Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: June 20, 2025
Compliance Deadline:Immediate. Legal teams must prioritize filing pending condemnation petitions before this date to avoid the new requirements. Operational tax workflows must be updated by Q3 2025 to segregate these assets.
Agency Rulemaking: None. This is a self-executing statute enforced through civil litigation. Do not expect clarifying guidance from the Comptroller or state agencies.
Immediate Action Plan
Audit Pending Filings: Immediately identify all condemnation petitions currently in preparation and file them before June 20, 2025, to lock in the previous regulatory regime.
Update Tax Software: Configure tax compliance systems to flag eminent domain parcels with a unique status code that prevents auto-archiving or payment deferrals.
Establish Intake Protocol: Designate a specific email or portal for "Tax Status Requests" to ensure they are not lost in general correspondence.
Review Insurance: Consult with brokers to determine if D&O or E&O policies cover economic loss resulting from "administrative negligence" leading to real property forfeiture.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Tax Vendor MSAs: Amend Master Service Agreements with third-party tax payment vendors. You must include indemnification clauses that cover the full replacement cost of the real property (not just penalties/interest) if their negligence triggers a repurchase right.
Joint Ventures: Update Operating Agreements for JVs holding condemned land. Explicitly define the "Tax Matters Partner" and assign strict liability for asset loss caused by tax delinquency.
Hiring/Training
Cross-Department Integration: The Tax Department and Right-of-Way (ROW) Department must integrate workflows. Tax staff must be trained to treat eminent domain parcels as "zero-tolerance" assets regarding payment delays.
Inquiry Response: Staff must be trained to identify and respond to "Statement of Tax Status" requests from former owners within statutory deadlines to prevent tolling of repurchase windows.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Heir Tracking: Establish a system to maintain contact information for previous owners, heirs, and assigns for a minimum of 10 years.
Mandatory Notices: Implement automated triggers to generate:
1.Statement of Tax Status: Required upon request (permitted annually starting 18 months post-acquisition).
2.Notice of Right to Repurchase: Required via certified mail within 180 days if taxes remain unpaid for three years.
Fees & Costs
Operational Costs: Low immediate fiscal impact.
Penalty Risk: Severe. The cost is the forfeiture of asset equity (e.g., selling a \$500k asset back for the original \$100k price).
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
"Good Faith Intention": The statute allows entities to declare a "good faith intention" to pay overdue taxes. It is legally undefined whether this declaration blocks the repurchase right or merely informs the owner. Expect litigation to determine if "intent" is a valid defense against forfeiture.
"Undeveloped" Status: The repurchase right applies to property that remains "undeveloped." The law does not define if subsurface infrastructure (pipelines) or cleared easements constitute "development" sufficient to block the repurchase right.
Successor Verification: The burden is on the entity to verify if a claimant is a legitimate "successor or assign." You may face repurchase demands from speculative investment firms who have purchased the "repurchase rights" from original owners.
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Under current state law, a governmental entity with eminent domain authority can acquire real property owned by a property owner for a public use, but a person from whom a real property interest is acquired by an entity through eminent domain is entitled to repurchase the property under certain conditions. Additionally, the bill author has informed the committee that some entities that use eminent domain authority to acquire real property that are required to pay property taxes fail to do so and that those taxes can remain delinquent for multiple years. H.B. 2011 seeks to entitle a former property owner to repurchase the property that was acquired by an entity through eminent domain if the acquiring entity fails to pay property taxes on the property for two years.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
H.B. 2011 amends the Property Code to entitle a person from whom a real property interest is acquired by an entity through eminent domain for a public use, or that person's heirs, successors, or assigns, to repurchase the property if the entity that acquired the property through eminent domain has an obligation to pay property taxes on the acquired property and has failed to pay any property taxes on the acquired property before the second anniversary of the date on which the unpaid taxes became due. Accordingly, the bill includes among the contents of the right of repurchase notice sent by a condemning entity to the previous property owner an applicable statement that property taxes owed by the entity are delinquent.
H.B. 2011 authorizes a property owner from whom real property was acquired by an entity that is responsible for paying property taxes on the acquired property, or the owner's heirs, successors, or assigns, to request at any time after the 18-month anniversary of the acquisition, but not more than once annually, that the condemning entity make a determination and provide a statement and other relevant information regarding the following:
·whether all property taxes on the acquired property have been paid; or
·if any property taxes on the acquired property have not been paid:
othe amount of the unpaid property taxes;
oeach due date of any unpaid property taxes; and
owhether the entity has a good faith intention to pay the unpaid property taxes.
H.B. 2011 authorizes a person entitled to repurchase real property due to a condemning entity's delinquent property taxes to inform the condemning entity of the person's intent to repurchase the property before notice describing the person's right to repurchase the property or information regarding the condemned property is required or provided under applicable state law or the bill's provisions.
H.B. 2011 applies only to a condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed on or after the bill's effective date and to any property condemned through the proceeding. A condemnation proceeding in which the petition is filed before the bill's effective date and any property condemned through the proceeding are governed by the law in effect immediately before the bill's effective date, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
Honorable Gary Gates, Chair, House Committee on Land & Resource Management
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2011 by Bell, Cecil (Relating to the right to repurchase from a condemning entity certain real property for which ad valorem taxes are delinquent.), As Introduced
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
It is assumed that any costs associated with the bill could be absorbed using existing resources.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
303 Facilities Commission, 305 General Land Office and Veterans' Land Board, 529 Health and Human Services Commission, 601 Department of Transportation, 696 Department of Criminal Justice, 710 Texas A&M University System Administrative and General Offices, 720 The University of Texas System Administration, 802 Parks and Wildlife Department
LBB Staff:
JMc, SZ, THO, NT
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HB2011 creates a severe asset forfeiture risk for private entities exercising eminent domain (utilities, pipelines, transmission providers). Effective June 20, 2025, if a condemning entity fails to pay ad valorem taxes on acquired property for three years, the original owner gains the statutory right to repurchase the asset at the original acquisition price, erasing all appreciation and development value. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: June 20, 2025 Compliance Deadline: Immediate.
Q
Who authored HB2011?
HB2011 was authored by Texas Representative Cecil Bell during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB2011 signed into law?
HB2011 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB2011?
HB2011 is enforced by Civil Courts (via lawsuits by previous owners) and Condemning Entities (Self-Compliance).
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB2011?
The compliance urgency for HB2011 is rated as "moderate". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB2011?
The cost impact of HB2011 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB2011 address?
HB2011 addresses topics including property interests, property interests--eminent domain, property interests--real property, taxation and taxation--property-assessment & collection.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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