Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 17.005 · Subchapter A. PARTIES TO SUIT
SUIT AGAINST UNKNOWN LANDOWNER.
Text — Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
(a) A person may sue the unknown owner or claimant of an interest in land if:
(1) the person bringing suit claims ownership of an interest in the land or has a claim or cause of action related to the land against the unknown owner or claimant; and
(2) the unknown owner or claimant:
(A) takes or holds the beneficial interest under a conveyance, lease, or written contract that conveyed an interest in the land to a trustee without disclosing the name of the owner of the beneficial interest; or
(B) takes or holds the interest of a dissolved association, joint-stock company, partnership, or other organization under an instrument that did not disclose his name, and the organization had acquired the interest under a conveyance, lease, or written contract that conveyed the interest to the organization in its name without disclosing the names of the members, shareholders, partners, or other persons owning an interest in the organization.
(b) A person may not sue the unknown stockholders of a corporation under this section, but if the plaintiff did not know that the organization was incorporated and the corporate character of the organization was not disclosed in the instrument under which title was acquired, the court retains jurisdiction over the unknown owners even if the organization was in fact incorporated.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Acts 1985, 69th Leg., ch. 959, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1985.
Source of truth
- Edition
- Current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025
- Official file
- https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CP/htm/CP.17.htm
- Text hash
- sha256 f6a2892ce37060d264b0a67f16e80a32246ef42ca0ca94b9f23409b72ad52e39
- Composed by
- compose_tx.py 2026-10-05: the Legislative Council's chapter files read in document order; verify_tx.py's independent reading (lxml DOM walk) agrees character for character
Cited by 2 provisions
Provisions in this library whose text cites Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 17.005. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.
Texas Rules of Civil Procedure
- Tex. R. Civ. P. 112PARTIES TO ACTIONS AGAINST UNKNOWN OWNERS OR CLAIMANTS OF INTEREST IN LANDPrinted as Section 17.005, Civil Practice and Remedies Code
- Tex. R. Civ. P. 113CITATION BY PUBLICATION IN ACTIONS AGAINST UNKNOWN OWNERS OR CLAIMANTS OF INTEREST IN LANDPrinted as Section 17.005, Civil Practice and Remedies Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.