For Texas Real Estate, The New Year Brings a Bevy of New Laws

New Years Day was more than just champagne hangovers and hefty drycleaning bills. Jan. 1, 2022, also ushered in a series of state laws that will affect various aspects of the real estate industry.  

Many of these new provisions are aimed at reducing the property tax burden and keeping more money in the pockets of property owners: 

• Homeowners will now be able to claim their homestead exemption the year that they acquire their propriety.  Up until now, they had to with until Jan. 1 of the next year.
• Senate Bill 794 also exempts disabled veterans from homestead taxes, provided they have been declared 100 percent disabled by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.
• Per House Bill 115, property owned by nonprofits and charitable organizations for the purpose of helping homeless people may also be tax-exempt.  Previous regulations had stricter standards for tax exemptions, including a provision that only exempted permanent housing for homeless individuals.
• The period of time that land and owned by religious organizations for expansion purposes can be tax-exempt has also increased from six to ten years.  
• House Bill 3971, which was championed by Dallas’s Morgan Meyer, requires the chief appraiser determining the market value of residential real property located in a designated historic district to consider the effect on the property’s value of any restriction placed on the property owner’s ability to alter, improve, or repair the property.

Additional Protections And Regulations

Other laws that went into effect on Jan. 1 were enacted to provide additional protections for homeowners and tenants:

• House Bill 531 requires landlords to tell prospective tenants if their property is either located in a 100-year flood plain or has been damaged by flooding within the past five years. 
• Appraisers are now required to exclude non-commercial chicken coops and rabbit pens when determining the market value of a property. However, their effect on the property can still be taken into consideration.
• In a change to eminent domain procedures, House Bill 2730 amends the Government Code to require a landowner’s bill of rights statement prepared by the attorney general notifying property owners that they have the right to file a written complaint with the Texas Real Estate Commission regarding alleged misconduct by a registered easement or right‑of‑way agent acting on behalf of the entity exercising eminent domain authority. The statement must include the terms required for an instrument of conveyance as well as the terms a property owner may negotiate in cases of a railroad, utility, oil and gas rights-of-way.
• Real estate agents will also face new requirements.  Amendments to the Real Estate License Act now require the Texas Real Este Commission to approve coursework that applicants must complete for the issuance or renewal of a license. The Commission may also issue probational licenses as well as suspend or revoke a certificate if the holder commits certain financial improprieties.

More information on these and other recently enacted laws can be found on the Texas Legislature’s website.