PROPERTY CODE
CHAPTER 22. TRESPASS TO TRY TITLE
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§ 22.001. TRESPASS TO TRY TITLE. (a) A trespass to try
title action is the method of determining title to lands,
tenements, or other real property.
(b) The action of ejectment is not available in this state.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3509, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.002. TITLE SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN ACTION. A
headright certificate, land scrip, bounty warrant, or other
evidence of legal right to located and surveyed land is sufficient
title to maintain a trespass to try title action.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3509, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.003. FINAL JUDGMENT CONCLUSIVE. A final judgment
that establishes title or right to possession in an action to
recover real property is conclusive against the party from whom the
property is recovered and against a person claiming the property
through that party by a title that arises after the action is
initiated.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3509, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.004. EFFECT OF FORMER LAW. This chapter does not
affect rights that existed before the introduction of the common
law in this state. Those rights are defined by the principles of
the law in effect at the time the rights accrued.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3509, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
SUBCHAPTER B. JUDGMENT AND DAMAGES
§ 22.021. CLAIM FOR IMPROVEMENTS. (a) A defendant in a
trespass to try title action who is not the rightful owner of the
property, but who has possessed the property in good faith and made
permanent and valuable improvements to it, is either:
(1) entitled to recover the amount by which the
estimated value of the defendant's improvements exceeds the
estimated value of the defendant's use and occupation of and waste
or other injury to the property; or
(2) liable for the amount by which the value of the use
and occupation of and waste and other injury to the property exceeds
the value of the improvements and for costs.
(b) In estimating values of improvements or of use and
occupation:
(1) improvements are valued at the time of trial, but
only to the extent that the improvements increased the value of the
property; and
(2) use and occupation is valued for the time before
the date the action was filed that the defendant was in possession
of the property, but excluding the value resulting from the
improvements made by the defendant or those under whom the
defendant claims.
(c) The defendant who makes a claim for improvements must
plead:
(1) that the defendant and those under whom the
defendant claims have had good faith adverse possession of the
property in controversy for at least one year before the date the
action began;
(2) that they or the defendant made permanent and
valuable improvements to the property while in possession;
(3) the grounds for the claim;
(4) the identity of the improvements; and
(5) the value of each improvement.
(d) The defendant is not liable for damages under this
section for injuries or for the value of the use and occupation more
than two years before the date the action was filed, and the
defendant is not liable for damages or for the value of the use and
occupation in excess of the value of the improvements.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3509, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.022. WRIT OF POSSESSION. If in a trespass to try
title action the plaintiff obtains a judgment for the contested
property, but the defendant obtains a judgment for the value of the
defendant's improvements in excess of the defendant's liability for
use, occupation, and damages, the court may not issue a writ of
possession until the first anniversary of the judgment unless the
plaintiff pays to the clerk of the court for the benefit of the
defendant the amount of the judgment in favor of the defendant plus
interest.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3510, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.023. FAILURE TO PAY. (a) If after a trespass to
try title action a plaintiff does not pay a judgment awarded to a
defendant, plus accrued interest, before the first anniversary of
the judgment and if the defendant, before the sixth month after the
first anniversary of the judgment, pays the value of the property,
less the value of the defendant's improvements, to the clerk of the
court for the benefit of the plaintiff, the plaintiff may not obtain
a writ of possession or maintain any proceeding against the
defendant or the defendant's heirs or assigns for the property
awarded to the plaintiff in the trespass to try title action.
(b) If an eligible defendant does not exercise the option
under this section, a plaintiff may apply for a writ of possession
as in other cases.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3511, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.024. PAYMENTS INTO COURT. If a party in a trespass
to try title action makes a payment to the clerk of a court under
this subchapter, the clerk shall enter a dated memorandum of the
payment on the page of the record on which the judgment was entered.
The clerk shall pay the money on demand to the person entitled to
the payment, who shall indicate receipt of the payment by dating and
signing the record on the same page on which the judgment was
entered.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3511, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
SUBCHAPTER C. REMOVAL OF IMPROVEMENTS
§ 22.041. PLEA FOR REMOVAL OF IMPROVEMENTS. (a) A
defendant in a trespass to try title action who is not the rightful
owner of the property in controversy may remove improvements made
to the property if:
(1) the defendant, and those under whom the defendant
claims, possessed the property, and made permanent and valuable
improvements to it, without intent to defraud; and
(2) the improvements can be removed without
substantial and permanent damage to the property.
(b) The pleadings of a defendant who seeks to remove
improvements must contain:
(1) a statement that the defendant, and those under
whom the defendant claims, adversely possessed the property, and
made permanent and valuable improvements to it, without intent to
defraud;
(2) a statement identifying the improvements; and
(3) an offer to provide a surety bond in an amount and
conditioned as required by this section.
(c) Before removing the improvements, the defendant must
post a surety bond in an amount determined by the court, conditioned
on the removal of the improvements in a manner that substantially
restores the property to the condition it was in before the
improvements were made.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3511, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.042. REFEREE. A court that authorizes a defendant
in a trespass to try title action to remove improvements shall
appoint a referee to supervise the removal. The court may require
the referee to make reports to the court concerning the removal.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3512, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.043. RETAINED JURISDICTION. A court that
authorizes a defendant in a trespass to try title action to remove
improvements retains jurisdiction of the action until the court
makes a final disposition of the case and a final determination of
the rights, duties, and liabilities of the parties and sureties.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3512, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.044. CONDITION FOR REMOVAL. Before a court in a
trespass to try title action authorizes a defendant to remove
improvements, the court may require the defendant to satisfy a
money judgment in favor of the plaintiff that arises out of a claim
of the plaintiff in the action.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3512, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
§ 22.045. CUMULATIVE REMEDIES. The remedy of removing
improvements may be pleaded as an alternative to all other remedies
at law or in equity.
Acts 1983, 68th Leg., p. 3513, ch. 576, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1984.
