Is a Survey Required in Texas?

We often hear that Texas is a ‘survey state,’ meaning that a property survey is required to close a loan here. That’s not exactly true, but here is why there is a property survey in almost every Texas loan file:

If the title company has not reviewed and accepted a current property survey, it will include what’s called a ‘survey exception’ in the lender’s title policy, and the loan would then be ineligible for sale to most investors.

The ‘survey exception’ would appear in section B-2 of the lender’s title policy, and remove from title coverage any issues that would be disclosed on a current survey, like discrepancies on boundary lines, or encroachment, protrusions, or overlapping of improvements with adjoining property. 

If the title company reviews and accepts a survey, the exception in section B-2 of the lender’s title policy will read simply ‘shortages in area,’ which investors will accept. 

If there is no brand new survey being done for your loan transaction, title companies will often accept an older survey, as long as the owners can confirm that there have been no changes to the improvements since the date of the survey. 

This is done by the title company using a T-47 affidavit executed by the owner of the property, whether that is the seller or the borrower. An example of the T-47 affidavit can be found here.