Title CP, Civil Practice and Remedies Code

Sec. 16.004. FOUR-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) A person must bring suit on the following actions not later than four years after the day the cause of action accrues: (1) specific performance of a contract for the conveyance of real property; (2) penalty or damages on the penal cl…

Sec. 16.0045. LIMITATIONS PERIOD FOR CLAIMS ARISING FROM CERTAIN OFFENSES. (a) A person must bring suit for personal injury not later than 30 years after the day the cause of action accrues if the injury arises as a result of conduct that violates: (1) Section 22.011(a)(2), Penal…

Sec. 16.005. ACTION FOR CLOSING STREET OR ROAD. (a) A person must bring suit for any relief from the following acts not later than two years after the day the cause of action accrues: (1) the passage by a governing body of an incorporated city or town of an ordinance closing and …

Sec. 16.006. CARRIERS OF PROPERTY. (a) A carrier of property for compensation or hire must bring suit for the recovery of charges not later than three years after the day on which the cause of action accrues. (b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), a person must bring …

Sec. 16.007. RETURN OF EXECUTION. A person must bring suit against a sheriff or other officer or the surety of the sheriff or officer for failure to return an execution issued in the person's favor, not later than five years after the date on which the execution was returnable. A…

Sec. 16.008. ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, INTERIOR DESIGNERS, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS FURNISHING DESIGN, PLANNING, OR INSPECTION OF CONSTRUCTION OF IMPROVEMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1), a person must bring suit for damages for a claim listed in Subsection (b) again…

Sec. 16.009. PERSONS FURNISHING CONSTRUCTION OR REPAIR OF IMPROVEMENTS. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (a-1) or (a-2), a claimant must bring suit for damages for a claim listed in Subsection (b) against a person who constructs or repairs an improvement to real property not …

Sec. 16.010. MISAPPROPRIATION OF TRADE SECRETS. (a) A person must bring suit for misappropriation of trade secrets not later than three years after the misappropriation is discovered or by the exercise of reasonable diligence should have been discovered. (b) A misappropriation of…

Sec. 16.011. SURVEYORS. (a) A person must bring suit for damages arising from an injury or loss caused by an error in a survey conducted by a registered public surveyor or a licensed state land surveyor: (1) not later than 10 years after the date the survey is completed if the su…

Sec. 16.012. PRODUCTS LIABILITY. (a) In this section: (1) "Claimant," "seller," and "manufacturer" have the meanings assigned by Section 82.001. (2) "Products liability action" means any action against a manufacturer or seller for recovery of damages or other relief for harm alle…

Sec. 16.013. REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS AND APPRAISAL FIRMS. (a) In this section: (1) "Appraisal" has the meaning assigned by Section 1103.003, Occupations Code. (2) "Appraisal review" has the meaning assigned by Section 1104.003, Occupations Code. (3) "Real estate appraisal firm" me…

Sec. 16.021. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: (1) "Adverse possession" means an actual and visible appropriation of real property, commenced and continued under a claim of right that is inconsistent with and is hostile to the claim of another person. (2) "Color of title" means a …

Sec. 16.022. EFFECT OF DISABILITY. (a) For the purposes of this subchapter, a person is under a legal disability if the person is: (1) younger than 18 years of age, regardless of whether the person is married; (2) of unsound mind; or (3) serving in the United States Armed Forces …

Sec. 16.023. TACKING OF SUCCESSIVE INTERESTS. To satisfy a limitations period, peaceable and adverse possession does not need to continue in the same person, but there must be privity of estate between each holder and his successor. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sep…

Sec. 16.024. ADVERSE POSSESSION: THREE-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. A person must bring suit to recover real property held by another in peaceable and adverse possession under title or color of title not later than three years after the day the cause of action accrues. Acts 1985, 69t…

Sec. 16.025. ADVERSE POSSESSION: FIVE-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) A person must bring suit not later than five years after the day the cause of action accrues to recover real property held in peaceable and adverse possession by another who: (1) cultivates, uses, or enjoys the pr…

Sec. 16.026. ADVERSE POSSESSION: 10-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) A person must bring suit not later than 10 years after the day the cause of action accrues to recover real property held in peaceable and adverse possession by another who cultivates, uses, or enjoys the property. (…

Sec. 16.0265. ADVERSE POSSESSION BY COTENANT HEIR: 15-YEAR COMBINED LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) In this section, "cotenant heir" means one of two or more persons who simultaneously acquire identical, undivided ownership interests in, and rights to possession of, the same real propert…

Sec. 16.027. ADVERSE POSSESSION: 25-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD NOTWITHSTANDING DISABILITY. A person, regardless of whether the person is or has been under a legal disability, must bring suit not later than 25 years after the day the cause of action accrues to recover real property h…

Sec. 16.028. ADVERSE POSSESSION WITH RECORDED INSTRUMENT: 25-YEAR LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) A person, regardless of whether the person is or has been under a legal disability, may not maintain an action for the recovery of real property held for 25 years before the commencement of …

Sec. 16.029. EVIDENCE OF TITLE TO LAND BY LIMITATIONS. (a) In a suit involving title to real property that is not claimed by this state, it is prima facie evidence that the title to the property has passed from the person holding apparent record title to an opposing party if it i…

Sec. 16.030. TITLE THROUGH ADVERSE POSSESSION. (a) If an action for the recovery of real property is barred under this chapter, the person who holds the property in peaceable and adverse possession has full title, precluding all claims. (b) A person may not acquire through advers…

Sec. 16.031. ENCLOSED LAND. (a) A tract of land that is owned by one person and that is entirely surrounded by land owned, claimed, or fenced by another is not considered enclosed by a fence that encloses any part of the surrounding land. (b) Possession of the interior tract by t…

Sec. 16.032. ADJACENT LAND. Possession of land that belongs to another by a person owning or claiming 5,000 or more fenced acres that adjoin the land is not peaceable and adverse as described by Section 16.026 unless: (1) the land is separated from the adjacent enclosed tract by …

Sec. 16.033. TECHNICAL DEFECTS IN INSTRUMENT. (a) A person with a right of action for the recovery of real property or an interest in real property conveyed by an instrument with one of the following defects must bring suit not later than two years after the day the instrument wa…

Sec. 16.034. ATTORNEY'S FEES. (a) In a suit for the possession of real property between a person claiming under record title to the property and one claiming by adverse possession, if the prevailing party recovers possession of the property from a person unlawfully in actual poss…

Sec. 16.035. LIEN ON REAL PROPERTY. (a) A person must bring suit for the recovery of real property under a real property lien or the foreclosure of a real property lien not later than four years after the day the cause of action accrues. (b) A sale of real property under a power …

Sec. 16.036. EXTENSION OF REAL PROPERTY LIEN. (a) The party or parties primarily liable for a debt or obligation secured by a real property lien, as that term is defined in Section 16.035, may suspend the running of the four-year limitations period for real property liens through…

Sec. 16.037. EFFECT OF EXTENSION OF REAL PROPERTY LIEN ON THIRD PARTIES. An extension agreement is void as to a bona fide purchaser for value, a lienholder, or a lessee who deals with real property affected by a real property lien without actual notice of the agreement and before…

Sec. 16.038. RESCISSION OR WAIVER OF ACCELERATED MATURITY DATE. (a) If the maturity date of a series of notes or obligations or a note or obligation payable in installments is accelerated, and the accelerated maturity date is rescinded or waived in accordance with this section be…

Sec. 16.051. RESIDUAL LIMITATIONS PERIOD. Every action for which there is no express limitations period, except an action for the recovery of real property, must be brought not later than four years after the day the cause of action accrues. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1,…

Sec. 16.061. RIGHTS NOT BARRED. (a) A right of action of this state or a political subdivision of the state, including a county, an incorporated city or town, a navigation district, a municipal utility district, a port authority, an entity acting under Chapter 54, Transportation …

Sec. 16.062. EFFECT OF DEATH. (a) The death of a person against whom or in whose favor there may be a cause of action suspends the running of an applicable statute of limitations for 12 months after the death. (b) If an executor or administrator of a decedent's estate qualifies b…

Sec. 16.063. TEMPORARY ABSENCE FROM STATE. The absence from this state of a person against whom a cause of action may be maintained suspends the running of the applicable statute of limitations for the period of the person's absence. Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Se…

Sec. 16.064. EFFECT OF LACK OF JURISDICTION. (a) The period between the date of filing an action in a trial court and the date of a second filing of the same action in a different court suspends the running of the applicable statute of limitations for the period if: (1) because o…

Sec. 16.065. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF CLAIM. An acknowledgment of the justness of a claim that appears to be barred by limitations is not admissible in evidence to defeat the law of limitations if made after the time that the claim is due unless the acknowledgment is in writing and is s…

Sec. 16.066. ACTION ON FOREIGN JUDGMENT. (a) An action on a foreign judgment is barred in this state if the action is barred under the laws of the jurisdiction where rendered. (b) An action against a person who has resided in this state for 10 years prior to the action may not be…

Sec. 16.067. CLAIM INCURRED PRIOR TO ARRIVAL IN THIS STATE. (a) A person may not bring an action to recover a claim against a person who has moved to this state if the claim is barred by the law of limitations of the state or country from which the person came. (b) A person may n…

Sec. 16.068. AMENDED AND SUPPLEMENTAL PLEADINGS. If a filed pleading relates to a cause of action, cross action, counterclaim, or defense that is not subject to a plea of limitation when the pleading is filed, a subsequent amendment or supplement to the pleading that changes the …

Sec. 16.069. COUNTERCLAIM OR CROSS CLAIM. (a) If a counterclaim or cross claim arises out of the same transaction or occurrence that is the basis of an action, a party to the action may file the counterclaim or cross claim even though as a separate action it would be barred by li…

Sec. 16.070. CONTRACTUAL LIMITATIONS PERIOD. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a person may not enter a stipulation, contract, or agreement that purports to limit the time in which to bring suit on the stipulation, contract, or agreement to a period shorter than two years…

Sec. 16.071. NOTICE REQUIREMENTS. (a) A contract stipulation that requires a claimant to give notice of a claim for damages as a condition precedent to the right to sue on the contract is not valid unless the stipulation is reasonable. A stipulation that requires notification wit…

Sec. 16.072. SATURDAY, SUNDAY, OR HOLIDAY. If the last day of a limitations period under any statute of limitations falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, the period for filing suit is extended to include the next day that the county offices are open for business. Acts 1985, 69…

Sec. 16.073. APPLICABILITY OF LIMITATIONS PERIODS TO ARBITRATION. A claim that is sought to be arbitrated is subject to the same limitations period that would apply to the claim if the claim had been brought in court. Commencing an action asserting a claim by filing suit in a cou…