H.B. No. 1235
AN ACT
relating to the notice required for a sale of real property under a
contract lien.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.002(b), Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Notice of the sale, which must include a statement of
the earliest time at which the sale will begin, must be given at
least 21 days before the date of the sale by:
(1) [by] posting at the courthouse door of each county
in which the property is located a written notice designating the
county in which the property will be sold;
(2) [by] filing in the office of the county clerk of
each county in which the property is located a copy of the notice
posted under Subdivision (1); and
(3) [by the mortgage servicer of the debt to which the
power of sale is related] serving written notice of the sale by
certified mail on each debtor who, according to the records of the
mortgage servicer of the debt, is obligated to pay the debt.
SECTION 2. Section 51.0025, Property Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 51.0025. ADMINISTRATION OF FORECLOSURE BY MORTGAGE
SERVICER. A mortgage servicer may administer the foreclosure of
property under Section 51.002 on behalf of a mortgagee if:
(1) the mortgage servicer and the mortgagee have
entered into an agreement granting the current mortgage servicer
authority to service the mortgage; and
(2) the notices [mortgage servicer discloses in the
notice] required under Section 51.002(b) disclose [51.002:
[(A)] that the mortgage servicer is representing
the mortgagee under a servicing agreement with the mortgagee[;] and
[(B)] the name [and address] of the mortgagee
and:
(A) the address of the mortgagee; or
(B) the address of the mortgage servicer, if
there is an agreement granting a mortgage servicer the authority to
service the mortgage.
SECTION 3. (a) Except as provided by a security instrument
or other contract executed before the effective date of this Act,
the changes in law made by Section 51.002, Property Code, as amended
by this Act, apply to the notice required under Section 51.002,
Property Code, that is posted, filed, and served on or after the
effective date of this Act. If a security instrument or other
contract executed before the effective date of this Act conflicts
with the changes in law made by Section 51.002, Property Code, as
amended by this Act, as to the notice required to sell real property
under a contract lien, the notice provisions of the security
instrument or other contract prevail, and the security instrument
or other contract is governed by the law in effect at the time the
security instrument or other contract was executed, and that former
law is continued in effect for that purpose.
(b) Except as provided by a security instrument or other
contract executed before the effective date of this Act, the
changes in law made by Section 51.0025, Property Code, as amended by
this Act, apply to the administration of a sale of real property
under a contract lien that is conducted on or after the effective
date of this Act. If a security instrument or other contract
executed before the effective date of this Act conflicts with the
changes in law made by Section 51.0025, Property Code, as amended by
this Act, as to the administration of a sale of real property under
a contract lien, the security instrument or other contract
prevails, and the security instrument or other contract is governed
by the law in effect at the time the security instrument or other
contract was executed, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1235 was passed by the House on May 3,
2005, by a non-record vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1235 was passed by the Senate on May
24, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor