April 9, 2026

In This Issue:

Texas Legislature Interim Hearings Underway. Property Taxes and Other Issues on the Agenda
ICYMI: TLTA Advocacy Team Working With Industry Partners and Texas Attorney General to Address Proposed New Reporting Rule re: SB 17 Foreign Ownership of Property in Texas

Texas Legislature Interim Hearings Underway. Property Taxes and Other Issues on the Agenda

TLTA | April 9, 2026

The Texas House and Senate recently published their interim charges, and interim hearings are underway. As referenced in this Dateline article detailing all of the interim charges in the mix during the lead up to the Texas Legislature's 90th Session in January 2027, your TLTA Advocacy Team are studying these charges and have continued dialogue with legislators and leadership to ensure we're providing the information they need as they consider issues that could impact our real estate marketplace.

Legislative committees will produce reports based on their study of their interim charges, including recommendations on policy changes. Recommendations made by committees during the interim process often become legislation filed during the session.

Senate Finance to Meet Sept. 2 to Consider Additional Property Tax Cuts

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to meet Sept. 2 to discuss the following interim charge (and other subjects):

“... Study and report on the effect of the continued increasing of the Homestead Exemption. Assess the impact of reducing the senior homestead exemption from 65 to 55 years of age…"

Review the hearing notice »

ICYMI: TLTA Advocacy Team Working With Industry Partners and Texas Attorney General to Address Proposed New Reporting Rule re: SB 17 Foreign Ownership of Property in Texas

TLTA | April 2, 2026

As reported in last week’s Dateline, the Texas Attorney General’s office has proposed a new reporting rule re: the prohibition of foreign ownership of property. TLTA’s Advocacy Team is working alongside a coalition of our real estate and lending trade association partners to communicate our strong concerns with this proposed rule through written comments and direct contact with the Office of the AG. This rule would potentially place significant responsibility and liabilities on our industry to identify and report certain foreign buyers of real property in Texas.

Background

During the 89th Legislative Session in 2025, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17, which prohibits people, companies and government-linked entities from China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from acquiring most types of real estate in Texas. The new law went into effect Sept. 1, 2025.

The law also allows for the Governor to add countries or organizations to the list of prohibited affiliations for individuals or entities seeking ownership of property in Texas. Last November, the Governor added two organizations to that list, the Muslim Brotherhood and Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

In a recent edition of the Texas Register, the Texas Attorney General's office posted a proposed rule related to continued implementation of that foreign ownership law. The proposal includes new reporting requirements for a new defined set of entities (“Facilitating Entity”), which includes title companies, and asserts that such entities will have some liability if the entity “knows or should have known” that a given purchaser purchased the property in violation of the statute.

Review the AG's proposed rule »

The passage of SB 17 was the result of a multi-session conversation among Texas lawmakers on how to address the politically volatile topic of foreign ownership of U.S. land.

TLTA's Advocacy Team successfully worked with legislators to include in the new law these title industry protections:

No policing by title agents
Notice in Real Property Records
“Savings Clause” to preserve title

Questions or Comments? We'll continue to keep you updated on developments

TLTA will continue to keep you informed of any developments related to this proposal. If you have questions or comments, please contact Aaron Day at [email protected] or 512.472.6593.