87R1649 BEE-D
By: Hughes S.B. No. 222
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.