or other
   2-21  benefits from the property while the right of redemption exists.
   2-22        (e)  In this section, "residence homestead" has the meaning
   2-23  assigned by Section 11.13.
   2-24        (f)  In this section, "agricultural use" has the meaning
   2-25  assigned by Section 23.51.
   2-26        SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect January 1, 1994, but
   2-27  only if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 73rd
    3-1  Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, to modify the period in which
    3-2  the former owner of real property may redeem the property after a
    3-3  tax sale, is approved by the voters.  If that amendment is not
    3-4  approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.
    3-5        (b)  This Act applies to redemption of real property sold at
    3-6  a tax sale for which the purchaser's deed is filed for record on or
    3-7  after the effective date of this Act.  Redemption of real property
    3-8  sold at a tax sale for which the purchaser's deed is filed for
    3-9  record before the effective date of this Act is covered by the law
   3-10  in effect when the deed is filed, and the former law is continued
   3-11  in effect for that purpose.
   3-12        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-13  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-14  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-15  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-16  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.