By:  Farabee, Campbell                                            H.B. No. 371



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to liquidated damages for violating certain requirements 
relating to executory contracts for the conveyance of certain real 
property.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 5.077, Property Code, is 
amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 5.077.  ANNUAL ACCOUNTING STATEMENT; DAMAGES; 
CONTRACTUAL NOTICE REQUIRED.
	SECTION 2.  Section 5.077, Property Code, is amended by 
amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsections (d) and (e) to read 
as follows:
	(c)  A seller who fails to comply with Subsection (a) is 
liable to the purchaser for:
		(1)  liquidated damages in the amount of $250 [a day] 
for each annual statement [day after January 31 that] the seller 
fails to provide to the purchaser within the time required by 
Subsection  (a) [with the statement]; and
		(2)  reasonable attorney's fees.                                              
	(d)  After January 31 of a year in which a statement is 
required under Subsection (a), the purchaser may request in writing 
that the seller provide the statement required under that 
subsection.  A request for a statement or accounting with respect to 
the executory contract or any similar request is presumed to be a 
request for a statement required by Subsection (a).  If the seller 
does not provide the statement to the purchaser on or before the 
14th day after the date the seller receives the request, in addition 
to the liability imposed by Subsection (c), the seller is liable to 
the purchaser for liquidated damages in the amount of the lesser of:
		(1)  $250 a day for each day after the 14th day after 
the date the seller receives the request that the seller does not 
provide the statement; or
		(2)  the purchase price of the property.                               
	(e)  The executory contract must include a provision that:              
		(1)  states that:                                                      
			(A)  the seller is required to provide an annual 
statement under this section on or before January 31 of each year 
for the term of the contract; and
			(B)  the buyer has the right to request that the 
seller provide the statement if the buyer does not receive the 
statement on or before January 31 of the year it is due; and
		(2)  lists the items that must be included in the 
statement under Subsection (b).
	SECTION 3.  (a)  Section 5.077(c), Property Code, as amended 
by this Act, applies to the act of a seller who has only one contract 
for deed outstanding and before, on, or after the effective date of 
this Act fails to timely provide an annual statement as required by 
Section 5.077(a), Property Code.  This subsection does not apply to 
the liability of a seller for an act for which the seller has paid 
liquidated damages, or has been ordered by a court to pay liquidated 
damages, under Section 5.077(c), Property Code, before the 
effective date of this Act.
	(b)  Section 5.077(e), Property Code, as added by this Act, 
applies only to an executory contract entered into on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  An executory contract entered into 
before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in 
effect immediately before that date, and that law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.