Category: Texas
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Texas Says Time’s Up for Deed Hustlers
A wave of real estate scams has prompted action by Texas lawmakers. Real estate theft and fraud are now in the criminal code. Naming deed crimes is part of a growing trend that you might recall from a series of articles we’ve offered on New York’s new law, naming “deed theft” as a crime category.…
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Passing Your Texas Home On, With a Lady Bird Deed
A lady bird deed is simply an enhanced life estate deed. It’s popular with older adults who want to keep lifetime rights in a deed and then have it smoothly pass along to the next owner. It’s a unique way of conceptualizing co-ownership. It divides the value of real estate in time segments. The enhanced…
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Now, After the Building Spree, Top Texas Cities Are Full-Blown Buyers’ Markets
Some market watchers say Texas has the best prices in the country for home buyers at the moment. The Redfin real estate group is one of them. Redfin says there are many more homes for sale in Austin than potential buyers. Home prices are now back to where they were five years ago in the…
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Stolen Home Recorded as Sold for $10. How Will Texas Respond?
A family home was stolen in a fraudulent sale, for just $10, with a forged deed. Now, an heir is fighting in court to recover the property. Shannon P., the heir who’s fighting, views her lawsuit as a public service announcement as well as a struggle to recover generational wealth. “If you’re not checking on…
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Texas Law Restricting Foreign Buyers Chills Chinese Investment
Tonya Li works as a real estate agent in Austin. A Sotheby’s agent, Li has represented Chinese clients for the better part of a decade. Li reports losing 50% of her work after Texas enacted a new state law, banning certain foreigners from buying real estate. Texas Senate Bill 17 came into effect in September.…
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Will NAR’s Speech Code Be Shot Down in Texas?
Recently, a notable opinion column ran in Real Estate News. Ryan Weyandt, a real estate consultant, wrote: “There’s no place for hate speech in real estate.” That’s also the view of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), which in 2020 etched this position into its formal Code of Ethics, binding NAR’s agents. Why is this…
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Buyer’s Market in Dallas? It’s All Relative.
Lately, the homes for sale in Dallas stay on the market a little longer. Little by little, sellers are lowering their price expectations, and Dallas home buyers are getting deals. Homes in Dallas stayed on the market, on average, for 37 days in April 2024. That’s up 8% compared to last year. Some (about 12%)…
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Texas Real Estate Deed Recording Fees and Estates Code Updates
Recent legislative changes in Texas, specifically Senate Bill 1612 and amendments to the Estates Code, have brought significant adjustments that impact real estate deeds and the probate process. These changes are essential for professionals in real estate, law, and estate planning to understand and incorporate into their practice.
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Texas Warranty Deed Forgery Plot Thickens
More Houston-area deed fraud victims are speaking out. The alleged perpetrator has already been charged with a first-degree felony of forgery, fraudulent document execution, and theft greater than $300,000, in connection with warranty deeds worth some $15 million. He would forge property owners’ signatures. Then he’d go buy their properties at a deep discount. Investigators…
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Swindlers Beware: Texas Makes Its Move to Head Off “Dirty Deeds”
They call it the dirty deeds law. Recorders of Texas deeds may, as of July 2023, card people who show up to file home deed transfers. Meanwhile, in Arizona, a swindler sold an ill-gotten deed to the Zillow® real estate company. Texas is lowering the boom. The state will now have its deed recorders verify…
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Texas AG Investigates Home Title Lock
The latest cyberthreat is home equity theft, warns the Home Title Lock company. “Are you already a victim?” The company warns potential customers to “lock” their deeds, or they could be left homeless and mired in credit problems. Now, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into Home Title Lock’s advertising.
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Houston: The Zoning-Free City. Right?
Some interesting real estate law news has come from Texas. In 2021 the Texas Supreme Court said Houston may regulate some development, without breaking the city’s unusual no-zoning rule. Wait. Houston has a no-zoning rule? And the state’s high court is endorsing ways to regulate around it? Let’s see what’s going on here.
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Texans Welcome New Guidance for Quitclaim Deeds
Adverse Possession Also Clarified Congrats to Texas, where the government just gave a boost to the quitclaim deed! People who receive their homes through recorded quitclaim deeds will now be on firmer ground in the Lone Star State. Here’s what you need to know.
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News From Texas
Untangling Titles in Dallas; Texas Eviction Moratorium Extended Stories abound about people in southern states facing denials of disaster assistance because they can’t prove clear title to their homes. It’s hurricane season — and hurricanes are hard on Texas. When Texas residents lack the legal basis for insuring their homes, or to claim disaster assistance…
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Probate Creditors’ Rights Under Texas Law
Paying off the decedent’s debts is one of the primary duties of an estate’s executor or administrator. Failing to do this can lead to personal liability on the executor or administrator’s part. The estate’s creditors have rights under Texas probate law, but all are time-sensitive. If estate assets are limited, whether the creditor receives reimbursement…
