Bill Text: TX HB291 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the appraisal of real property for ad valorem tax purposes.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-02-27 - Referred to s/c on Property Tax Appraisals by Speaker [HB291 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB291-Introduced.html

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89R4511 DRS-D
By: Bell of Montgomery H.B. No. 291

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appraisal of real property for ad valorem tax
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter C, Chapter 22, Tax
Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C. [OTHER] REPORTS OF POLITICAL SUBDIVISION ACTIONS
SECTION 2. Chapter 22, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter D to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D. REPORT OF SALES PRICE
Sec. 22.61. SALES PRICE DISCLOSURE REPORT. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), not later than the 10th day after the
date the deed is recorded in the county real property records, the
purchaser or grantee of real property under a recorded deed
conveying an interest in the real property shall file a sales price
disclosure report with the chief appraiser of the appraisal
district established for the county in which the property is
located.
(b) This section does not apply to a sale or other transfer
of real property if the sale or other transfer is made:
(1) pursuant to a court order;
(2) to or from a trustee in bankruptcy;
(3) pursuant to a power of sale under a deed of trust
or other encumbrance secured by the property;
(4) by a deed in lieu of foreclosure;
(5) by one co-owner to one or more other co-owners;
(6) to a spouse or to a person or persons in the first
degree of lineal consanguinity of one or more of the sellers or
grantors;
(7) of an interest less than a full fee simple
interest; or
(8) to an entity having the power to acquire the
property by eminent domain.
(c) A sales price disclosure report must be signed by the
purchaser or grantee of the real property described in the report.
Sec. 22.62. REPORT FORM. (a) A sales price disclosure
report filed under this subchapter must read as follows, with the
appropriate information included in the blanks:
SALES PRICE DISCLOSURE REPORT
Section 22.61, Tax Code, requires a purchaser or grantee
under a deed to prepare this report, sign it, and file it with the
chief appraiser of the appraisal district established for the
county in which the property is located not later than the third day
after the date the deed is recorded. This report is not required to
be filed if the sale or transfer is made: (1) under a court order;
(2) to or from a trustee in bankruptcy; (3) under a deed of trust or
other encumbrance secured by the property; (4) by a deed in lieu of
foreclosure; (5) between co-owners; or (6) between spouses or
between family members in the first degree of lineal consanguinity.
Knowingly making a false statement on this form is grounds for
prosecution of a Class A misdemeanor or a state jail felony under
Section 37.10, Penal Code. The chief appraiser may not use the
information in this form as the sole basis on which to increase the
market value of the property.
Seller's or grantor's name: ___________________
Purchaser's or grantee's name: ________________
Purchaser's or grantee's address: _____________
Property description (as stated in deed): _____
Sales price or other consideration paid for the property:
________
The method used to finance the sales price or consideration
was: □ none (cash sale) □ cash and third-party financing □ cash
and seller financing □ exchange of other property □ other,
describe: ______________________________________________________
Describe any unusual or extraordinary terms of the sale or
transfer that affected the amount of the sales price or
consideration: _____________________________
Describe any other facts or circumstances that affected the
amount of the sales price or consideration: ______________________
To the best of my knowledge, this statement is true and
accurate.
Purchaser's or grantee's signature: _______________
Date: ____________
Return this form to: ______________________________.
(b) The appraisal district shall include at the end of the
form instructions for the filing of the form by mail, hand delivery,
or, if permitted by the chief appraiser, e-mail or other electronic
means.
(c) Each appraisal district shall prepare and make
available sales price disclosure report forms that conform to the
requirements of this section. Except for instructions for the
filing of the form, no additional information may be required to be
included in a sales price disclosure report form.
(d) Each county clerk's or combined county and district
clerk's office shall provide at no charge a sales price disclosure
report form to each grantee or agent of a grantee who appears in
person and tenders a deed to real property for recording. The sales
price disclosure form must be the form that is prepared and made
available by the appraisal district established for the county in
which the property is located.
(e) At the end of a calendar month in which a deed to real
property has been recorded in the deed records of the county, the
county clerk or the combined county and district clerk shall
provide the appraisal district established for the county with a
copy of the grantee index or a report or list of deeds to real
property filed for recording in that month.
Sec. 22.63. FILING AND RECEIPT OF REPORT. (a) A purchaser
or grantee may file a sales price disclosure report with a chief
appraiser by mail, hand delivery, or e-mail or other electronic
means.
(b) On receipt of the completed sales price disclosure
report, the chief appraiser shall provide to the purchaser or
grantee a written acknowledgement that the report has been
received. If the acknowledgement of receipt is mailed, the chief
appraiser shall mail it to the purchaser or grantee at the address
provided in the report.
Sec. 22.64. PREPARATION OF REPORT; IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY.
(a) A sales price disclosure report must be prepared by the
purchaser or grantee of the property described in the report or by a
title insurance company, lender, real estate agent, or attorney.
(b) A title insurance company, lender, real estate agent, or
attorney who prepares a sales price disclosure report is not liable
to any person for preparing the report or for any unintentional
errors or omissions in the report.
(c) The applicable title insurance company, lender, real
estate agent, or attorney shall provide a sales price disclosure
report form and filing instructions to each purchaser or grantee of
real property unless the insurance company, lender, real estate
agent, or attorney prepares the disclosure report or has confirmed
that another person described by Subsection (a), other than the
purchaser or grantee, will prepare and file the disclosure report.
Sec. 22.65. ACTION TO COMPEL COMPLIANCE. The chief
appraiser may bring an action for an injunction to compel a person
to comply with the requirements of this subchapter. If the court
finds that this subchapter applies and that the person has failed to
fully comply with its requirements, the court:
(1) shall order the person to comply; and
(2) may assess costs and reasonable attorney's fees
against the person.
SECTION 3. Section 23.013, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (f) to read as follows:
(f) The chief appraiser may use information contained in a
sales price disclosure report filed under Subchapter D, Chapter 22,
in determining the market value of real property but may not
increase the market value of the real property described in the
report solely on the basis of the information contained in the
report.
SECTION 4. Section 41.43, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a) and (a-2) and adding Subsection (a-6) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (a-1), (a-3), (a-6),
and (d), in a protest authorized by Section 41.41(a)(1) or (2), the
appraisal district has the burden of establishing the value of the
property by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the
hearing. If the appraisal district fails to meet that standard, the
protest shall be determined in favor of the property owner.
(a-2) To be valid, an appraisal filed under Subsection (a-1)
or (a-6) must be attested to before an officer authorized to
administer oaths and include:
(1) the name and business address of the certified
appraiser;
(2) a description of the property that was the subject
of the appraisal;
(3) a statement that the appraised or market value of
the property:
(A) was, as applicable, the appraised or market
value of the property as of January 1 of the current tax year; and
(B) was determined using a method of appraisal
authorized or required by Chapter 23; and
(4) a statement that the appraisal was performed in
accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
Practice.
(a-6) Notwithstanding Subsection (a-1), if in the protest
relating to a parcel of residential real property the property
owner files with the appraisal review board and, not later than the
14th day before the date of the first day of the hearing, delivers
to the chief appraiser a copy of an appraisal of the property
performed not later than the 180th day before the date of the first
day of the hearing by an appraiser certified under Chapter 1103,
Occupations Code, that supports the appraised or market value of
the property asserted by the property owner, the appraisal review
board shall:
(1) determine the protest in favor of the property
owner; and
(2) issue an order changing the property's appraised
or market value in the appraisal records to the value determined by
the appraisal of the property filed by the property owner.
SECTION 5. Section 37.10(c)(4), Penal Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(4) An offense under this section is a Class B
misdemeanor if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
governmental record is a written appraisal filed with an appraisal
review board under Section 41.43(a-1) or (a-6), Tax Code, that was
performed by a person who had a contingency interest in the outcome
of the appraisal review board hearing.
SECTION 6. (a) As soon as practicable after September 1,
2025, but not later than January 1, 2026, each appraisal district
shall prepare and make available sales price disclosure report
forms as provided by Section 22.62, Tax Code, as added by this Act.
(b) Subchapter D, Chapter 22, Tax Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a sale of real property that occurs on or after
January 1, 2026.
(c) Section 23.013(f), Tax Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to an ad valorem tax year that begins on or after
January 1, 2026.
(d) Section 41.43, Tax Code, and Section 37.10(c)(4), Penal
Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a protest under Chapter
41, Tax Code, for which a notice of protest is filed on or after
September 1, 2025.
SECTION 7. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
(b) The heading to Subchapter C, Chapter 22, Tax Code, as
amended by this Act, and Subchapter D, Chapter 22, and Section
23.013(f), Tax Code, as added by this Act, take effect January 1,
2026.