Warning to Texas landowners: do not assume that permanent burdens on land require clean, surveyed, lawyer-drafted documents. A recent decision from the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio shows how vague access language can harden into a permanent roadway...
Texas Lis Pendens FAQ: What It Means, When It’s Allowed, and How to Remove It A lis pendens can shut down a Texas real estate deal overnight. It can block refinancing, derail a sale, and force disputes into court faster than most parties expect. It is not a...
If you co-own Texas land with someone who refuses to sell, refuses to cooperate, or refuses to do anything except argue, you are stuck until you force a decision. That is what a Texas partition lawsuit is for. It is the legal process that ends the stalemate by...
Texas Deeds and Property Conveyance Instrument FAQs This FAQ explains how deeds and other instruments transferring or affecting real property are recorded in Texas under Texas Property Code Chapter 11, including Section 11.001. If you buy, sell, inherit, or finance...
WHAT IS AN EASEMENT? An easement is a liberty, privilege, or advantage without profit granted to a person, either personally or by virtue of his ownership of a specified parcel of land, to use another parcel of land for a specific purpose. Daniel v. Fox, 917 S.W.2d...
In Texas, a prescriptive easement is one of the most common ways property owners end up in court over driveways, roads, and access routes. It is a claim that someone has earned a legal right to keep using part of your land, even though there is no written easement....
IMPORTANCE OF TEXAS LANDOWNERS' RIGHT TO EXCLUSIVE USE & ENJOYMENT OF THEIR OWN PROPERTY The Supreme Court of Texas has expressly acknowledged Texas' emphasis on one's right to exclusively use their own land: A property owner's right to exclusive enjoyment...
Texas is experiencing a major surge of large-scale data center announcements. The public conversation usually fixates on one headline number: a massive “state filing” with a nine-figure construction budget. Here is the reality. That “state filing” is vague and...
When Flood Control Floods Your Land: Why a Recent Federal Court Opinion Matters to Texas Landowners By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Landowners in Texas live with water in a way most Americans do not. Rivers, creeks, arroyos,...
Texas Take Note: The following water-related bills were passed by the 89th Texas Legislature and signed into law by Governor Abbott. They become law on September 1, 2025. Senate Bill 7 -- the major water infrastructure bill -- expands the scope of the Texas Water...
Proposed Texas Law Would Require New Disclosure Form to Record Real Estate Transfers By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer A new bill filed in the Texas House by Representative Holt —House Bill 285—could significantly change the...
New Law Changes the Rules for Real Estate Agents Representing Buyers in Texas By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Starting January 1, 2026, a new Texas law—Senate Bill 1968—will significantly change the way real estate agents...
On July 28, 2025 Rep. Cody Harris, the Palestine-based representative of Texas House District 8 filed four bills that collectively seek to invoke huge changes to the way that groundwater is permitted in Texas. The bills -- sequentially numbered HB 215, HB 216,...
What Is a Vara? Spanish and Mexican Land Measurements That Still Shape Texas Real Estate By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer In Texas real estate law, words matter—and so do measurements. If you've spent any time combing through...
Key Takeaways from the July 15, 2025 House Natural Resources Committee Hearing By Trey Wilson San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Why June 15, 2025 Matters On July 15, 2025, the Texas House Committee on Natural Resources convened in Austin for an...
Do Real Estate Brokers Have a Lien Right in Texas? By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer In Texas commercial real estate, unpaid broker commissions can lead to expensive disputes—and sometimes litigation. Fortunately, Chapter 62 of...
In recent years, deed fraud has become one of the fastest-growing forms of real estate crime in Texas. Bad actors forge signatures, falsify notary seals, and record fraudulent deeds with county clerks—quietly "stealing" land right out from under legitimate owners. And...
Understanding FEMA Flood Zones and What They Mean for Texas Landowners Flooding is both a natural disaster and a foreseeable legal problem. In Texas, where rapid urban development meets unpredictable weather, understanding how FEMA flood zones affect your property...
Taming the Untamable Rivers: How the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Built Central Texas’ Flood Control Lakes Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer For Central Texas landowners, rivers are both a blessing and a tremendous threat. The same...
What Happened to British-Owned Land After American Independence? By Trey Wilson, San Antonio Real Estate Attorney and Texas Water Lawyer Fourth of July Special Edition: One of the more fascinating—and often overlooked—chapters in American legal history is the...
About the Episode: Take a Deep Dive into a brand new Texas Supreme Court decision on the latest episode of my Podcast. This episode explores the Texas Supreme Court's June 27, 2025 OPINION in Cactus Water Services, LLC v. COG Operating, LLC (Supreme Court of Texas,...