Below is a summary of legislative accomplishments TAR prepared following the May 30 adjournment of the 79th Texas Legislature. Know that HAR’s and TAR’s volunteers and staff worked together throughout the session to protect private property rights and your profession. We thank TAR’s Legislative Management Team, Dennis Patillo, Lance Lacy, and Avis Wukash, for their tireless efforts. These accomplishments would only be pipedreams without the grassroots support of the House and Senate contact teams, participation in the April 12 Hill visits, prompt responses to the Calls for Action, and participation in state and local political programs such as the Legislative Liaison Program. In addition, since the beginning of the year, HAR’s Board Chair, Toni Nelson, has led the charge with her usual spunk and spirit, and on numerous occasions spoke on the importance of Realtors’ political involvement in TREPAC and the legislative process. We thank her for her many personal appearances to communicate the issues to members and for her political courage. More importantly, we thank our lawmakers who listened to our concerns!

Governor Perry signed into law the following HAR and TAR supported legislation:

 SB 574.  This legislation will have a major impact on REALTORS® engaged in commercial development and sales. The bill gives landowners much-needed protection from municipalities that attempt to take away their vested rights. Most important, the bill identifies “down zoning” as a vested right. Effective Sept. 1, 2005.

HB 809.  This bill exempts personal vehicles used to produce income from required rendition for ad valorem taxes. Effective Jan. 1, 2006.

HB 941. The purpose of HB 941 is to clarify that hoses are considered part of the definition of an appliance for the purpose of complying with Article 5.35-4 of the Insurance Code. Until this definition is enacted, properties and policyholders may continue to be stigmatized because of appliance-related claims. Effective Sept. 1, 2005.

HB 2565. The real estate and title industries have been bound by interpretations of Rule P-53 under the jurisdiction of the Texas Department of Insurance. These interpretations have raised a number of questions, including the ability of a title company to advertise at certain events and in certain media. This bill relating to title insurance rebates was amended to clarify that title companies may participate in local real estate industry trade associations as affiliate members, may purchase bona fide advertising in any media at market rates, and may deliver funds and documents to the parties to a closing as well as their representatives. Effective Sept. 1, 2005.

SB 810. This bill, also known as the TREC housekeeping bill, makes several amendments to the Real Estate License Act that should assist TREC in administering the act. Most notably, the bill clarifies issues surrounding a real estate broker’s duties to the client the broker represents when presenting offers and negotiating offers. The language in SB 810 clarifies existing law enacted decades ago by TREC that requires a broker under an exclusive relationship with a principal to negotiate the best possible transaction for the principal. The clarification is similar to the proposed minimum-service rule that has been pending before TREC. The bill clarifies that a broker must keep his client informed of material information, including any offer the broker receives. It also provides that the broker must present offers to and from the client and must answer the client’s questions. Effective Sept. 1, 2005.
Throughout the session, numerous proposals were debated regarding mandatory sales-price disclosure. TAR closely monitored all of these proposals for their impact on the real estate industry and how sales-price information could be kept confidential in the process. Ultimately, lawmakers rejected all of these proposals, and Texas will remain one of seven non-disclosure states.

The Texas Association of REALTORS® fought hard to ensure that fair and equitable legislation was enacted that protected the rights of private-property owners and the real estate industry. The association couldn’t have accomplished so much without your involvement.

A rule went into effect that could affect the way you handle information collected from consumers and clients. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act) requires individuals and businesses that possess consumer report information for business purposes to dispose of it properly. Starting June 1, 2005, you must dispose of documents like credit reports and insurance claims in a certain way. This rule applies to information already in your possession as well as information received after June 1. The intent behind this rule is to make sure you take “reasonable measures” to dispose of such information in a way that protects it from unauthorized access. While we support a substantial property-tax reduction, our top legislative priority during the 79th Regular Session was to strongly oppose any efforts to make up this loss in revenue with a real estate transfer tax or tax on real estate commissions. TAR lobbied hard to convince lawmakers that new taxes specifically targeting the real estate industry would have a devastating effect on our industry and the Texas economy. Ultimately, while both chambers could not agree on a school-finance plan, neither of their proposals included a real estate transfer tax, a tax on the service industry, a tax on commercial leases, or a professional licensing fee increase. All proposals were mentioned as possible revenue generators this session. 

Although much of the legislative session centered on school finance, there were other areas of concern that could have negatively impacted the way REALTORS® conduct business. TAR successfully opposed more than fifty bills that would have had a negative impact on property owners' rights and the real estate industry. For example, a TAR-opposed bill would have made it illegal to talk on a cell phone without a hands-free device while driving. Another would have allowed counties to zone unincorporated land, while another bill would have allowed mortgage bankers to prepare loan documents without using attorneys.

We will continue to keep you informed and involved during the Special Session which was called June 21. In the meantime, we encourage your participation in all NAR, TAR, and HAR grassroots political programs.


Minnette Boesel, Political Affairs Chair
Minnette Boesel Properties





Michael Levitin, Governmental Affairs Chair
ERA The Michael Group