Using Land Trusts in Texas

General Real Estate Investing
1

Hello everyone.

I am new to this board and very happy to be associated with it. I live in Houston and recently bought a property in pre-foreclosure and put it in a land trust. The previous owner signed a ‘Land Trust Agreement’ and a ‘Warranty Deed to Trustee’ to a trustee of my choice. I have an ‘Assignment of Beneficial Interest’ agreement naming me as the the beneficial interest.

I have a pending sale on this property. Since I have never used a land trust before, who will the title company request to be at the closing? Is it the trustee, beneficiary, and buyer? Is recording the Warranty Deed to Trustee considered a taxable event? Also, will the title company request the land trust agreement or better yet, what forms do they need?

Last question, can anyone recommend local Houston title companies that are familiar with land trusts? Thank you for your responses.

2

I use Fidelity National Title in Dallas. Any large title company will be familiar with land trusts (or they can contact their Chicago office, where they originated) and the escrow agent will tell you who needs to be there; they are familiar with this process. Just explain it to them as you explained it here and they will do the rest.

3

I have heard about the use of land trusts, but don’t know anyone who has used one before. I’m not sure where to find out how to use them – where did you go to get (a) info, (b) forms?

4

There are several articles on land trusts at this web site under the articles section.

http://www.texasrealestateclub.com/articles.html

You can also check under the “Courses” section of this site for courses regarding the use of land trusts.

5

Thanks for the info.

I find that, while there is a bit of information on land trusts available, actual forms for creating/using them don’t appear to be available anywhere. Let me know If I’m violating bulletin board etiquette by asking, but is there some unwritten rule that no one will make them available, lest the people writing the books and giving the courses not be able to sell them anymore?

6

Mukris,

There’s no conspiracy about land trust doc’s. Land Trust doc’s are like any legal document in that they are state specific. Each state has it’s own laws regarding the use of land trusts.

I know people who have purchased a land trust course and then taken the doc’s to an attorney for the attorney to review. That person now has a considerable investment in those doc’s and probably won’t just give them away for free.

Hope this helps some.