89R3024 JAM-F
By: Darby H.B. No. 3901
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.