S.B. No. 1781
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to technical defects in instruments conveying real
  property.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 16.033, Civil Practice and Remedies
  Code, is amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection
  (c) to read as follows:
         (a)  A person with a right of action for the recovery of real
  property or an interest in real property conveyed by an instrument
  with one of the following defects must bring suit not later than two
  [four] years after the day the instrument was filed for record
  [recorded] with the county clerk of the county where the real
  property is located:
               (1)  lack of the signature of a proper corporate
  officer, partner, or company officer, manager, or member;
               (2)  lack of a corporate seal;
               (3)  failure of the record to show the corporate seal
  used;
               (4)  failure of the record to show authority of the
  board of directors or stockholders of a corporation, partners of a
  partnership, or officers, managers, or members of a company;
               (5)  execution and delivery of the instrument by a
  corporation, partnership, or other company that had been dissolved,
  whose charter had expired, or whose franchise had been canceled,
  withdrawn, or forfeited;
               (6)  acknowledgment of the instrument in an individual,
  rather than a representative or official, capacity;
               (7)  execution of the instrument by a trustee without
  record of the authority of the trustee or proof of the facts recited
  in the instrument;
               (8)  failure of the record or instrument to show an
  acknowledgment or jurat that complies with applicable law; or
               (9)  wording of the stated consideration that may or
  might create an implied lien in favor of the grantor.
         (c)  For the purposes of this section, an instrument
  affecting real property containing a ministerial defect, omission,
  or informality in the certificate of acknowledgment that has been
  filed for record for longer than two years in the office of the
  county recorder of the county in which the property is located is
  considered to have been lawfully recorded and to be notice of the
  existence of the instrument on and after the date the instrument is
  filed.
         SECTION 2.  The change in law made by this Act applies only
  to an instrument filed for record on or after September 1, 2007.  An
  instrument filed for record before September 1, 2007, is governed
  by the law in effect immediately before that date, and that law is
  continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1781 passed the Senate on
  April 19, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 21, 2007, by the
  following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1781 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 17, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 143,
  Nays 0, two present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor