CHAPTER 22. TRESPASS TO TRY TITLE
PROPERTY CODE
TITLE 4. ACTIONS AND REMEDIES
CHAPTER 22. TRESPASS TO TRY TITLE
SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
SUBCHAPTER B. JUDGMENT AND DAMAGES
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
SUBCHAPTER C. REMOVAL OF IMPROVEMENTS
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.
Sec. 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, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1,
1984.