By Goolsby H.B. No. 637
76R3653 PAM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to requiring a seller of real property to deliver notice
1-3 to the purchaser regarding the potential for annexation of the
1-4 property.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 5, Property Code, is
1-7 amended by adding Section 5.011 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 5.011. SELLER'S DISCLOSURE REGARDING POTENTIAL
1-9 ANNEXATION. (a) A person who sells an interest in real property
1-10 in this state shall give to the purchaser of the property a written
1-11 notice that reads substantially similar to the following:
1-12 NOTICE REGARDING POSSIBLE ANNEXATION
1-13 If the property that is the subject of this
1-14 contract is located outside the limits of a
1-15 municipality, the property may now or later be included
1-16 in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality
1-17 and may now or later be subject to annexation by the
1-18 municipality. Each municipality maintains a map that
1-19 depicts its boundaries and extraterritorial
1-20 jurisdiction. To determine if the property is located
1-21 within a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction
1-22 or is likely to be located within a municipality's
1-23 extraterritorial jurisdiction, contact all
1-24 municipalities located in the general proximity of the
2-1 property for further information.
2-2 (b) The seller shall deliver the notice to the purchaser
2-3 before the date the executory contract binds the purchaser to
2-4 purchase the property. The notice may be given separately, as part
2-5 of the contract during negotiations, or as part of any other notice
2-6 the seller delivers to the purchaser.
2-7 (c) This section does not apply to a transfer:
2-8 (1) under a court order or foreclosure sale;
2-9 (2) by a trustee in bankruptcy;
2-10 (3) to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in
2-11 interest or to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or
2-12 successor in interest;
2-13 (4) by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of
2-14 trust who has acquired the land at a sale conducted under a power
2-15 of sale under a deed of trust or a sale under a court-ordered
2-16 foreclosure or has acquired the land by a deed in lieu of
2-17 foreclosure;
2-18 (5) by a fiduciary in the course of the administration
2-19 of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust;
2-20 (6) from one co-owner to another co-owner of an
2-21 undivided interest in the real property;
2-22 (7) to a spouse or a person in the lineal line of
2-23 consanguinity of the seller;
2-24 (8) to or from a governmental entity;
2-25 (9) of only a mineral interest, leasehold interest, or
2-26 security interest; or
2-27 (10) of real property that is located wholly within a
3-1 municipality's corporate boundaries.
3-2 (d) If the notice is delivered as provided by this section,
3-3 the seller has no duty to provide additional information regarding
3-4 the possible annexation of the property by a municipality.
3-5 (e) If an executory contract is entered into without the
3-6 seller providing the notice required by this section, the purchaser
3-7 may terminate the contract for any reason within the earlier of:
3-8 (1) seven days after the date the purchaser receives
3-9 the notice; or
3-10 (2) the date the transfer occurs.
3-11 SECTION 2. (a) This Act takes effect January 1, 2000.
3-12 (b) The change in law made by this Act applies only to a
3-13 transfer of property that occurs on or after the effective date of
3-14 this Act. For purposes of this section, a transfer of property
3-15 occurs before the effective date of this Act if the executory
3-16 contract binding the purchaser to purchase the property is executed
3-17 before that date.
3-18 (c) Property transferred before the effective date of this
3-19 Act is covered by the law in effect when the property was
3-20 transferred, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-21 purpose.
3-22 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.