SB 2611 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the status of certain documents or instruments concerning real or personal property; creating the criminal offenses of real property theft and real property fraud and establishing a statute of limitations for those offenses; harmonizing other statute of limitations provisions; increasing a criminal penalty.

SB 2611 creates two new criminal offenses: "real property theft" (stealing homes, land, or buildings) and "real property fraud" (deceiving others to obtain property through false documents). It establishes a 10-year statute of limitations for prosecuting these crimes, meaning prosecutors must file charges within a decade of the offense. The bill also harmonizes existing statute of limitations for other property-related crimes and increases penalties for certain offenses. These changes directly affect individuals who commit real estate theft or fraud and law enforcement agencies handling such cases.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Mar 2025
Committee Review
May 2025
Senate Passage
May 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Mar 13, 2025 Last action May 27, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Engrossed · 5 edits · May 12, 2025
MODERATE
This bill substantially rewrites the statute of limitations for various criminal offenses, adding new categories like health care fraud and bigamy, while removing others like real estate fraud. It also adds new procedures for documenting real property theft judgments and mandates restitution for real estate theft, plus updates fraud definitions to better identify fraudulent documents.
Scope change
The bill significantly expands the scope of offenses covered by extended statutes of limitations and adds new procedural requirements for real property theft and fraud cases.
ELIGIBILITY

Added health care fraud and bigamy to the list of offenses with extended statutes of limitations, while removing real estate fraud from that list.

REQUIREMENT

Requires judgments for real property theft to clearly identify each parcel of property and file with county clerks.

Added new procedures for filing motions to challenge fraudulent liens against real or personal property.

ENFORCEMENT

Mandates restitution payments for real estate theft convictions to property owners or title companies.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of fraudulent documents to include liens filed by inmates and documents referenced in certain criminal judgments.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
36
Key actions
11
Committee
12
May 24, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report sent to Calendars
lower
May 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
Committee report distributed
lower
May 21, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
lower
May 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Left pending in committee
lower
May 20, 2025
Lower · Passed
Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
lower
May 14, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Jurisprudence
lower
May 14, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
lower
May 12, 2025
Introduced
Received from the Senate
lower
May 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
May 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee report printed and distributed
upper
May 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported favorably as substituted
upper
May 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
Vote taken in committee
upper
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Left pending in committee
upper
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Testimony taken in committee
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Committee
Referred to Criminal Justice
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Introduced
Read first time
upper
2 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors