Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2550 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R3024 JAM-F
2	2	By: West S.B. No. 2550
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7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to an exemption of the transfer of certain rights in water
10	10	from certain disclosure requirements applicable to the transfer of
11	11	certain interests in real property.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 33.135(a), Natural Resources Code, is
14	14	amended to read as follows:
15	15	(a) A person who sells, transfers, or conveys an interest
16	16	other than a groundwater or surface water right or a mineral,
17	17	leasehold, or security interest in real property adjoining and
18	18	abutting the tidally influenced waters of the state must include
19	19	the following notice as a part of a written executory contract for
20	20	the sale, transfer, or conveyance:
21	21	"(1) The real property described in and subject to
22	22	this contract adjoins and shares a common boundary with the tidally
23	23	influenced submerged lands of the state. The boundary is subject to
24	24	change and can be determined accurately only by a survey on the
25	25	ground made by a licensed state land surveyor in accordance with the
26	26	original grant from the sovereign. The owner of the property
27	27	described in this contract may gain or lose portions of the tract
28	28	because of changes in the boundary.
29	29	"NOTICE REGARDING COASTAL AREA PROPERTY
30	30	"(2) The seller, transferor, or grantor has no
31	31	knowledge of any prior fill as it relates to the property described
32	32	in and subject to this contract.
33	33	"(3) State law prohibits the use, encumbrance,
34	34	construction, or placing of any structure in, on, or over
35	35	state-owned submerged lands below the applicable tide line, without
36	36	proper permission.
37	37	"(4) The purchaser or grantee is hereby advised to
38	38	seek the advice of an attorney or other qualified person as to the
39	39	legal nature and effect of the facts set forth in this notice on the
40	40	property described in and subject to this contract. Information
41	41	regarding the location of the applicable tide line as to the
42	42	property described in and subject to this contract may be obtained
43	43	from the surveying division of the General Land Office in Austin."
44	44	SECTION 2. Section 61.025(a), Natural Resources Code, is
45	45	amended to read as follows:
46	46	(a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person who sells
47	47	or conveys an interest, other than a groundwater or surface water
48	48	right or a mineral, leasehold, or security interest, in real
49	49	property located seaward of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to its
50	50	southernmost point and then seaward of the longitudinal line also
51	51	known as 97 degrees, 12', 19" which runs southerly to the
52	52	international boundary from the intersection of the centerline of
53	53	the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Brownsville Ship Channel
54	54	must include in any executory contract for conveyance a statement
55	55	in substantially the following form:
56	56	CONCERNING THE PROPERTY AT ______________________________________
57	57	DISCLOSURE NOTICE CONCERNING LEGAL AND ECONOMIC RISKS
58	58	OF PURCHASING COASTAL REAL PROPERTY NEAR A BEACH
59	59	WARNING: THE FOLLOWING NOTICE OF POTENTIAL RISKS OF
60	60	ECONOMIC LOSS TO YOU AS THE PURCHASER OF COASTAL REAL PROPERTY IS
61	61	REQUIRED BY STATE LAW.
62	62	● READ THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY. DO NOT SIGN THIS CONTRACT
63	63	UNTIL YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE RISKS YOU ARE ASSUMING.
64	64	● BY PURCHASING THIS PROPERTY, YOU MAY BE ASSUMING
65	65	ECONOMIC RISKS OVER AND ABOVE THE RISKS INVOLVED IN PURCHASING
66	66	INLAND REAL PROPERTY.
67	67	● IF YOU OWN A STRUCTURE LOCATED ON COASTAL REAL PROPERTY
68	68	NEAR A GULF COAST BEACH, IT MAY COME TO BE LOCATED ON THE PUBLIC
69	69	BEACH BECAUSE OF COASTAL EROSION AND STORM EVENTS.
70	70	● AS THE OWNER OF A STRUCTURE LOCATED ON THE PUBLIC BEACH,
71	71	YOU COULD BE SUED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS AND ORDERED TO REMOVE THE
72	72	STRUCTURE.
73	73	● THE COSTS OF REMOVING A STRUCTURE FROM THE PUBLIC BEACH
74	74	AND ANY OTHER ECONOMIC LOSS INCURRED BECAUSE OF A REMOVAL ORDER
75	75	WOULD BE SOLELY YOUR RESPONSIBILITY.
76	76	The real property described in this contract is located
77	77	seaward of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to its southernmost point
78	78	and then seaward of the longitudinal line also known as 97 degrees,
79	79	12', 19" which runs southerly to the international boundary from
80	80	the intersection of the centerline of the Gulf Intracoastal
81	81	Waterway and the Brownsville Ship Channel. If the property is in
82	82	close proximity to a beach fronting the Gulf of Mexico, the
83	83	purchaser is hereby advised that the public has acquired a right of
84	84	use or easement to or over the area of any public beach by
85	85	prescription, dedication, or presumption, or has retained a right
86	86	by virtue of continuous right in the public since time immemorial,
87	87	as recognized in law and custom.
88	88	The extreme seaward boundary of natural vegetation that
89	89	spreads continuously inland customarily marks the landward
90	90	boundary of the public easement. If there is no clearly marked
91	91	natural vegetation line, the landward boundary of the easement is
92	92	as provided by Sections 61.016 and 61.017, Natural Resources Code.
93	93	Much of the Gulf of Mexico coastline is eroding at rates of
94	94	more than five feet per year. Erosion rates for all Texas Gulf
95	95	property subject to the open beaches act are available from the
96	96	Texas General Land Office.
97	97	State law prohibits any obstruction, barrier, restraint, or
98	98	interference with the use of the public easement, including the
99	99	placement of structures seaward of the landward boundary of the
100	100	easement. OWNERS OF STRUCTURES ERECTED SEAWARD OF THE VEGETATION
101	101	LINE (OR OTHER APPLICABLE EASEMENT BOUNDARY) OR THAT BECOME SEAWARD
102	102	OF THE VEGETATION LINE AS A RESULT OF PROCESSES SUCH AS SHORELINE
103	103	EROSION ARE SUBJECT TO A LAWSUIT BY THE STATE OF TEXAS TO REMOVE THE
104	104	STRUCTURES.
105	105	The purchaser is hereby notified that the purchaser should:
106	106	(1) determine the rate of shoreline erosion in the
107	107	vicinity of the real property; and
108	108	(2) seek the advice of an attorney or other qualified
109	109	person before executing this contract or instrument of conveyance
110	110	as to the relevance of these statutes and facts to the value of the
111	111	property the purchaser is hereby purchasing or contracting to
112	112	purchase.
113	113	SECTION 3. Section 5.011(c), Property Code, is amended to
114	114	read as follows:
115	115	(c) This section does not apply to a transfer:
116	116	(1) under a court order or foreclosure sale;
117	117	(2) by a trustee in bankruptcy;
118	118	(3) to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in
119	119	interest or to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or
120	120	successor in interest;
121	121	(4) by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of
122	122	trust who has acquired the land at a sale conducted under a power of
123	123	sale under a deed of trust or a sale under a court-ordered
124	124	foreclosure or has acquired the land by a deed in lieu of
125	125	foreclosure;
126	126	(5) by a fiduciary in the course of the administration
127	127	of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust;
128	128	(6) from one co-owner to another co-owner of an
129	129	undivided interest in the real property;
130	130	(7) to a spouse or a person in the lineal line of
131	131	consanguinity of the seller;
132	132	(8) to or from a governmental entity;
133	133	(9) of only a groundwater right, surface water right,
134	134	mineral interest, leasehold interest, or security interest; or
135	135	(10) of real property that is located wholly within a
136	136	municipality's corporate boundaries.
137	137	SECTION 4. Section 5.014(c), Property Code, is amended to
138	138	read as follows:
139	139	(c) This section does not apply to a transfer:
140	140	(1) under a court order or foreclosure sale;
141	141	(2) by a trustee in bankruptcy;
142	142	(3) to a mortgagee by a mortgagor or successor in
143	143	interest or to a beneficiary of a deed of trust by a trustor or
144	144	successor in interest;
145	145	(4) by a mortgagee or a beneficiary under a deed of
146	146	trust who has acquired the land at a sale conducted under a power of
147	147	sale under a deed of trust or a sale under a court-ordered
148	148	foreclosure or has acquired the land by a deed in lieu of
149	149	foreclosure;
150	150	(5) by a fiduciary in the course of the administration
151	151	of a decedent's estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust;
152	152	(6) from one co-owner to another co-owner of an
153	153	undivided interest in the real property;
154	154	(7) to a spouse or a person in the lineal line of
155	155	consanguinity of the seller;
156	156	(8) to or from a governmental entity; or
157	157	(9) of only a groundwater right, surface water right,
158	158	mineral interest, leasehold interest, or security interest.
159	159	SECTION 5. Section 13.257(c), Water Code, is amended to
160	160	read as follows:
161	161	(c) This section does not apply to:
162	162	(1) a transfer of title under any type of lien
163	163	foreclosure;
164	164	(2) a transfer of title by deed in cancellation of
165	165	indebtedness secured by a lien on the property conveyed;
166	166	(3) a transfer of title by reason of a will or probate
167	167	proceeding;
168	168	(4) a transfer of title to or from a governmental
169	169	entity;
170	170	(5) a transfer of title to property located within the
171	171	corporate limits of a municipality that is served by a municipally
172	172	owned utility;
173	173	(6) a transfer of title to property that receives
174	174	water or sewer service from a utility service provider on the date
175	175	the property is transferred;
176	176	(7) a transfer of title by a trustee in bankruptcy;
177	177	(8) a transfer of title by a mortgagee or beneficiary
178	178	under a deed of trust who acquired the property:
179	179	(A) at a sale conducted under a power of sale
180	180	conferred by a deed of trust or other contract lien;
181	181	(B) at a sale under a court judgment foreclosing
182	182	a lien; or
183	183	(C) by a deed in lieu of foreclosure;
184	184	(9) a transfer of title from one co-owner to another
185	185	co-owner;
186	186	(10) a transfer of title between spouses or to a person
187	187	in the lineal line of consanguinity of the transferor; or
188	188	(11) a transfer of a groundwater right, surface water
189	189	right, mineral interest, leasehold interest, or security interest.
190	190	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.