By: West, et al.  S.B. No. 30
         (In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2021; March 9, 2021, read
  first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs;
  March 17, 2021, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 9,
  Nays 0; March 17, 2021, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the removal of certain discriminatory restrictions and
  provisions from certain real property records.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 5, Property Code, is
  amended by adding Section 5.0265 to read as follows:
         Sec. 5.0265.  REMOVAL OF DISCRIMINATORY RESTRICTIONS OR
  PROVISIONS FROM CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY RECORDS. (a)  To the extent
  of any conflict between this section and other law, this section
  prevails.
         (b)  An owner of real property or an interest in real
  property may request, on a form developed under Subsection (d),
  that the county clerk of a county in which all or part of the
  property is located:
               (1)  remove from any instrument recorded in the
  county's real property records a restriction, whether express or
  incorporated by reference, that affects the property and that is
  void under Section 5.026(a); or
               (2)  remove from the deed that conveyed the property or
  the interest in the property a provision, whether express or
  incorporated by reference, that is void under Section 5.026(a).
         (c)  Not later than the 30th day after the date a county clerk
  receives a request under Subsection (b), the county clerk shall
  determine whether the restriction or provision identified in the
  request is void under Section 5.026(a) and:
               (1)  if the county clerk determines the restriction or
  provision identified in the request is void under Section 5.026(a):
                     (A)  remove the restriction from the instrument or
  the provision from the deed, as applicable; and
                     (B)  attach to the instrument or deed, as
  applicable, a document stating that a restriction or provision void
  under Section 5.026 has been removed from the instrument or deed; or
               (2)  if the county clerk determines the restriction or
  provision identified in the request is not void under Section
  5.026(a), notify the person who submitted the request that the
  restriction or provision has not been removed.
         (d)  The attorney general shall develop the form required by
  Subsection (b). The form must allow the person requesting the
  removal of a restriction or provision under this section to
  provide:
               (1)  the name of the owner of the property or interest
  in the property that is the subject of the request;
               (2)  a description of the property sufficient for a
  county clerk to identify the recorded instrument or deed that is the
  subject of the request, including the address of the property, if
  any; and
               (3)  the restriction or provision the owner believes is
  void under Section 5.026(a). 
         (e)  Each county clerk shall make the form developed under
  Subsection (d) available on the county clerk's Internet website.
         SECTION 2.  Not later than December 1, 2021, the office of
  the attorney general shall develop and make available to each
  county clerk the form required by Section 5.0265(d), Property Code,
  as added by this Act.
         SECTION 3.  (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
  this section, this Act takes effect January 1, 2022.
         (b)  Section 2 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
 
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