All Roll Calls
Yes: 270 • No: 44
TexasSB 126789th Legislature Regular SessionSenateWALLET
Relating to certificates of number and certificates of title issued by and records kept by the Parks and Wildlife Department; creating a criminal offense.
Sponsored By: Carol Alvarado (Democratic), Cody Vasut
Signed by Governor
Crimes--MiscellaneousElectronic Information SystemsFees & Other Nontax Revenue--StateParks & Wildlife--Water SafetyVehicles & Traffic--Vehicle RegistrationBOATS & BOATINGRECORDS MANAGEMENTPARKS & WILDLIFE COMMISSIONPARKS & WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
17 provisions identified: 4 benefits, 4 costs, 9 mixed.
Damaged boat titles require clear warnings
Beginning January 1, 2028, owners must disclose hull damage that happened during their ownership and was known at transfer. For department-titled boats, they must obtain a "Hull Damaged" title or mark and deliver the existing title before or at transfer. Insurers must apply for a newly branded title before transferring an ownership interest. The department must issue the branded title within 20 days after receiving the application or marked title. Intentional or knowing violations, including soliciting or colluding in an owner's failure, are Class B Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanors; negligent violations are Class C misdemeanors.
Boat buyers gain missing-title protections
Beginning January 1, 2028, buyers meeting the legal definition of ordinary-course buyers retain commercial-law protections despite unfinished title paperwork. Some buyers also take boats or motors free of liens perfected under the state title law. That protection requires a title that neither lists the lien nor warns of unlisted liens. Buyers must give value, take possession, act in good faith without knowing of the lien, and not sell or lease that kind of property as a business. A later conflicting lien can gain priority when properly perfected after that title was created, without knowledge of the earlier lien.
Earlier boat rights keep transition protections
The law preserves rights and duties from valid boat or motor transactions, titles, and records made before January 1, 2028. Cases started before that date remain unaffected. Existing enforceable liens count as perfected under the updated law if they then had priority over a new lien creditor. Existing perfection continues until it ends under prior law or January 1, 2031, whichever comes first. Established priority remains protected for interests enforceable and perfected immediately before January 1, 2028.
Paid-off boat liens must clear promptly
Beginning January 1, 2028, recorded lenders generally must file a termination statement within 20 days after an owner's signed demand. No secured debt or lending commitment can remain. For boats or motors used or bought mainly for household purposes, the deadline is 30 days after that debt or commitment ends. Lenders must provide the statement to debtors who request it and return paper titles or supply replacement-title applications when needed. Filing ends the lien's perfection; lenders that fail to comply can owe covered losses and title-application costs.
Some watercraft avoid state title rules
Beginning January 1, 2028, amphibious vehicles with Texas or equivalent out-of-state vehicle titles need no vessel number or vessel title. State titles are also unnecessary for government watercraft, boats used solely as lifeboats, and vessels exempt under the specified numbering law. The title rules exclude federally or foreign-documented vessels, barges, boats under construction, and boats completed under contract before delivery. Outboard motors qualify for exclusion when at least 40 years old and no more than 25 horsepower. Seaplanes, commission-exempt watercraft, and mechanically controlled craft confined to permanent manufactured courses do not count as vessels. Neither do stationary floating structures without propulsion that depend on continuous shore utilities and a permanent shore sewage connection.
Boat inspections and numbers cost $25-plus
Beginning January 1, 2028, certain homemade-boat title applicants must pay for an inspection by a department game warden. This applies when ownership evidence includes a builder's affidavit, materials receipts, or similar proof. The fee is $25 or the commission's amount, whichever is greater. The same fee rule applies to specified identification-number applications for boats missing a manufacturer's hull number. It also covers boats or motors with altered, defaced, mutilated, or removed identification numbers.
Lenders can retitle boats after default
Beginning January 1, 2028, a recorded lender can file to transfer boat or motor ownership after borrower default. The lender must have the legal right to transfer ownership and exercise the required post-default remedies. It must submit the required transfer statement and pay applicable fees and state boat taxes. Unless the filing is lawfully rejected, the department must update records and, when the borrower is named on the title, issue a replacement title within 20 days after filing and payment.
Boat sellers face faster filing deadlines
Beginning January 1, 2028, licensed boat dealers, distributors, and manufacturers must file buyers' number or title paperwork within 20 days. This replaces the 45-day deadline. Manufacturers and dealers also have 20 days to apply for an outboard-motor buyer's title when selling outside those businesses. Buyers can use temporary vessel numbers for only 20 days after application, down from 45. Importers of new, unused boats or outboard motors for sale or trade count as manufacturers and face manufacturer rules.
More boat rentals face state rules
Beginning January 1, 2028, businesses that advertise or rent boats for payment fall under vessel-rental business rules. Recreational equipment timeshare businesses are included when they lease or rent boats for payment.
Boat lenders face updated lien rules
Beginning January 1, 2028, lenders generally must submit a compliant title application naming the lender and pay the fee to protect a lien against competing claims. Protection starts when the filing is delivered or the lien legally attaches, whichever is later. Assigning a lien generally preserves that protection without a new assignee filing, except for specified inventory, untitled barges, and construction interests. After federal vessel documentation ends, existing protection lasts until state perfection or four months, whichever comes first. Commercial-law rules also govern purchase-money liens, proceeds, priority, and interests perfected in another jurisdiction.
Boat owners face shorter transfer deadlines
Beginning January 1, 2028, new boat owners must apply for a vessel number within 20 days, down from 45. Title applications and fees are due within 20 days after purchase or transfer, or Texas becoming the main state of use, whichever is later. Texas is the main state of use when annual use on Texas waters exceeds use in any other state. Sellers must provide documents in time for buyers to register and get titles within 20 days, replacing 45 days. Electronic-title sellers must promptly sign and deliver a transfer record. Buyers can seek a court order requiring cooperation, but lenders need not help with transfers barred by the loan agreement.
Boat owners gain digital document options
Beginning January 1, 2028, boat operators can carry an original number certificate, a copy, or a department-provided electronic version aboard. When the department issues electronic titles, that is the default unless the recorded lender requests paper. Without a recorded lender, the owner can request paper. Switching formats cancels the prior title, and any paper title must be surrendered before an electronic title is issued. The department must record the cancellation time, send title records to owners and lenders, and set broader replacement-title rules.
Boat titles do not settle possession
Beginning January 1, 2028, a boat or motor title serves as initial evidence that its recorded information is accurate. Holding the title, or directing court action against it, does not itself decide who can possess the property. Valid liens remain enforceable even when the title does not list them. Titles and related records remain legally effective despite errors or missing information, subject to the commercial-law exception for misleading titles.
Boat titles gain details and deadlines
Beginning January 1, 2028, applicants must disclose known hull damage, prior title brands, transferor details, and prior title or registration jurisdictions. Previously federally documented boats need proof that documentation ended and evidence of ownership. The department must issue compliant titles within 20 days unless it rejects the application. Rejection and cancellation are limited to legal grounds, including inadequate proof or suspected fraud; documented and foreign-documented boats must be rejected. Titles must show owner and lender details, boat or motor identifiers, issue dates, brands and their jurisdictions, and recorded foreign history. They must flag additional recorded owners or liens and provide space to mark hull damage during transfer.
Heirs gain boat title transfer process
Beginning January 1, 2028, people gaining boat or motor ownership through death, family-law proceedings, bankruptcy, or other legal events can file a transfer statement. They must provide supporting records and pay applicable fees and taxes. Transfers outside death, family-law, merger, consolidation, dissolution, or bankruptcy cases also require proof of notice to recorded interest holders. Unless lawfully rejected, the department must update records and issue any required replacement title within 20 days after filing and payment. Existing recorded liens carry forward unless a court orders otherwise.
Missing boat lien releases gain workaround
Beginning January 1, 2028, applicants can seek a new title without a signed title or lien-release statement. They must provide an affidavit showing entitlement to release and proof of notice to recorded lienholders. At least 45 days must pass without objection, and the department must lack credible evidence of theft, fraud, or unresolved claims. For boats or motors worth $5,000 or more, the department can require a bond or equivalent security up to twice its assessed value. It must release that security on request if no indemnity claim arrives within one year after title issuance.
Boat records become searchable with privacy
Beginning January 1, 2028, the department must keep searchable boat and motor records covering filings, owners, lenders, brands, and known theft reports. Ownership records are public, but protected identifiers, Social Security and taxpayer numbers, phone numbers, and email addresses stay private. The commission can charge access fees; requested records must be available in a self-authenticating evidence format. The department must provide filing acknowledgments on request and share information with government agencies for safety, security, or law enforcement. It must retain ownership evidence on its records schedule and lien information for at least 10 years after a termination statement.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsors
Carol Alvarado
Democratic • Senate
Cody Vasut
House
Cosponsors
There are no cosponsors for this bill.
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 5/12/2025
Record vote
Yes: 26 • No: 4
House vote • 5/6/2025
Record vote
Yes: 123 • No: 24
Senate vote • 4/9/2025
Record vote
Yes: 26 • No: 4
Senate vote • 4/9/2025
Record vote
Yes: 26 • No: 4
Senate vote • 4/9/2025
Record vote
Yes: 26 • No: 4
Senate vote • 4/9/2025
Record vote
Yes: 26 • No: 4
Senate vote • Unknown
Committee vote: Water, Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Yes: 9 • No: 0
House vote • Unknown
Committee vote: Culture, Recreation & Tourism
Yes: 8 • No: 0
Actions Timeline
Effective on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (January 1, 2028)
5/27/2025HouseSigned by the Governor
5/27/2025HouseSent to the Governor
5/15/2025HouseSigned in the House
5/15/2025HouseSigned in the Senate
5/14/2025SenateReported enrolled
5/12/2025SenateSenate concurs in House amendment(s)-reported
5/12/2025HouseRecord vote
5/12/2025SenateSenate concurs in House amendment(s)
5/12/2025SenateRead
5/12/2025SenateHouse amendment(s) laid before the Senate
5/12/2025SenateHouse passage as amended reported
5/6/2025SenateStatement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
5/6/2025HouseRecord vote (RV#1493)
5/6/2025HousePassed
5/6/2025HouseRead 3rd time
5/6/2025HousePassed to 3rd reading as amended
5/5/2025HouseAmended (1-Vasut)
5/5/2025HouseRead 2nd time
5/5/2025HouseLaid out in lieu of companion (HB 4895)
5/5/2025HouseCommittee report sent to Calendars
4/30/2025HouseCommittee report distributed
4/29/2025HouseComte report filed with Committee Coordinator
4/29/2025HouseReported favorably w/o amendment(s)
4/24/2025HouseConsidered in formal meeting
4/24/2025House
Bill Text
Engrossed
Enrolled
House Committee Report
Introduced
Senate Committee Report
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