1-1 By: Brown S.B. No. 1530
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 13, 1997; March 20, 1997, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Jurisprudence;
1-4 April 9, 1997, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
1-5 Nays 0; April 9, 1997, 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. Section 29.002, Property Code, is amended to read
1-12 as follows:
1-13 (a) A person who owns an undivided interest in real property
1-14 to which this chapter applies may file in the district court in a
1-15 county in which the property is located a petition for a court
1-16 order to require another owner of an undivided interest in that
1-17 property to sell the other owner's interest in the property to the
1-18 person if:
1-19 (1) the person has paid the other owner's share of ad
1-20 valorem taxes imposed on the property for any three years in a
1-21 five-year period; [and]
1-22 (2) the other owner has not reimbursed the person for
1-23 more than half of the total amount paid by the person for the taxes
1-24 on the owner's behalf; and
1-25 (3) at least 30 days before the petition is filed the
1-26 petitioner made a written demand:
1-27 (A) that the defendant reimburse the petitioner
1-28 for the amount of the defendant's share of ad valorem taxes imposed
1-29 on the property paid by the petitioner;
1-30 (B) that states that the demand is being brought
1-31 under Chapter 29 of the Property Code; and
1-32 (C) that states that the property is subject to
1-33 forced sale if the defendant does not reimburse the petitioner for
1-34 the defendant's share of ad valorem taxes imposed on the property
1-35 paid by the petitioner.
1-36 SECTION 2. Section 29.003, Property Code, is amended to read
1-37 as follows:
1-38 Sec. 29.003. HEARING ON PETITION FOR FORCED SALE. At a
1-39 hearing on a petition filed under Section 29.002, the petitioner
1-40 must prove by clear and convincing evidence that:
1-41 (1) the petitioner has paid the defendant's share of
1-42 ad valorem taxes imposed on the property that is the subject of the
1-43 petition for any three years in a five-year period;
1-44 (2) at least 30 days before [the date on which] the
1-45 petition was filed the petitioner made a written demand:
1-46 (A) that the defendant reimburse the petitioner
1-47 for the amount of the defendant's share of ad valorem taxes imposed
1-48 on the property paid by the petitioner;
1-49 (B) that states that the demand is being brought
1-50 under Chapter 29 of the Property Code; and
1-51 (C) that states that the property is subject to
1-52 forced sale if the defendant does not reimburse the petitioner for
1-53 the defendant's share of ad valorem taxes imposed on the property
1-54 paid by the petitioner; and
1-55 (3) the defendant has not reimbursed the petitioner
1-56 more than half of the amount of money the petitioner paid on the
1-57 defendant's behalf for the defendant's share of ad valorem taxes
1-58 imposed on the property.
1-59 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
1-60 applies to a petition for forced sale filed on or after that date.
1-61 A petition for forced sale filed before the effective date of this
1-62 Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the petition was
1-63 filed, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
1-64 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
2-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
2-5 * * * * *