2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · Senate bill

SB841

SB841 lets a qualified recipient of an assigned construction-payment claim become a beneficiary of the project’s construction trust funds, but only under specific payment, writing and notice safeguards.

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Official caption: Relating to the beneficiaries of trust funds paid or received in connection with an improvement on specific real property.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists Senate author(s): Hughes. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

SB841 lets a qualified recipient of an assigned construction-payment claim become a beneficiary of the project’s construction trust funds, but only under specific payment, writing and notice safeguards.
Existing law treats specified construction payments and secured construction-loan receipts as trust funds, with exceptions.
The assignment is unenforceable unless it is in writing, made no earlier than the date the recipient pays the beneficiary in good and sufficient funds for it, and separate from the beneficiary’s construction contract.
The bill changes beneficiary status and assignment conditions; it does not rewrite the existing rules on who holds trust funds, their misuse, defenses or penalties.

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What does it do?

Existing law treats specified construction payments and secured construction-loan receipts as trust funds, with exceptions. Workers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers who furnish work or materials are beneficiaries—people whose payment interests the trust protects. SB841 adds their qualified assignees: someone receiving the beneficiary’s interest in unpaid trust funds. It does not turn every unpaid invoice or every assignment into a protected construction-trust claim. Existing trust-fund rules; Prior beneficiary rule; Section 1.

The assignment is unenforceable unless it is in writing, made no earlier than the date the recipient pays the beneficiary in good and sufficient funds for it, and separate from the beneficiary’s construction contract. The recipient must already be a beneficiary, trustee or property owner under the construction or repair contract connected to the trust-fund payment. Written notice must reach both the property owner and the project contractor no later than seven days after the assignment. These are cumulative conditions, not alternatives. New Section 162.0031.

The bill changes beneficiary status and assignment conditions; it does not rewrite the existing rules on who holds trust funds, their misuse, defenses or penalties. Those rules still matter to any particular payment dispute. The act contains a September 1 effective date but no separate provision declaring how an earlier assignment is treated. All three sections; Trustees; Misuse and defenses.

What changed along the way?

The introduced bill, Senate committee report and engrossed text have the same operative provisions: adding assignees and requiring payment, a separate writing and a qualifying connection to the project. The House committee substitute expressly linked beneficiary status to a “qualified” assignee under the new section and added written notice to both owner and contractor within seven days. Those changes survive unchanged in enrollment.

All five versions were compared. The amendment index lists no separate floor amendments. The history’s House-amendment and Senate-concurrence entries reflect the changed House text; they do not establish an unlisted floor amendment. The Senate concurred May 22. Official history.

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

A project participant who pays for a qualifying beneficiary’s unpaid interest can obtain the corresponding trust-fund position. Beneficiaries may gain another way to transfer a claim for payment; owners and contractors get prompt notice of who now holds it. The writing, payment-first timing, project-connection and notice requirements also limit assignments and create paperwork. An assignment does not guarantee that money is available or that a disputed claim will succeed. Requirements.

Both fiscal notes were reviewed. The May 2 House-substitute note, which matches the final operative text, and the April 2 introduced note anticipate no significant state or local fiscal impact and assume any state costs can be absorbed with existing resources. They do not estimate private financing benefits, assignment prices or dispute costs.

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.