S.B. No. 461




AN ACT

relating to the confidentiality of and access to certain personal 
information in instruments recorded with a county clerk.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), and (f), Section 
11.008, Property Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(a)  In this section, "instrument" means a deed[, mortgage,] 
or deed of trust.
	(b)  Notwithstanding Section 191.007(c), Local Government 
Code, an [An] instrument [executed on or after January 1, 2004,] 
transferring an interest in real property to or from an individual 
and disclosing that individual's social security number or driver's 
license number must include [may not be recorded unless] a notice 
that appears on the top of the first page of the instrument in 
12-point boldfaced type or 12-point uppercase letters and reads 
substantially as follows:
	NOTICE OF CONFIDENTIALITY RIGHTS:  IF YOU ARE A NATURAL 
PERSON, YOU MAY REMOVE OR STRIKE ANY OR ALL OF THE 
FOLLOWING INFORMATION FROM THIS INSTRUMENT BEFORE IT 
IS FILED FOR RECORD IN THE PUBLIC RECORDS:  YOUR SOCIAL 
SECURITY NUMBER OR YOUR DRIVER'S LICENSE NUMBER.
	(d)  The county clerk may not under any circumstance reject 
an instrument presented for recording solely because the instrument 
[contains or] fails to comply with this section [contain a social 
security number or driver's license number.  If the county clerk 
accepts an instrument for recording, the recording of the 
instrument creates a conclusive presumption that the requirements 
of this section have been met].
	(e)  The county clerk shall post a notice in the county 
clerk's office stating that instruments recorded in the real 
property or official public records or the equivalent of the real 
property or official public records of the county [and executed on 
or after January 1, 2004]:
		(1)  are not required to contain a social security 
number or driver's license number; and
		(2)  are public records available for review by the 
public.                 
	(f)  All instruments described by this section [recorded 
under this section] are subject to inspection by the public.
	SECTION 2.  Subsections (c) and (h), Section 191.007, Local 
Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
	(c)  Except as provided by Section 11.008(b), Property Code, 
a [A] clearly identifying heading, similar to the headings on most 
commercially supplied printed forms, must be placed at the top of 
the first page to identify the type or kind of legal paper.
	(h)  The filing fee or recording fee for each page of a legal 
paper that is presented for filing or recording to a county clerk 
and fails to meet one or more of the requirements prescribed by 
Subsections (b) through (g) is equal to twice the regular filing fee 
or recording fee provided by statute for that page.  However, the 
failure of a page to meet the following requirements [requirement 
prescribed by Subsection (b)(3) relating to type size] does not 
result in a fee increase under this subsection:
		(1)  the requirement prescribed by Subsection (b)(3) 
relating to type size; and
		(2)  provided that the legal paper complies with 
Section 11.008(b), Property Code, the requirement prescribed by 
Subsection (c) that a legal paper have a clearly identifying 
heading.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act applies only 
to a deed or deed of trust executed on or after the effective date of 
this Act.  A deed, mortgage, or deed of trust executed before the 
effective date of this Act is covered by the law in effect at the 
time the deed, mortgage, or deed of trust is executed, and that law 
remains in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  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, 2005.

                                                                              




______________________________    ______________________________
President of the Senate             Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 461 passed the Senate on 
April 7, 2005, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.




______________________________ 
   Secretary of the Senate             
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 461 passed the House on 
May 4, 2005, by the following vote:  Yeas 138, Nays 0, two present 
not voting.




______________________________ 
   Chief Clerk of the House            



Approved:


______________________________ 
            Date



______________________________ 
          Governor