All Roll Calls
Yes: 303 • No: 83
TexasHB 368089th Legislature Regular SessionHouseWALLET
Relating to subdivision plat requirements in certain counties; authorizing a fee; authorizing a civil penalty; creating a criminal offense.
Sponsored By: Ryan Guillen, Erin Gámez, Adam Hinojosa (Republican), Oscar Longoria, Janie Lopez
Became Law
CAMERON COUNTYGULF OF MEXICOUNITED MEXICAN STATESCity Government--Land Use & ZoningCivil Remedies & LiabilitiesCounty Government--Land Use & ZoningCounty Government--RoadsCourts--Prosecuting AttorneysCrimes--Against PropertyCrimes--MiscellaneousInsurance--Property & CasualtyPolitical SubdivisionsTaxation--Property-Appraisals & Appraisal DistrictsUtilities--ElectricUtilities--GeneralUtilities--Natural GasUtilities--Water & SewerADVERTISINGBONDSBORDERECONOMICALLY DISTRESSED AREASFLOODSPLATTINGATTORNEY GENERALWATER DEVELOPMENT BOARD, TEXAS
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
24 provisions identified: 11 benefits, 4 costs, 9 mixed.
Buyers can sue over missing utilities
Residential buyers purchasing from a subdivider after July 1, 1995, can sue when required water and sewer services are missing. The subdivision must be in an economically distressed area as defined by state law. Buyers can seek cancellation and recover the purchase price, improvement value, direct expenses, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. Alternatively, they can seek an order requiring platting or replatting, plus direct expenses, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. During enforcement, residents or specified government attorneys can also seek to stop existing utility shutoffs when a court hearing finds a threat to residents' health, safety, or welfare.
Land buyers gain safeguards against unplatted sales
Subdividers and agents cannot allow lot sales before required platting or let land under their control become a public-health nuisance. They cannot use contracts for deed to evade required platting and water or sewer protections. The utility-related sale restriction exempts resident sellers who are neither the subdivider nor its agent. Counties covered by the border subdivision rules cannot use the contract exception for descriptions based on unapproved, unrecorded plats. Elsewhere, that exception requires a contract contingent on final approval and recording, with no buyer use or occupancy before recording.
Missing land statements allow payment deductions
Subdividers must give contract-for-deed buyers a yearly statement in January, postmarked by January 31 if mailed. It must show amounts paid, the balance owed, the prior year's interest rate, and payments remaining. Buyers who do not receive it can notify the subdivider and deduct 15% from each monthly payment. Deductions can start no earlier than 25 days after notice and continue until the statement arrives. Buyers do not have to repay those deductions.
Older lots gain utility connection paths
Utility connections generally require county approval, but owners and buyers—not subdividers or their agents—can use special certificate paths. Historic-conveyance paths cover transfers before September 1, 1995, or September 1, 1999, for land then in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The residence-based path also requires no later subdivision, construction reaching a completed foundation by May 1, 2003, and installed adequate sewer service. Lots of record can qualify with adequate, fully working sewer service; these include qualifying plats or undivided metes-and-bounds records from before September 1, 1989. Another path requires no subdivision after September 1, 1995, and water within 750 feet or a provider finding that extension is feasible. Applicants must supply conveyance records, required sworn statements, and service certifications. An owner-occupied single-family home can regain prior service terminated no more than five years earlier, without increased volume or multiple connections, with county-accepted documentation. That exception excludes improvements modified on or after September 1, 2007. Approved publicly funded colonia projects also receive service exceptions tied to minimum facility standards. Service is also preserved for qualifying lots conveyed before July 1, 1995, or September 1, 1999, in the stated city-jurisdiction setting, with a plat approved before September 1, 1989, and fully working adequate sewer.
Missing land records trigger weekly penalties
People asked for names and addresses in a county subdivision-cancellation proceeding have 30 days to provide them. After that response period, they owe Texas $500 for each week the information remains missing.
Utility delays require free resident services
A subdivider or resident purchaser can request a two-year utility-installation delay, with one renewal allowed. Providers must supply service terms and certified letters confirming their right and commitment to serve. Counties can grant other delays or exceptions when compliance is impractical or conflicts with residents’ health and safety, with written findings. During delays, subdividers must provide each resident 25 gallons of drinking water daily, a storage container, and temporary wastewater disposal free. This support lasts until approved water and sewer services are available; counties must notify the attorney general within 30 days.
Land buyers get clearer sale disclosures
Subdivision purchase contracts must explain how and when water, sewer, electricity, and gas will become available. Advertising cannot mislead buyers and must accurately describe utilities; for-sale signs no larger than three feet square are exempt from the description requirement. Before a contract-for-deed sale, both parties must sign and acknowledge an attached notice covering utilities, flood risk, roads, ownership, liens, and back taxes. Sellers must provide Spanish sale papers when negotiations were mainly in Spanish or the buyer requests them. Subdividers must record contracts, required disclosures, leases, and other transfer papers within 30 days after a lot sale.
Owners get paths to revise plats
People who subdivided land under county rules can ask to revise a recorded plat. Counties must allow revisions that preserve established owner rights or have every affected owner's agreement. For revisions found not to affect public interests or property, owners within 200 feet receive written notice. County websites, when available, must post notice for at least 30 days before the meeting through the following day. Counties can also issue amending plats and delegate amendments or qualifying plats with four or fewer lots to staff, with an appeal available after staff denial.
Owners receive notice before subdivision cancellation
Before canceling a subdivision, counties must hold a public hearing where interested people can speak. The chief appraiser must publish Spanish notice in the highest-circulation newspaper and, when available, a Spanish-language county newspaper. Taxpayers and people with property interests must receive notice by regular and certified mail at least 14 days before the hearing. The county can require the subdivider to supply names and last known addresses.
Public land sales require bilingual notices
Covered tax sales and court-ordered execution sales must include the required property statement in sale notices and deeds. The statement must appear in English and Spanish, using 14-point boldface or uppercase type. A county agent must read it aloud in both languages at the sale. A sale that violates these requirements is void.
Small land divisions get exemption paths
Counties may excuse individual lots from plat rules for good cause when municipal water is within 50 feet. The lot must also adjoin a public road and have room for a compliant sewer facility. Beginning September 1, 2025, Water Code model rules cannot override statutory platting exceptions in the new subchapter. Counties or cities receiving specified Water Code assistance may exempt subdivisions they supply with compliant water and sewer. Another exemption covers four or fewer lots in covered counties when each fronts an approved existing street and can connect to compliant water and sewer within 50 feet, without new streets or facility extensions.
County officials must disclose land interests
County commissioners with an interest in land awaiting subdivision approval must disclose that interest before the vote or decision. They must file an affidavit with the county clerk and stop taking part in the decision. Covered interests include specified ownership, business, payment, and close-family ties. Violations are Class A misdemeanors; conviction counts as official misconduct and grounds for removal from office.
Land buyers gain false-advertising protection
Sellers, subdividers, and their agents commit a Class A misdemeanor by knowingly helping spread false statements about subdivision land. The rule covers land offered for sale or lease, including statements in advertising. Unaffiliated licensed real estate brokers and sales agents acting in that role are not treated as the seller’s agents.
Subdivision violations bring fines and crimes
Subdivision violations carry civil penalties of $500–$1,000 per violation per day, capped at $5,000 daily, plus specified costs and fees. Separate penalties are $10,000–$15,000 per unlawfully conveyed lot or subdivision that becomes a nuisance. The nuisance penalty does not apply when corrected within 30 days after notice from the attorney general or local health authority. Knowingly failing to file a required plat is a Class A misdemeanor, rising to a state jail felony if the defendant caused five or more homes to become inhabited. Knowingly missing required utility duties is also a Class A misdemeanor, with a separate offense for each lot conveyed without required arrangements.
Developers need approval before selling lots
Subdividers cannot sell or lease land in covered subdivisions first mapped or remapped after July 1, 1995, without county approval. The county must approve the subdivision map before those sales or leases take place.
New land division rules near border
In Texas counties bordering both Mexico and the Gulf, dividing land into lots generally requires a plat when any lot is under five acres. Counties may also require plats when no lot is under five acres and at least one exceeds five but not 10 acres. The mandatory rule excludes divisions with all lots at least five acres, gifts within third-degree family relationships, and listed statutory exemptions. Plats need certified surveys, infrastructure and drainage plans, service deadlines, and county approval; required bonds must be filed. Counties may require compatible digital maps, but must excuse applicants who document that the technology was not reasonably accessible. Municipal boundaries, city-county agreements, and other subdivision laws determine county authority; related changes do not grant zoning power or require county approval before new home construction.
Counties can charge subdivision processing fees
Counties may charge plat-revision application fees based on processing costs, including required published notices. They may also charge subdividers inspection fees, using the money only for inspections under this provision. For subdivision certificates outside city limits, counties may charge the greater of $30 or the applicable city certificate fee. Getting the county certificate removes the need to obtain that city certificate. Counties are allowed, but not required, to impose these fees.
Landowners get limited subdivision mapping relief
Counties cannot require a subdivision map for qualifying lots outside city limits sold to neighbors and added to their adjoining property. Each buyer must give the county an updated boundary description. A separate exception requires a county finding of good cause. An unaffiliated Texas-registered civil engineer must certify adequate drainage and that the lot is outside a floodplain. That exception also requires connection to existing public sewer service within 50 feet.
Sewer bond release shifts owners’ costs
A county can release a seller from maintaining a sewer-construction bond for a lot without an installed sewer facility. Required water facilities and roads must be complete, and the lot must have room for a lawful sewage system. The owner must not have lived there during the 60 months after the deed was signed. The owner’s affidavit must acknowledge the seller’s 60-month duty and voluntarily accept the cost of hiring a licensed sewage-system installer. It must also warn that drinking water and electricity may be unavailable without a septic system.
Utility access requires approval, with exceptions
Water and sewer utilities generally need a county certificate or plat-approval finding before serving subdivided land. In covered counties, a city’s plat authority can certify an alternative route for qualifying land outside city limits. Routes include eligible older homes with adequate sewer service, recorded lots with working sewer service, and qualifying water-access cases. The supplied text also permits service without the usual certificate, but an incomplete reference leaves that permission’s scope unclear.
Older subdivisions can face updated standards
Counties may adopt a process to apply current road, drainage, and infrastructure standards to long-undeveloped subdivisions. At least 50% of lots must remain undeveloped or unoccupied on or after the plat's 25th anniversary. The rules reach only business-owned lots offered for sale or lease through a common sales plan covering more than two lots. Updated requirements can add development duties but must preserve minimum water, sewer, and public-safety standards.
Subdivision delays come with resident safeguards
Counties can extend water and sewer completion deadlines when reasonable and not against the public interest. Extensions cannot leave occupied homes without water or sewer. Creators of unplatted subdivisions or resident purchasers can request specified delays or variances from utility, setback, and housing-density rules. Grants require documented findings, water and sewer plans, engineering certification, and findings that compliance is impractical or contrary to residents' health or safety. Requirements include majority sales before September 1, 1995, and majority resident-purchaser support; when the creator still owns property, final approval also requires no attorney general objection before the 91st day after receiving the record. One utility delay lasts two years and allows one renewal. During granted delays, subdividers must supply 25 gallons of drinking water per resident daily and suitable temporary wastewater disposal.
Subdivision roads and homes face safeguards
Counties must set street rights-of-way at 50–100 feet for main arteries and 40–70 feet for other streets. Shoulder-to-shoulder widths must be 32–56 feet for collectors or main arteries and 25–35 feet for other streets. Counties must adopt engineering-based road and drainage standards after publishing English and Spanish notice. Residential plats covering floodplain land cannot receive approval without meeting federal flood insurance program requirements and local rules. Required plat covenants also bar floodplain homebuilding that fails those standards, protecting residents while limiting construction.
Builders must back promised subdivision services
Covered counties must enforce state model rules for water, sewer, waste, roads, utilities, and flood management. Subdividers with approved plats must certify adequate water, provide compliant sewage treatment or certify legal septic service, and provide roads and drainage. They must also make reasonable efforts to arrange electric and gas service. If required water or sewer facilities are unfinished at final plat application, subdividers must provide county-set financial security before subdividing. A bond, cash deposit, or qualifying irrevocable letter of credit backs completion, protecting buyers while adding a financial duty for subdividers.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Ryan Guillen
House
Erin Gámez
House
Adam Hinojosa
Republican • Senate
Oscar Longoria
House
Janie Lopez
House
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 5/25/2025
Record vote
Yes: 27 • No: 4
Senate vote • 5/25/2025
Record vote
Yes: 27 • No: 4
Senate vote • 5/25/2025
Record vote
Yes: 27 • No: 4
Senate vote • 5/25/2025
Record vote
Yes: 27 • No: 4
House vote • 5/16/2025
Record vote
Yes: 87 • No: 32
House vote • 5/15/2025
Record vote
Yes: 97 • No: 35
Senate vote • Unknown
Committee vote: Local Government
Yes: 5 • No: 0
House vote • Unknown
Committee vote: Land & Resource Management
Yes: 6 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Effective on 9/1/25
6/20/2025HouseFiled without the Governor's signature
6/20/2025HouseSent to the Governor
5/28/2025HouseSigned in the Senate
5/27/2025SenateSigned in the House
5/27/2025HouseReported enrolled
5/26/2025HouseSenate passage reported
5/26/2025HouseRecord vote
5/25/2025SenatePassed
5/25/2025SenateRead 3rd time
5/25/2025SenateRecord vote
5/25/2025SenateThree day rule suspended
5/25/2025SenateRecord vote
5/25/2025SenateRead 2nd time & passed to 3rd reading
5/25/2025SenateRecord vote
5/25/2025SenateRules suspended-Regular order of business
5/25/2025SenatePlaced on intent calendar
5/25/2025SenateCommittee report printed and distributed
5/22/2025SenateRecommended for local & uncontested calendar
5/22/2025SenateReported favorably w/o amendments
5/22/2025SenateVote taken in committee
5/22/2025SenateTestimony taken in committee
5/22/2025SenateConsidered in public hearing
5/22/2025SenateScheduled for public hearing on . . .
5/22/2025SenateReferred to Local Government
5/19/2025Senate
Bill Text
Engrossed
Enrolled
House Committee Report
Introduced
Senate Committee Report
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