| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to an exemption of the transfer of certain rights in water |
|
|
from certain disclosure requirements applicable to the transfer of |
|
|
certain interests in real property. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 33.135(a), Natural Resources Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) A person who sells, transfers, or conveys an interest |
|
|
other than a groundwater or surface water right or a mineral, |
|
|
leasehold, or security interest in real property adjoining and |
|
|
abutting the tidally influenced waters of the state must include |
|
|
the following notice as a part of a written executory contract for |
|
|
the sale, transfer, or conveyance: |
|
|
"(1) The real property described in and subject to |
|
|
this contract adjoins and shares a common boundary with the tidally |
|
|
influenced submerged lands of the state. The boundary is subject to |
|
|
change and can be determined accurately only by a survey on the |
|
|
ground made by a licensed state land surveyor in accordance with the |
|
|
original grant from the sovereign. The owner of the property |
|
|
described in this contract may gain or lose portions of the tract |
|
|
because of changes in the boundary. |
|
|
"NOTICE REGARDING COASTAL AREA PROPERTY |
|
|
"(2) The seller, transferor, or grantor has no |
|
|
knowledge of any prior fill as it relates to the property described |
|
|
in and subject to this contract. |
|
|
"(3) State law prohibits the use, encumbrance, |
|
|
construction, or placing of any structure in, on, or over |
|
|
state-owned submerged lands below the applicable tide line, without |
|
|
proper permission. |
|
|
"(4) The purchaser or grantee is hereby advised to |
|
|
seek the advice of an attorney or other qualified person as to the |
|
|
legal nature and effect of the facts set forth in this notice on the |
|
|
property described in and subject to this contract. Information |
|
|
regarding the location of the applicable tide line as to the |
|
|
property described in and subject to this contract may be obtained |
|
|
from the surveying division of the General Land Office in Austin." |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 61.025(a), Natural Resources Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person who sells |
|
|
or conveys an interest, other than a groundwater or surface water |
|
|
right or a mineral, leasehold, or security interest, in real |
|
|
property located seaward of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to its |
|
|
southernmost point and then seaward of the longitudinal line also |
|
|
known as 97 degrees, 12', 19" which runs southerly to the |
|
|
international boundary from the intersection of the centerline of |
|
|
the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Brownsville Ship Channel |
|
|
must include in any executory contract for conveyance a statement |
|
|
in substantially the following form: |
|
|
CONCERNING THE PROPERTY AT ______________________________________ |
|
|
DISCLOSURE NOTICE CONCERNING LEGAL AND ECONOMIC RISKS |
|
|
OF PURCHASING COASTAL REAL PROPERTY NEAR A BEACH |
|
|
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING NOTICE OF POTENTIAL RISKS OF |
|
|
ECONOMIC LOSS TO YOU AS THE PURCHASER OF COASTAL REAL PROPERTY IS |
|
|
REQUIRED BY STATE LAW. |
|
|
● READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. DO NOT SIGN THIS CONTRACT |
|
|
UNTIL YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE RISKS YOU ARE ASSUMING. |
|
|
● BY PURCHASING THIS PROPERTY, YOU MAY BE ASSUMING |
|
|
ECONOMIC RISKS OVER AND ABOVE THE RISKS INVOLVED IN PURCHASING |
|
|
INLAND REAL PROPERTY. |
|
|
● IF YOU OWN A STRUCTURE LOCATED ON COASTAL REAL PROPERTY |
|
|
NEAR A GULF COAST BEACH, IT MAY COME TO BE LOCATED ON THE PUBLIC |
|
|
BEACH BECAUSE OF COASTAL EROSION AND STORM EVENTS. |
|
|
● AS THE OWNER OF A STRUCTURE LOCATED ON THE PUBLIC BEACH, |
|
|
YOU COULD BE SUED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS AND ORDERED TO REMOVE THE |
|
|
STRUCTURE. |
|
|
● THE COSTS OF REMOVING A STRUCTURE FROM THE PUBLIC BEACH |
|
|
AND ANY OTHER ECONOMIC LOSS INCURRED BECAUSE OF A REMOVAL ORDER |
|
|
WOULD BE SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. |
|
|
The real property described in this contract is located |
|
|
seaward of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to its southernmost point |
|
|
and then seaward of the longitudinal line also known as 97 degrees, |
|
|
12', 19" which runs southerly to the international boundary from |
|
|
the intersection of the centerline of the Gulf Intracoastal |
|
|
Waterway and the Brownsville Ship Channel. If the property is in |
|
|
close proximity to a beach fronting the Gulf of Mexico, the |
|
|
purchaser is hereby advised that the public has acquired a right of |
|
|
use or easement to or over the area of any public beach by |
|
|
prescription, dedication, or presumption, or has retained a right |
|
|
by virtue of continuous right in the public since time immemorial, |
|
|
as recognized in law and custom. |
|
|
The extreme seaward boundary of natural vegetation that |
|
|
spreads continuously inland customarily marks the landward |
|
|
boundary of the public easement. If there is no clearly marked |
|
|
natural vegetation line, the landward boundary of the easement is |
|
|
as provided by Sections 61.016 and 61.017, Natural Resources Code. |
|
|
Much of the Gulf of Mexico coastline is eroding at rates of |
|
|
more than five feet per year. Erosion rates for all Texas Gulf |
|
|
property subject to the open beaches act are available from the |
|
|
Texas General Land Office. |
|
|
State law prohibits any obstruction, barrier, restraint, or |
|
|
interference with the use of the public easement, including the |
|
|
placement of structures seaward of the landward boundary of the |
|
|
easement. OWNERS OF STRUCTURES ERECTED SEAWARD OF THE VEGETATION |
|
|
LINE (OR OTHER APPLICABLE EASEMENT BOUNDARY) OR THAT BECOME SEAWARD |
|
|
OF THE VEGETATION LINE AS A RESULT OF PROCESSES SUCH AS SHORELINE |
|
|
EROSION ARE SUBJECT TO A LAWSUIT BY THE STATE OF TEXAS TO REMOVE THE |
|
|
STRUCTURES. |
|
|
The purchaser is hereby notified that the purchaser should: |
|
|
(1) determine the rate of shoreline erosion in the |
|
|
vicinity of the real property; and |
|
|
(2) seek the advice of an attorney or other qualified |
|
|
person before executing this contract or instrument of conveyance |
|
|
as to the relevance of these statutes and facts to the value of the |
|
|
property the purchaser is hereby purchasing or contracting to |
|
|
purchase. |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 5.011(c), Property Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to a transfer: |
|
|
(1) under a court order or foreclosure sale; |
|
|
(2) by a trustee in bankruptcy; |
|
|
(3) to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in |
|
|
interest or to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or |
|
|
successor in interest; |
|
|
(4) by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of |
|
|
trust who has acquired the land at a sale conducted under a power of |
|
|
sale under a deed of trust or a sale under a court-ordered |
|
|
foreclosure or has acquired the land by a deed in lieu of |
|
|
foreclosure; |
|
|
(5) by a fiduciary in the course of the administration |
|
|
of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust; |
|
|
(6) from one co-owner to another co-owner of an |
|
|
undivided interest in the real property; |
|
|
(7) to a spouse or a person in the lineal line of |
|
|
consanguinity of the seller; |
|
|
(8) to or from a governmental entity; |
|
|
(9) of only a groundwater right, surface water right, |
|
|
mineral interest, leasehold interest, or security interest; or |
|
|
(10) of real property that is located wholly within a |
|
|
municipality's corporate boundaries. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 5.014(c), Property Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to a transfer: |
|
|
(1) under a court order or foreclosure sale; |
|
|
(2) by a trustee in bankruptcy; |
|
|
(3) to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in |
|
|
interest or to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or |
|
|
successor in interest; |
|
|
(4) by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of |
|
|
trust who has acquired the land at a sale conducted under a power of |
|
|
sale under a deed of trust or a sale under a court-ordered |
|
|
foreclosure or has acquired the land by a deed in lieu of |
|
|
foreclosure; |
|
|
(5) by a fiduciary in the course of the administration |
|
|
of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust; |
|
|
(6) from one co-owner to another co-owner of an |
|
|
undivided interest in the real property; |
|
|
(7) to a spouse or a person in the lineal line of |
|
|
consanguinity of the seller; |
|
|
(8) to or from a governmental entity; or |
|
|
(9) of only a groundwater right, surface water right, |
|
|
mineral interest, leasehold interest, or security interest. |
|
|
SECTION 5. Section 13.257(c), Water Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(c) This section does not apply to: |
|
|
(1) a transfer of title under any type of lien |
|
|
foreclosure; |
|
|
(2) a transfer of title by deed in cancellation of |
|
|
indebtedness secured by a lien on the property conveyed; |
|
|
(3) a transfer of title by reason of a will or probate |
|
|
proceeding; |
|
|
(4) a transfer of title to or from a governmental |
|
|
entity; |
|
|
(5) a transfer of title to property located within the |
|
|
corporate limits of a municipality that is served by a municipally |
|
|
owned utility; |
|
|
(6) a transfer of title to property that receives |
|
|
water or sewer service from a utility service provider on the date |
|
|
the property is transferred; |
|
|
(7) a transfer of title by a trustee in bankruptcy; |
|
|
(8) a transfer of title by a mortgagee or beneficiary |
|
|
under a deed of trust who acquired the property: |
|
|
(A) at a sale conducted under a power of sale |
|
|
conferred by a deed of trust or other contract lien; |
|
|
(B) at a sale under a court judgment foreclosing |
|
|
a lien; or |
|
|
(C) by a deed in lieu of foreclosure; |
|
|
(9) a transfer of title from one co-owner to another |
|
|
co-owner; |
|
|
(10) a transfer of title between spouses or to a person |
|
|
in the lineal line of consanguinity of the transferor; or |
|
|
(11) a transfer of a groundwater right, surface water |
|
|
right, mineral interest, leasehold interest, or security interest. |
|
|
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |