Sec. 379H.155.  ACQUISITION OF FORECLOSED OR SEIZED PROPERTY.  (a)  In this section, "taxing unit" has the meaning assigned by Section 1.04, Tax Code.
(b)  A land bank may submit a written bid to acquire real property at a tax sale conducted in accordance with Section 34.01, Tax Code.  The bid:
(1)  must be in an amount not less than the amount calculated under Section 34.01(b), Tax Code; and
(2)  may be submitted in writing in advance of the auction or tendered in person at the auction.
(c)  If the bid submitted under Subsection (b) is the highest bid received at the sale, the land bank:
(1)  shall:
(A)  pay in cash the amount of the costs and expenses as described by Section 33.48, Tax Code, and any penalties described by Section 33.07 or 33.08, Tax Code; or
(B)  remit payment of the amounts described by Paragraph (A) to the selling officer by check or electronic funds transfer not later than the seventh calendar day after the date of the auction; and
(2)  is entitled to credit bid that portion of the bid amount consisting of the amount of the taxes, penalties, other than penalties described by Sections 33.07 and 33.08, Tax Code, and interest set forth in the judgment.
(d)  A taxing unit that is a party to a judgment of foreclosure for property sold at auction may request that the selling officer bid off the property to the taxing unit in the manner provided by Section 34.01(j), Tax Code, and, if the request is granted, the transfer to the taxing unit prevails over a bid by the land bank if the land bank's bid is the only bid sufficient to satisfy the minimum bid described by Section 34.01(j), Tax Code.
(e)  The aggregate amount of all credit bids in a calendar year shall be considered satisfied by the aggregate expenditure in that calendar year of an amount equal to or greater than the credit bid amount, which expenditures are attributable directly and indirectly to maintenance, rehabilitation, construction, demolition, and remediation activities.  As to any specific tract of property acquired by the credit bid and transferred by a land bank to a public entity described by Section 379H.158(a), the credit bid shall be considered satisfied by that transfer.
(f)  A land bank may submit a written request to a taxing unit at any time for the commencement of tax foreclosure proceedings for delinquent taxes on real property, other than residential real property legally owned and occupied.  A land bank may submit a written request to a taxing unit under this subsection for legally occupied residential real property only if the property is five or more years delinquent.
(g)  A request submitted under Subsection (f) must include a commitment to tender a bid in the amount specified under Subsection (b).  On receipt of the written request, the taxing unit, or the governmental office acting on behalf of the taxing unit, shall commence enforcement proceedings in accordance with Section 33.41, Tax Code.
(h)  If there is no private third party bid in an amount more than the bid of the land bank, the real property must be sold to the land bank.
(i)  A sale to a land bank under this section is not a sale to a taxing unit under Section 34.01(j) or (p) or 34.21, Tax Code.
(j)  A land bank may bid an amount higher than the amount calculated under Section 34.01(b), Tax Code, and if that higher bid amount is the highest successful bid, the land bank shall pay the full amount of the bid in cash.
(k)  The deed to a land bank vests good and perfect title in the land bank to the right, title, and interest owned by the defendants included in the foreclosure judgment, including the defendants' right to the use and possession of the property, subject only to the defendants' right of redemption, the terms of a recorded restrictive covenant running with the land that was recorded before January 1 of the year in which the tax lien on the property arose, a recorded lien that arose under that restrictive covenant that was not extinguished by the judgment foreclosing the tax lien, and each easement of record as of the date of the sale that was recorded before January 1 of the year the tax lien arose.
(l)  A sale of real property to a land bank under this section:
(1)  extinguishes each lien securing payment of the delinquent taxes, penalties, and interest against the property and included in the judgment; and
(2)  does not affect the personal liability of any person for those taxes, penalties, and interest included in the judgment that are not satisfied from the proceeds of the sale.
(m)  A municipality, and any taxing unit levying property taxes within the geographical jurisdiction of the municipality, may convey tax foreclosed real property owned by the municipality or the taxing unit to the land bank on terms and for an amount of consideration determined by the transferor and the land bank.
(n)  A bid submitted by a land bank in accordance with this section is considered a bid for the amount calculated under Section 34.01(b), Tax Code, and received under Section 34.01(j), Tax Code.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 780 (S.B. 1679), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.