84R6031 SMH-F
By: Birdwell S.B. No. 525
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to ad valorem tax lien transfers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 32.06(a-1), (a-4), (b-1), and (f-1),
Tax Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a-1) A property owner may authorize another person to pay
the taxes imposed by a taxing unit on the owner's real property by
executing and filing with the collector for the taxing unit:
(1) a sworn document stating:
(A) the authorization for payment of the taxes;
(B) the name and street address of the transferee
authorized to pay the taxes of the property owner;
(C) a description of the property by street
address, if applicable, and legal description; [and]
(D) that notice has been given to the property
owner that if the property owner is disabled, the property owner may
be eligible for a tax deferral under Section 33.06;
(E) that the disclosure statement required by
Subsection (a-4)(1) has been provided to the property owner; and
(F) that the notice required by Subsection (b-1)
has been mailed by certified mail to any mortgage servicer and to
each holder of a recorded preexisting lien encumbering the
property; and
(2) the information required by Section 351.054,
Finance Code.
(a-4) The Finance Commission of Texas shall:
(1) prescribe the form and content of an appropriate
disclosure statement to be provided to a property owner not later
than the 12th day before the execution of a tax lien transfer;
(2) adopt rules relating to the reasonableness of
closing costs, fees, and other charges permitted under this
section;
(3) by rule prescribe the form and content of the sworn
document under Subsection (a-1) and the certified statement under
Subsection (b); and
(4) by rule prescribe the form and content of a request
a lender with an existing recorded lien on the property must use to
request a payoff statement and the transferee's response to the
request, including the period within which the transferee must
respond.
(b-1) Not later than the 12th day before the date the
property owner files the sworn document required by Subsection
(a-1) with the collector for the taxing unit [10th business day
after the date the certified statement is received by the
transferee], the transferee shall send by certified mail [a copy of
the sworn document described by Subsection (a-1)] to any mortgage
servicer and to each holder of a recorded preexisting [first] lien
encumbering the property a notice that the property owner has
requested that the transferee pay the taxes on the property, that
the tax lien will be transferred to the transferee, and that the
transferred tax lien will be superior to the mortgage. The notice
[copy] must be sent, as applicable, to the address shown on the most
recent payment invoice, statement, or payment coupon provided by
the mortgage servicer to the property owner, or the address of the
holder of a recorded preexisting [first] lien as shown in the real
property records.
(f-1) If an obligation secured by a preexisting first lien
on the property is delinquent [for at least 90 consecutive days] and
the obligation has been referred to a collection specialist, the
mortgage servicer or the holder of the first lien may send a notice
of the delinquency to the transferee of a tax lien. The mortgage
servicer or the first lienholder is entitled, within six months
after the date on which that notice is sent, to obtain a release of
the transferred tax lien by paying the transferee of the tax lien
the amount owed under the contract between the property owner and
the transferee. The Finance Commission of Texas by rule shall
prescribe the form and content of the notice under this subsection.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an ad valorem tax lien transferred on or after the effective date
of this Act. An ad valorem tax lien transferred before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the
date the tax lien was transferred, and the former law is continued
in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.