Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 17.005 – Suit Against Unknown Landowner
(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.
Terms Used In Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 17.005
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). Source: OCC
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Plaintiff: The person who files the complaint in a civil lawsuit.
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005