bill exempting water rights sales from disclosure notices

The text as introduced · 1,602 words

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.