Effective communication between attorney and client can be made more difficult when the general public’s understanding of a term differs from its legal definition, and “deed” is one of the worst offenders. Movies, television, and other media have created a widely shared misunderstanding of what a deed is, what it does, and what the consequences […]
Category: Real Estate Law
Do Subsequent Purchasers of a Property Need to Sign a Correction Deed?
The Texas Property Code authorizes the correction of a material error in a recorded original instrument of conveyance—for example, a deed—by agreement. See Tex. Prop. Code § 5.029. To be effective, the instrument correcting the error must be executed by each party to the original instrument “or, if applicable, a party’s heirs, successors, or assigns.” […]
Acquiescence in Boundary Disputes
When involved in a boundary dispute, a landowner needs to know their legal rights and remedies, as well as the rights and remedies available to the party with whom the landowner is having a dispute. Adverse possession is a fairly well-known avenue for obtaining legal right to another’s real property, but a lesser-known method of […]
Partition of Mobile Homes and Other Personal Property in Texas
Partition lawsuits, or lawsuits to divide the ownership of a piece of jointly owned property, occur most frequently in Texas in the context of jointly owned real estate. Section 23.001 of the Texas Property Code gives a co-owner of a home, a plot of land, or other real property the right to petition a court […]
Texas Farm Animals Liability Act
The Texas Farm Animal Liability Act (FALA) began in 1995 as the Texas Equine Act, a narrow statute that protected horse owners from liability for participants’ injuries resulting from the inherent risks of interacting with horses. This statute was expanded in 2011 to cover not only horses, but “farm animals” generally. “Farm animals” are defined […]
Texas Strip and Gore Doctrine
The Strip and Gore Doctrine is a rather unique doctrine to Texas. This primarily comes into play when narrow strips (like roadways) or gores (small triangular pieces of land) are not expressly conveyed or reserved by deeds for land that sit on either side of the strip, or when there is no other documentation available […]
Can I Still Foreclose on a Property if the Debtor Has Died?
Texas lenders secure their loans in real estate transactions with a deed of trust. The deed of trust serves as a security instrument allowing the lender to foreclose on the buyer and force a sale of the property to pay off the borrower’s remaining debt. For most situations where a buyer falls behind on payment, […]
Easement in Gross vs. Appurtenant
Easements are generally defined as the right to use another person’s land in a certain manner. Once an easement is established, either by express grant, prescription, estoppel or implication, one of two types of easements is created: an easement in gross or an easement appurtenant. The primary difference between these two types of easements is […]
Waiving Deed Restrictions in Texas
Imagine this: You buy some property in a community with the intention of using the property for a purpose other than as your home. Maybe you want to list the property on AirBNB/VRBO, or rent it out directly for short periods of time. Maybe you would like to open a business, like running a small […]
Can an HOA Amend Restrictions To Prohibit Short Term Rentals?
So, you become interested in renting out your home with services such as AirBNB and VRBO as a short-term lease option. You carefully review the existing CCR’s on your property, and make sure you can move forward. You begin renting out your home while you’re away. And then, all of a sudden, you receive notice […]