HB4063

HB4063 creates a filing, notice and release process for a “unilateral memorandum of contract”: a document signed only by someone who is not the property owner, claiming a purchase contract, purchase option, first-refusal/first-offer right or right to match an offer. It applies to single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, quadruplexes and individually owned condominium units. Deeds and first-refusal rights granted in a condominium declaration are excluded. Signed June 20, 2025, the law took effect September 1, 2025. Final law · History

A person recording such a memorandum must give the county clerk a mailing address and a certificate of mailing. No later than the filing date, the person must send the memorandum and a notice letter by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the property address and the owner’s mailing addresses identified in the memorandum, property records or appraisal-district records. The act supplies a sworn certificate form requiring a copy of the letter and proof of mailing. Section 12.020(b), (h)

An owner who receives that notice or otherwise learns of the recorded memorandum may record a release affidavit stating the relevant facts and a mailing certificate. The owner must send the filed affidavit and notice letter by the specified registered/certified-mail method to the memorandum filer’s supplied address and the other referenced persons, excluding the owner. The act includes sworn forms; this is not permission to erase a disputed contract simply by making an unsupported statement. Section 12.020(c)–(d), (i)–(j)

The filer can record a contradicting affidavit no later than the 45th day after the owner’s mailing certificate was recorded, asserting that the owner’s affidavit/certificate is untrue or another reason the memorandum remains valid notice. Without that response, a qualifying good-faith purchaser, mortgage lender, successor or assignee may conclusively rely on the owner’s affidavit on and after the 45th day. Subject to these conditions, the memorandum no longer binds the protected purchaser/lender or clouds the transfer, and the claimant’s remedy to enforce the asserted rights is money damages. A timely contradicting affidavit prevents the stated release effect as to a purchaser or mortgagee acquiring from the owner. The law does not declare every underlying contract void. Section 12.020(e)–(g)

For a memorandum recorded on or after September 1, 2025 that fails the filer’s notice/recording requirements, a separate provision removes its notice and inquiry effects, protects purchasers and lenders for value even if they knew of the memorandum, allows transfer free of the asserted interests, and limits the stated enforcement remedy to money damages. That provision has its own filing-date limitation; it should not be described as automatically invalidating every older filing. Section 12.020(k)