By: West S.B. No. 647
(In the Senate - Filed December 18, 2024; February 3, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce;
April 16, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0, one present not
voting; April 16, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 647 By: Blanco
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the filing or recording of documents or instruments
conveying or purporting to convey an interest in real or personal
property.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 51.901, Government Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsections (c-1)
and (d-1) to read as follows:
(a) If a clerk of the supreme court, clerk of the court of
criminal appeals, clerk of a court of appeals, district clerk,
county clerk, district and county clerk, or municipal clerk has a
reasonable basis to believe in good faith that a document or
instrument previously filed or recorded or offered or submitted for
filing or for filing and recording is fraudulent, the clerk shall:
(1) if the document is a purported judgment or other
document purporting to memorialize or evidence an act, an order, a
directive, or process of a purported court, provide written notice
of the filing, recording, or submission for filing or for filing and
recording to the stated or last known address of the person against
whom the purported judgment, act, order, directive, or process is
rendered; or
(2) if the document or instrument purports to create a
lien against or assert a claim to [on real or personal property] or
an interest in real or personal property, provide written notice of
the filing, recording, or submission for filing or for filing and
recording to the stated or last known address of:
(A) the person named in the document or
instrument as the grantor, obligor, or debtor, and to any person
named as the grantee or as owning or acquiring any interest in the
real or personal property described in the document or instrument;
and
(B) as applicable, the last known owner of the
property if that owner's address is different from the address of
the grantor, obligor, or debtor named in the document or
instrument.
(c) For purposes of this section, a document or instrument
is presumed to be fraudulent if:
(1) the document is a purported judgment or other
document purporting to memorialize or evidence an act, an order, a
directive, or process of:
(A) a purported court or a purported judicial
entity not expressly created or established under the constitution
or the laws of this state or of the United States; or
(B) a purported judicial officer of a purported
court or purported judicial entity described by Paragraph (A);
(2) the document or instrument purports to create a
lien against or assert a claim to [against real or personal
property] or an interest in real or personal property and:
(A) is not a document or instrument provided for
by the constitution or laws of this state or of the United States;
(B) is not created by implied or express consent
or agreement of the grantor, obligor, debtor, or the owner of the
real or personal property or an interest in the real or personal
property, if required under the laws of this state, or by implied or
express consent or agreement of an agent, fiduciary, or other
representative of that person; or
(C) is not an equitable, constructive, or other
lien imposed by a court with jurisdiction created or established
under the constitution or laws of this state or of the United
States; or
(3) the document or instrument purports to create a
lien or assert a claim against real or personal property or an
interest in real or personal property and the document or
instrument is filed by an inmate or on behalf of an inmate.
(c-1) For purposes of this section, a document or instrument
is presumed to not be fraudulent if the prospective filer provides
to the county clerk, at the time of filing or on the clerk's
request, additional documentation such as a contract for the sale
of or another document creating a lien against or asserting a claim
to the property subject to the document or instrument that contains
the signature of the property owner.
(d) If a county clerk believes in good faith that a document
or instrument filed, recorded, or submitted for filing or recording
with the county clerk to create a lien against or assert a claim to
or an interest in real or personal property is fraudulent, the clerk
shall:
(1) request the assistance of the county or district
attorney to determine whether the document or instrument is
fraudulent before filing or recording the document or instrument;
(2) request that the prospective filer provide to the
county clerk additional documentation supporting the existence of
the lien, claim, or interest, such as a contract or other document
that contains the signature of the alleged owner, debtor, grantor,
or obligor [obligor's signature]; [and]
(3) forward any additional documentation received to
the county or district attorney; and
(4) refuse to file or record the document or
instrument submitted for filing or recording if:
(A) the district or county attorney whose
assistance the clerk requested under Subdivision (1) determines
there is probable cause to believe the document or instrument is
fraudulent; or
(B) the prospective filer does not provide the
clerk the additional documentation requested under Subdivision
(2).
(d-1) The additional documentation described by Subsection
(c-1) or (d)(2):
(1) is confidential and exempt from disclosure under
Chapter 552; and
(2) may be submitted to a county clerk by an individual
or entity without civil process.
SECTION 2. Section 12.003(b), Civil Practice and Remedies
Code, is amended to read as follows:
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, a person or a person
licensed or regulated by Title 11, Insurance Code (the Texas Title
Insurance Act), does not have a duty to disclose a fraudulent, as
described by Section 51.901(c), Government Code, court record,
document, or instrument purporting to create a lien against or
[purporting to] assert a claim to [on real property] or an interest
in real property in connection with a sale, conveyance, mortgage,
or other transfer of the real property or interest in real property.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a document or instrument conveying or purporting to convey an
interest in real or personal property filed, recorded, or offered
for filing or recording on or after the effective date of this Act.
A document or instrument conveying or purporting to convey an
interest in real or personal property filed, recorded, or offered
for filing or recording before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the day the document or instrument
was filed, recorded, or offered for filing or recording, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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