82R24522 E
By: Guillen H.B. No. 635
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 635:
By: Pickett C.S.H.B. No. 635
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a grace period to cure a default before foreclosure of
certain contract liens on the residence of certain surviving
spouses of military servicemembers and to the eligibility of the
surviving spouse of a disabled veteran to pay ad valorem taxes
imposed on a residence homestead in installments.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 51.015, Property Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 51.015. SALE OF CERTAIN PROPERTY OWNED BY MEMBER OF THE
MILITARY OR SURVIVING SPOUSE.
SECTION 2. Section 51.015, Property Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (d), and (e) and adding Subsections (c-1)
and (c-2) to read as follows:
(b) This section applies only to an obligation:
(1) that is secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or
other contract lien on real property or personal property that is a
dwelling owned by a military servicemember or is the residence of
the surviving spouse of a military servicemember who was killed
during active duty military service;
(2) that originates before the date on which the
servicemember's active duty military service commences; and
(3) for which the servicemember or surviving spouse is
still obligated.
(c-1) Notwithstanding Section 51.002(d) or any agreement to
the contrary, if a mortgagee receives notice that a debtor in
default under a deed of trust or other contract lien on real
property used as the debtor's residence is the surviving spouse of a
military servicemember killed during active duty military service
in the 12 months preceding the date of default, the mortgagee shall
give the debtor at least nine months from the date of default to
cure the default before:
(1) filing an action to foreclose a lien or otherwise
enforce an obligation described by Subsection (b); or
(2) giving notice of sale under Section 51.002(b).
(c-2) In an action to foreclose a lien or otherwise enforce
an obligation described by Subsection (b) filed during the 12
months after the date on which a servicemember was killed during
active duty military service or during a cure period prescribed by
Subsection (c-1), the court shall on the application of the
surviving spouse of the servicemember stay the proceedings until
the expiration of the cure period prescribed by Subsection (c-1).
(d) A sale, foreclosure, or seizure of property under a
mortgage, deed of trust, or other contract lien described by
Subsection (b) may not be conducted during the military
servicemember's period of active duty military service, [or] during
the nine months after the date on which that service period
concludes, or, for a property that is the residence of the
servicemember's surviving spouse, during the nine months after the
date notice in Subsection (c)(1) was given to mortgagee unless the
sale, foreclosure, or seizure is conducted under:
(1) a court order issued before the sale, foreclosure,
or seizure; or
(2) an agreement that complies with Subsection (e).
(e) A military servicemember or the surviving spouse of a
military servicemember who was killed during active duty military
service may waive the servicemember's or surviving spouse's rights
under this section only as provided by this subsection. The waiver
must be:
(1) in writing in at least 12-point type;
(2) executed as an instrument separate from the
obligation to which the waiver applies; and
(3) made under a written agreement:
(A) executed during or after the servicemember's
period of active duty military service or, if executed by the
surviving spouse, after the date on which the servicemember was
killed during active duty military service; and
(B) specifying the legal instrument to which the
waiver applies and, if the servicemember is not a party to the
instrument, the servicemember concerned.
SECTION 3. (a) Section 31.031, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as
follows:
(a) This section applies only to:
(1) [If before the delinquency date] an individual who
is:
(A) disabled or at least 65 years of age; and
(B) [is] qualified for an exemption under Section
11.13(c); or
(2) an individual who is:
(A) the unmarried surviving spouse of a disabled
veteran; and
(B) qualified for an exemption under Section
11.22.
(a-1) If before the delinquency date an individual to whom
this section applies pays at least one-fourth of a taxing unit's
taxes imposed on property that the person owns and occupies as a
residence homestead, accompanied by notice to the taxing unit that
the person will pay the remaining taxes in installments, the person
may pay the remaining taxes without penalty or interest in three
equal installments. The first installment must be paid before
April 1, the second installment before June 1, and the third
installment before August 1.
(b) The change in law made by this section to Section
31.031, Tax Code, applies only to an ad valorem tax year that begins
on or after January 1, 2012.
(c) This section takes effect January 1, 2012.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by Section 51.015,
Property Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to a security
interest that attaches on or after the effective date of this Act.
A security interest that attaches before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the security
interest attached, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 5. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2011.