Texas · Property Code §§5.251–5.259 (S.B. 17)Texas SB 17: the foreign ownership restriction on Texas real estate

Senate Bill 17 added subchapter H to chapter 5 of the Texas Property Code, effective September 1, 2025. It prohibits certain buyers from purchasing or otherwise acquiring an interest in Texas real property – residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural land, groundwater, minerals, timber and water rights. A 'designated country' is one the U.S. Director of National Intelligence identified as a national security risk in at least one of the three most recent Annual Threat Assessments, or one the governor designates. Covered are: a government of a designated country; companies headquartered in, controlled by, or majority-owned by such governments or covered individuals (or designated by the governor) and their majority-owned companies; and individuals who are domiciled in a designated country, citizens of a designated country living in a third country where they are not naturalized, citizens of a designated country unlawfully present in the U.S., agents of a designated country, or members of its ruling party. The law does not apply to U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents, to companies owned or controlled by them with no covered individual involved, or to leases under one year – and an individual domiciled in a designated country who is lawfully present and residing in the U.S. may buy a home to use as a residence homestead. A covered purchase is not void (except a leasehold), but the attorney general can sue to force a sale through a receiver; knowingly buying is a state jail felony for an individual, and a company faces a civil penalty of the greater of $250,000 or 50% of the property's market value.