Texas Bar Journal • September 2025

The Legislative Update

Real Estate Law

Compiled by John H. “Jack” Miller III and Michael A. Jacobs1

This article is a condensed version of the Report of the Real Estate Legislative Affairs Committee (RELAC) of the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Section.2 The committee tracked 2,551 bills this session; of which 368 were passed by the Legislature; the governor vetoed nine of the 368 bills the Legislature passed.

This article contains a summary of only certain bills enacted by the 89th Texas Legislature related to the Texas Property Code3 and references other bills affecting real estate law,4 thus it should not be relied on as a complete list of bills affecting this area or a full description of any bill.

All bills are effective September 1, 2025, unless otherwise stated in the summaries below or in the endnotes. Endnotes contain the statutes affected by the bill.

House Bill 47

HB 475 removes the restriction on a sexual assault victim’s right to terminate a residential lease by providing that the offense is no longer required to have occurred on the leased premises.

House Bill 621

HB 6216 restricts a property owners’ association from adopting or enforcing rules in their dedicatory instruments that prohibit government officials and candidates for office to address members. Rules that apply to any gathering (rental fees, observing occupancy limits, hours of meetings, etc.) may still be enforced.

House Bill 2011

HB 20117 expands the right of a former owner of eminent domain property (and heirs, successors and assigns) to repurchase real property subject to eminent domain if the acquiring entity is obligated to pay ad valorem taxes, receives a tax bill, and fails to pay the taxes before the third anniversary of the due date.

House Bill 2037

HB 20378 specifies that tenant-initiated repairs must be performed by a municipality-licensed independent company, contractor, or repairman, who need not be listed in a local telephone directory or newspaper. Managing agents, leasing agents, and resident managers are specified as agents of the landlord for tenant notice purposes. HB 2037 allows email notices and communications if the tenant and landlord or landlord’s agent have previously communicated by email.

House Bill 2468

HB 24689 allows a purchaser under a purchase and sale agreement seven days after receipt of notice that the property is in a public improvement district with a service plan on record, to terminate the agreement if the seller failed to provide the notice at the time the agreement was signed. Effective for purchase and sale agreements signed on or after June 20, 2025.

House Bill 4211

HB 421110 relates to purchasers of interests in business entities where the purchaser is entitled to exclusive possession of residential real property owned by the business entity. The bill requires disclosure in an agreement for the purchase of interests in the business entity that the purchase does not constitute a purchase of residential real property. The change in the Property Code by the bill also prohibits any contractual provision between the business entity and a purchaser that requires disputes to be resolved in foreign courts or that obligates the purchaser to pay the business entity a fee or any proceeds in connection with the purchaser’s sale of its ownership interest in the entity. Violation of new Chapter 223 of the Property Code is a violation of the Texas DTPA and could result in an action under the Texas Fair Housing Act. This bill became effective June 20, 2025.

House Bill 4350

HB 435011 expands who can have their personal information omitted or redacted from a public instrument to include county, local, and federal peace officers and state district attorney criminal investigators. This bill became effective June 20, 2025.

Senate Bill 17

SB 1712 generally creates a new prohibition from owning real property in Texas (and processes for addressing conveyances) against governmental entities, certain companies and organizations, and certain individuals of a “designated country” defined in the bill as: (A) a country (presently China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea) identified by the U.S. “Director of National Intelligence,” and (B) a country or organization designated by the governor under new Prop. Code Section 5.254, with certain exceptions [Prop. Code Sec. 5.252 and the exception in Prop. Code Sec. 5.253(4)(A)] for U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, companies and organizations owned by them, and others lawfully present and residing in the United States.

Senate Bill 38

SB 3813 is a major overhaul of the subject matter jurisdiction of the justice courts in forcible entry and detainer (evictions) cases, notices to tenants, court procedures, deadlines, appeals, judgments, writs of possession, and pro se appearances before the justice court. The bill is effective January 1, 2026, for eviction suit petitions filed on or after that date. Effective September 1, 2025, the Supreme Court of Texas is required to adopt rules to clarify eviction procedures consistent with the bill.

Senate Bill 372

SB 37214 broadens the definition of a trustee and a substitute trustee to include “an individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, or other legal entity.” This bill became effective May 19, 2025.

Senate Bill 711

SB 71115 requires that property owner associations which have contracted with a person or entity to provide management or administrative services and condominium owner associations having 60 or more units, maintain a website accessible to their members containing the association’s publicly recorded dedicatory instruments; requires all associations to amend their publicly recorded management certificates within 30 days after the association has notice of a change in any information in the previous management certificate; adds new mandatory content for management certificates; requires all associations to electronically file a copy of the recorded management certificate or amendment with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC); restricts associations’ ability to collect interest and attorney fees from a delinquent owner if incurred during a period in which a management certificate is not properly on file with the county and TREC; and caps association resale certificate fees at $375. SB 711 adds eligibility and procedural requirements relating to architectural review authority for property owner associations with more than 40 lots.

Senate Bill 841

SB 84116 allows an artisan, laborer, mechanic, contractor, subcontractor, or materialman who labors or furnishes labor or materials for construction or repair of an improvement on real property to assign their beneficial interest in unpaid trust funds if written notice of the assignment is provided to the property owner and the contractor on the project not later than the seventh day after the assignment is made.

Senate Bill 929

SB 92917 clarifies that a deadline relating to mechanic’s and materialman’s liens that falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday is extended to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday. The bill corrects section references used in Section 53.124 of the Property Code, which pertains to the time of inception of various mechanic’s and materialman’s liens. This bill became effective May 21, 2025.

Senate Bill 1333

SB 133318 amends the Penal Code to create misdemeanor and felony penalties against persons with intent to enter or remain on real property who knowingly present a false, fraudulent or fictitious lease, deed, or other conveyance of the real property to another person. The bill adds Chapter 24B to the Property Code with a process for an owner or owner’s agent to have a sheriff or constable remove an unlawful occupant of residential real property. See also, SB 1734 (infra.); SB 647 (endnote 4 below).

Senate Bill 1734

SB 173419 creates a new process for the filing of a “Petition for Judicial Review of Document or Instrument Purporting to Convey Title to or an Interest in Real Property;” and expands the presumption of fraudulent documents or instruments purporting to convey title or an interest in real property. The bill provides the forms for the Petition process. See also, SB 1333 (supra.); SB 647 (endnote 4 below).

Senate Bill 2349

SB 234920 exempts landlords from the obligation to provide tenant floodplain notices for (a) leases with a term of less than 30 days and (b) temporary residential leases (of 90 days or less) created by a contract for sale if the buyer occupies the property before closing or the seller occupies after closing; eliminates the requirement that such notices be in a separate written document; and requires both landlord and tenant sign the document containing the notice. The bill is applicable to leases entered into or renewed after September 1, 2025.

Senate Bill 2550

SB 255021 adds groundwater rights and surface water rights as exceptions to seller disclosure obligations for notices required in the transfer of property involving (i) coastal property (Tex. Nat. Res. Code Sections 33.135(a), 61.025(a)); (ii) annexations (Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.011(c)); (iii) public improvement districts (Tex. Prop. Code Section 5.014(c)); and (iv) certificated water or sewer service areas (Tex. Water Code Section 13.257(c)).

Senate Bill 2629

SB 262922 amends wording about meetings and voting for condominium unit owners’ associations and property owners’ associations to reference relevant provisions of the Texas Business Organizations Code. The bill provides that meetings may be held by electronic and telephonic means. Voting may be held electronically (in addition to absentee ballot or proxy).

  1. RELAC’s other members who aided in producing this article with Messrs. Miller and Jacobs are: James L. Dougherty Jr., Claire M. Barber, and Samantha Dyal, vice chairs; Sarah P. Senterfitt, legislative counsel; Mark McPherson, political affairs adviser; and members: John Absher, John P. Barnes, Kacy Cigarroa, Lorin Williams Combs, Stephen A. Cooney, Mark Hines, LaToya Jarrett, Jerry Lott Jr., Tom Misteli, Lindsey Jandal Postula, Ashlee E. Ross, Stephen B. “Steve” Schulte, Jason Smith, Mark Sonnier, James I. Wiedemer, and Brenda A. Hard-Wilson.

  2. The committee’s Report is contained in the CLE Coursebook for the 2025 State Bar of Texas Advanced Real Estate Law Course, July, 2025, at Chapter 3.

  3. In addition to the bills summarized in this article, the Real Estate Legislative Affairs Committee tracked and summarized in its Report the following bills which affected the Tex. Property Code:

    • House Bill 4170 (venue for actions related to private transfer fees) which adds Property Code Section 5.208.

    • House Bill 2025 (evidence of paid or uncalculated ad valorem taxes in connection with filing of plats, replats, and amendments) which amends Property Code Sections 12.002(e) and 82.051(f).

    • House Bill 517 (property owners’ associations that require owners to maintain green vegetation or turf ) which adds Property Code Section 202.008.

  4. See, for example, the following, also summarized in the committee’s Report:

    • House Bill 21 (re: housing finance corporations; amendments to Local Gov’t Code Subch. A, Chap. 394).

    • House Bill 24 (re: zoning regulations and district boundaries; amendments to Local Gov’t Code Subch. A, Chap. 211).

    • House Bill 1606 (re: “vegetation management” near electrical power and distribution lines; amends Utilities Code Section 17.003(d-1); adds 17.003(d-2); amends 17.005(f); amends 17.006(f)).

    • House Bill 2464 (re: restricting municipalities from adopting or enforcing ordinances against “no-impact home businesses; adds Local Gov’t Code Section 229.902).

    • SJR 2 (re: a constitutional amendment to increase the homestead exemption from $100,000 to $140,000; November 4, 2025, election).

    • SJR 85 (re: a constitutional amendment to increase the age 65 and disabled property tax exemptions from $10,000 to $60,000; November 4, 2025, election).

    • Senate Bill 29 (re: multiple changes to the Tex. Bus. Org. Code).

    • Senate Bill 647 (re: fraudulently recorded documents; providing for additional information that county clerks can require before accepting documents for filing in the real property records; amends Government Code, Section 51.901; amends Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code, Section 12.003(b)). (See also, SB 1734 in this article and in endnote 19; and SB 1333 in this article and endnote 18).

    • Senate Bill 1252 (re: prohibitions on municipalities from adopting or enforcing an ordinance relating to the National Electrical Code that would regulate the installation or inspection of a “residential energy backup system” [a home generator]; amends Local Government Code, Chapter 214, Sections 214.211 and 214.214; amends Local Government Code, Chapter 229, by adding new Section 229.102).

    • Senate Bill 2835 (re: allowing apartment buildings not more than six stories and not more than four units per floor, which meet specified safety requirements, to have only one stairway to the ground level; amends Local Government Code, Chapter 214 by adding a new Subchapter I (Section 214.301)).

  5. HB 47, Section 20 amends Property Code, Section 92.0161(c).

  6. HB 621 adds Property Code, Section 202.013.

  7. HB 2011 amends Property Code, Sections 21.101(a), 21.102, 21.1021, and 21.103.

  8. HB 2037 amends Property Code, Sections 92.0561(f) and 94.157(g); adds Property Code, Sections 92.112, 92.113, 94.110, and 94.111.

  9. HB 2468 amends Property Code, Section 5.0141(b).

  10. HB 4211 adds Property Code, Chapter 223; amends Property Code, Section 301.042.

  11. HB 4350 amends Property Code, Section 11.008(j); adds Property Code, Section 11.008(k).

  12. SB 17 adds Property Code, Chapter 5, Subchapter H; amends Property Code, Section 5.005; amends Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, Chapter 64.001(a).

  13. SB 38 amends and adds to numerous sections in Property Code, Chapter 24.

  14. SB 372 amends Property Code, Section 51.0001(7) and (8).

  15. SB 711 amends numerous sections of the Property Code.

  16. SB 841 amends Property Code, Section 162.003(a); adds Property Code, Section 162.0031.

  17. SB 929 amends Property Code, Section 53.003(e) and Section 53.124(e).

  18. SB 1333 amends Property Code, Title 4; adds Property Code, Chapter 24B; amends Penal Code, Section 28.03(b); adds Penal Code, Sections 32.56 and 32.57.

  19. SB 1734 adds Property Code, Sections 5.0206 and 5.0207; amends Government Code, Section 51.901(c); adds Government Code, Section 51.9035.

  20. SB 2349 amends Property Code, Section 92.0135.

  21. SB 2550 amends Natural Resources Code, Sections 33.135(a) and 61.025(a); amends Property Code, Sections 5.011(c) and 5.014(c); amends Water Code, Section 3.257(c).

  22. SB 2629 amends various sections of Property Code, Chapters 82 and 209.

john millerJOHN H. “JACK” MILLER III is the principal and founder of Jack Miller Law. He is the chair of the Real Estate Legislative Affairs Committee under the Texas Real Estate and Probate Institute and a self- described “real estate geek.”

michael jacobsMICHAEL A. JACOBS has served on the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law Section Real Estate Legislative Affairs Committee for more than 30 years, including as co-chair. He is certified in both commercial real estate law and residential real estate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.