87R20925 BEE-D
By: West, et al. S.B. No. 30
(Leach)
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 30: No.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the removal of certain discriminatory provisions from a
recorded conveyance instrument or document.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 5, Property Code, is
amended by adding Section 5.0261 to read as follows:
Sec. 5.0261. REMOVAL OF DISCRIMINATORY PROVISION FROM
RECORDED CONVEYANCE INSTRUMENT OR DOCUMENT. (a) In this section,
"discriminatory provision" means a restriction or provision that is
void under Section 5.026(a).
(b) A person who owns real property or an interest in real
property the chain of title for which includes a recorded
conveyance instrument or document containing a discriminatory
provision may request the removal of the discriminatory provision
from the instrument or document by completing and filing, with the
clerk of a district court in the county in whose real property
records the instrument or document is recorded or of another court
having jurisdiction over real property matters in the county, a
motion, verified by affidavit by a completed form for ordinary
certificate of acknowledgment of the same type described by Section
121.007, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, that contains, at a
minimum, the information in the following suggested form:
MISC. DOCKET NO. ______
In Re: Conveyance InstrumentIn the ______ Judicial District
with DiscriminatoryIn and For ___________________
Provision County, Texas
Motion for Judicial Review of Conveyance Instrument or Document
Alleged to Contain a Discriminatory Provision as Defined by Section
5.0261(a), Texas Property Code
Now Comes (name) and files this motion requesting a judicial
determination of the status of a conveyance instrument or document
that contains a discriminatory provision as defined by Section
5.0261(a), Texas Property Code, filed in the office of the Clerk of
(county name) County, Texas, and in support of the motion would show
the court as follows:
I.
(Name), movant herein, is the person who owns the real
property or the interest in real property described in the
conveyance instrument or document.
II.
On (date), in the exercise of the county clerk's official
duties as County Clerk of (county name) County, Texas, the county
clerk received and filed and recorded the conveyance instrument or
document attached hereto and containing (number) pages. The
instrument is recorded at _______ in the real property records of
_______ County. The conveyance instrument or document contains a
discriminatory provision as defined by Section 5.0261(a), Texas
Property Code.
III.
Movant alleges that the conveyance instrument or document
attached hereto contains a discriminatory provision as defined by
Section 5.0261(a), Texas Property Code, and that the discriminatory
provision should be removed.
IV.
Movant attests that assertions herein are true and correct.
V.
PRAYER
Movant requests the court to review the attached conveyance
instrument or document and enter an order removing the
discriminatory provision as defined by Section 5.0261(a), Texas
Property Code, together with such other orders as the court deems
appropriate.
Respectfully submitted,
_________________________
(Signature and typed name and address)
(c) The completed form for ordinary certificate of
acknowledgment, of the same type described by Section 121.007,
Civil Practice and Remedies Code, must be as follows:
AFFIDAVIT
THE STATE OF TEXAS
COUNTY OF ______________
BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, personally appeared
_____________, who, being by me duly sworn, deposed as follows:
"My name is _________________. I am over 21 years of age, of
sound mind, with personal knowledge of the following facts, and
fully competent to testify.
I further attest that the assertions contained in the
accompanying motion are true and correct."
Further affiant sayeth not.
_____________________________
SUBSCRIBED and SWORN TO before
me, this _____ day of ________,
_____.
_____________________________
NOTARY PUBLIC, State of Texas
Notary's printed name:
_____________________________
My commission expires:
_____________________________
_____________________________
(d) A motion under this section may be ruled on by a court
having jurisdiction over real property matters in the county where
the subject document was filed. The court's finding may be made
solely on a review of the conveyance instrument or document
attached to the motion and without hearing any testimonial
evidence. The court's review may be made ex parte without delay or
notice of any kind. If the court does not rule on the motion on or
before the 15th day after the date the motion is filed, the motion
is deemed granted. An appellate court shall expedite review of a
court's finding under this section.
(e) A court clerk may not collect a filing fee for filing a
motion under this section.
(f) After reviewing the conveyance instrument or document
attached to a motion filed under this section, the court shall enter
an appropriate finding of fact and conclusion of law.
(g) The court's finding of fact and conclusion of law must
be:
(1) transferred by the court clerk to the county clerk
for recording and indexing not later than the 10th day after the
date the finding of fact and conclusion of law is entered by the
court or deemed granted under Subsection (d); and
(2) filed and indexed by the county clerk in the same
class of records in which the subject conveyance instrument or
document is filed.
(h) The county clerk may not collect a fee for filing a
court's finding of fact and conclusion of law under this section.
(i) A suggested form of order appropriate to comply with
Subsection (f) is as follows:
MISC. DOCKET NO. ______
In Re: Conveyance InstrumentIn the ______ Judicial District
with Discriminatory In and For ___________________
Provision County, Texas
Judicial Finding of Fact and Conclusion of Law Regarding Conveyance
Instrument or Document Alleged to Contain a Discriminatory
Provision as Defined by Section 5.0261(a), Texas Property Code
On the (number) day of (month), (year), in the above entitled
and numbered cause, this court reviewed a motion, verified by
affidavit, of (name) and the conveyance instrument or document
attached thereto. No testimony was taken from any party, nor was
there any notice of the court's review, the court having made the
determination that a decision could be made solely on review of the
conveyance instrument or document under the authority vested in the
court under Section 5.0261, Texas Property Code.
The court finds as follows (only an item checked and
initialed is a valid court ruling):
_______ The conveyance instrument or document recorded at
______ in the real property records of ______ County CONTAINS a
discriminatory provision as defined by Section 5.0261(a), Texas
Property Code. The discriminatory provision as defined by Section
5.0261(a), Texas Property Code, is void and removed from the
conveyance instrument or document identified herein.
_______ The conveyance instrument or document recorded at
______ in the real property records of ______ County and attached
to the motion herein DOES NOT CONTAIN a discriminatory provision as
defined by Section 5.0261(a), Texas Property Code.
This court expressly limits its finding of fact and
conclusion of law to the review of a ministerial act. The county
clerk shall file this finding of fact and conclusion of law in the
same class of records in which the subject conveyance instrument or
document is filed, and the court directs the county clerk to index
it using the same names used to index the subject conveyance
instrument or document.
SIGNED ON THIS THE ________ DAY OF ____________________.
_______________________________
JUDGE
________ (Court)
_____________ COUNTY, TEXAS
SECTION 2. Sections 193.003(a) and (b), Local Government
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The county clerk shall maintain an alphabetical index to
all recorded deeds, powers of attorney, mortgages, correction
instruments, findings of fact and conclusions of law entered under
Section 5.0261, Property Code, and other instruments relating to
real property. The index must state the specific location in the
records at which the instruments are recorded.
(b) The index must be a cross-index that contains the names
of the grantors and grantees in alphabetical order. If a deed is
made by a sheriff, the index entry must contain the name of the
sheriff and the defendant in execution. If a deed is made by an
executor, administrator, or guardian, the index entry must contain
the name of that person and the name of the person's testator,
intestate, or ward. If a deed is made by an attorney, the index
entry must contain the name of the attorney and the attorney's
constituents. If a deed is made by a commissioner or trustee, the
index entry must contain the name of the commissioner or trustee and
the name of the person whose estate is conveyed. The index entry
for a correction instrument must contain the names of the grantors
and grantees as stated in the correction instrument. The index
entry for a finding of fact and conclusion of law entered under
Section 5.0261, Property Code, must contain the names of the
grantors and grantees as stated in the subject conveyance
instrument or document. The index entry for a paper document
described by Section 12.0011(b)(3), Property Code, must contain the
names of the grantors and grantees.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.