1-1  By:  Danburg (Senate Sponsor - Henderson)             H.B. No. 1125
    1-2        (In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 1995;
    1-3  May 16, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on Economic
    1-4  Development; May 23, 1995, reported favorably by the following
    1-5  vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 23, 1995, sent to printer.)
    1-6                         A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-7                                AN ACT
    1-8  relating to the forced sale of a co-owner's interest in certain
    1-9  real property.
   1-10        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
   1-11        SECTION 1.  Title 4, Property Code, is amended by adding
   1-12  Chapter 29 to read as follows:
   1-13     CHAPTER 29.  FORCED SALE OF OWNER'S INTEREST IN CERTAIN REAL
   1-14   PROPERTY AS REIMBURSEMENT FOR PROPERTY TAXES PAID BY CO-OWNER ON
   1-15                            OWNER'S BEHALF
   1-16        Sec. 29.001.  APPLICATION OF CHAPTER.  This chapter applies
   1-17  only to real property that is:
   1-18              (1)  received by a person as a result of the death of
   1-19  another person:
   1-20                    (A)  by inheritance;
   1-21                    (B)  under a will;
   1-22                    (C)  by a joint tenancy with a right of
   1-23  survivorship; or
   1-24                    (D)  by any other survivorship agreement in which
   1-25  the interest of the decedent passes to a surviving beneficiary
   1-26  other than an agreement between spouses for community property with
   1-27  a right of survivorship; and
   1-28              (2)  not exempt from forced sale under the constitution
   1-29  or law of this state.
   1-30        Sec. 29.002.  PETITION FOR FORCED SALE.  (a)  A person who
   1-31  owns an undivided interest in real property to which this chapter
   1-32  applies may file in the district court in a county in which the
   1-33  property is located a petition for a court order to require another
   1-34  owner of an undivided interest in that property to sell the other
   1-35  owner's interest in the property to the person if:
   1-36              (1)  the person has paid the other owner's share of ad
   1-37  valorem taxes imposed on the property for any three years in a
   1-38  five-year period; and
   1-39              (2)  the other owner has not reimbursed the person for
   1-40  more than half of the total amount paid by the person for the taxes
   1-41  on the owner's behalf.
   1-42        (b)  The petition must contain:
   1-43              (1)  a description of the property;
   1-44              (2)  the name of each owner of the property;
   1-45              (3)  the interest held by each owner of the property;
   1-46              (4)  the total amount paid by the petitioner for the
   1-47  defendant's share of ad valorem taxes imposed on the property; and
   1-48              (5)  if applicable, the amount paid by the defendant to
   1-49  the petitioner to reimburse the petitioner for paying the
   1-50  defendant's share of ad valorem taxes imposed on the property.
   1-51        Sec. 29.003.  HEARING ON PETITION FOR FORCED SALE.  At a
   1-52  hearing on a petition filed under Section 29.002, the petitioner
   1-53  must prove by clear and convincing evidence that:
   1-54              (1)  the petitioner has paid the defendant's share of
   1-55  ad valorem taxes imposed on the property that is the subject of the
   1-56  petition for any three years in a five-year period;
   1-57              (2)  before the date on which the petition was filed
   1-58  the petitioner made a demand that the defendant reimburse the
   1-59  petitioner for the amount of the defendant's share of ad valorem
   1-60  taxes imposed on the property paid by the petitioner; and
   1-61              (3)  the defendant has not reimbursed the petitioner
   1-62  more than half of the amount of money the petitioner paid on the
   1-63  defendant's behalf for the defendant's share of ad valorem taxes
   1-64  imposed on the property.
   1-65        Sec. 29.004.  COURT-ORDERED SALE.  On completion of the
   1-66  hearing on a petition filed under Section 29.002, if the court is
   1-67  satisfied that the petitioner has made the requisite proof under
   1-68  Section 29.003, the court shall enter an order that divests the
    2-1  defendant's interest in the real property that is the subject of
    2-2  the petition and that orders the petitioner to pay to the defendant
    2-3  an amount computed by subtracting the outstanding amount of money
    2-4  the defendant owes to the petitioner for payment of the defendant's
    2-5  share of ad valorem taxes imposed on the property from the fair
    2-6  market value of the defendant's interest in the property as
    2-7  determined by an independent appraiser appointed by the court.  The
    2-8  court's order may also direct the defendant to execute and deliver
    2-9  to the petitioner a deed that conveys to the petitioner the
   2-10  defendant's interest in the property.
   2-11        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-12  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-13  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-14  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-15  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
   2-16  and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
   2-17  passage, and it is so enacted.
   2-18                               * * * * *