I 

688 

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

GROVER SELLERS 

AI-W~)NIY GINEIIAL 

Honorable Alrrad Y. Olydr 

Dlstrlot Attorney 

Fort Worth, Texas 

Dear Sir; Opinion No. O-n52 

Rer Right of rorrlgn corporation, 

the mjOrlty of the Capital 

1% are In racslp 

requesting our opinion on 

States and 

Texas corporaor a number of 

srpratatlon o? Title 5 

utss of Texas as applied 

s ws undsrstand It, Article 

Title 5 does not apply to parcels of land owned by 

aliens In any Incorporated city. 

We will appreciate very much If you will 

review the mattar In tis light of these facts and 
689 

itinorsble dlrred 4 Clyde, Page 2 

confilm that if the prospectltr purchaser 

aoqulrss oontrol of the Texas oorporatlon, as 

aroresald, then in your opinion, the real 

estate in the incorporated city Is not subjeot 

to ?oreolorure or reoheat,* 

Thle department in Oplulon No. 0.3911, oopy of 

wbloh la herewith enclosed, has Interpreted Artlolr 167, 

Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statater that lots or parcels 0r 

land owned by allehs in any Incorporated town or olty was 

an sxorptlon to the prohibition oontained in Artlola 166, 

V .A. C.S., wherein alieua are prohibited ?ran owing land 

In Texas. 

The law relative to the mattrr In question Is 

contained in Title 5, V.A.C.S. (S.B. No. 142, Ch. 134, 

37th Leg. R.S. p. 261). J.neatnuch as the oourtr have not 

passed upon the question, It Is neoraaary to arrive at 

the leglslatlve Intent by construing the language used 

In the whole act. For that resson we are quotlhg same ln 

full. : 

“Seotlon 1. That Title 3 o? the Revised 

civil Statutes or the Stete of Tsxaa, 1911,and 

all amendments thereto be amended so as to 

hereaiter read as follows: 

*Artiole 15. No alien or person who la 

not a oltlzen of the IInlted States shall (Loquim title to or own any lands in the State 

or Texas, ot acquire any leasehold or other 

interest in such lands, except as herslnarter 

provided; but he shall have and rajoy in the 

Stats of Texas such rights as to personal 

property as are or shall be ecoorded to oltlzans 

o? the United States by the laws o? the natlon 

to which suoh alien shall belong, or by the 

treaties of such notlon with the Enlted States, 

except as the aarm may be affected by the provlslonu of this title and the Gez.eral Laws of 

the State. 

“Article 16. ‘This title shall not apply 

to any land uow owned In this state by elIenS, 
650 

Ilonorable .\lfrad Y. Clyde, Faa,r 3 

not acquired ln violation of any law of 

this 3tot4, a0 long as It la held by the 

present owners; nor to lot8 or parcels o? land 

owned by all4na In any lnoorporatrd tonn or 

oitp or this sixt0, nor to the r0ii0tin8 

class44 of allegs, who are, or who ohall become, bona fide inhabitants of this State, SO long 

as they ahall oontlnur to be suoh bona fide hhabitants of the State of Tsxasr 

"(1) Aliens who were bona ?idr inhabltanta 

of this State 0n tha date on whloh this Aot 

beccmee a Law. 

"~(2). Al.leAs rll&ible t0'0itlzeAehlp in 

the Urltse States who shsll become bona ?ldo 

hhabitants of this State, and who shall, IA 

coniormlty with tha natursllzatlon laws of 

the Unltad States, hays deolarrd their intsntlon to become oltierns of the United Statss. 

"(3) Aliens who are natural born eltlzsna 

of nations mhloh have a c0omman land boundary 

with the United Statsa, 

"(4) Aliens who are citlzrne or subjects 

of a nation which now perzlts Amarlcan oitlzens 

t0 0x7~ land In r44 In suoh oountryg and any 

resident aJ.leA who shall aoquire land uAder 

the provlelons or thia article aball haos '18 

years after he shall cease to be a bona ?I r o 

Inhabitant of this Stats in which to alienate 

said laAd. 

'?hrtlola 17. Tha provisiona of t&is title 

shall not prerant alien8 from aoqulrlng lends, 

or any lnterevt ti~e;'ain, in the ordinary course 

or justloe In the colleotlon of debts; Aor from 

acquiring lions upon real astate, or any interest 

therein; oar from lending money and sscuri~g the 

sam4 upon real estate, or any Interest therein; 

nor from anrorairi any such lien; nor fro0 eop,uirlrg and holding title to suoh real estate, 

or any interest thereln, upon which: a lien my 
. . Iionor:~ble .*lirad .a. Clyde, -%ga 4 

have heretofore or may herrafter ba fired, 

or upon whloh a loen of oronay my have bean 

heretofore or haraaitar may ba mada and mowed. 

“Art1010 18. All allana, prohibited 

from owning land in this State under the proviaions Of this title, who shall haraattar 

ooqulra real estate In Taxaa by davlar, descant, 

or by purohaaa ar permitted by thlr tltla, amg 

hold mea ror rive yaarr; and it auoh alian Is 

a minor, ha my hold sane ror rive ~asre after 

attalnlng hi8 majority, or It of unsound mind, 

ror rive years after the appointment or a legal 

guardian. 

“Art1010 19. Any alien who shall hereafter 

hold lands In Texas, in oontravaatlon or the 

provisions or this title, my, nevertheless, 

convey the rea simple tltla thereof at any time 

barora the InatltutlOn of aaohaat proceedings 

as haralnafter provided; provided, however, 

that ii any euoh oonveyanoa ahall be mda by 

such alien either to an alien or to a citizen 

or the United Stetes, In trust, and ror the 

purpoea and with the intention or evading the 

provisions of this title, auoh oonvayanoa shall 

be null and void; and any suoh land 80 oonvayad 

shall be rorraltad and aaohaatad to the Stota 

absolutely. 

*Artiola 20. It shall be the duty of the 

Attorney General, or the dletrlot or oounty 

attorney, when he shall be Informed, or have 

reason to believe that lands In the State are being 

held oontrarp to the provlslona of this title, 

to institute euit In behalf or the State or 

Texas in the dlstriot oourt of the county where 

suo:i lands sra altuated, praying ror tha aeohaat 

or the same on bahalt or the 3tate, as In oass 

or estates of persons dying without devise thareof and having no hairs. 

“lirtlole 21(a). Xo alien shall aver be 

appointed or For;llittad to quality as guardian of 

the estate of any nlnor or parson of unsound 

.-lind, or as exaoutor or admfnlstrator of the 
.lor.orabla ilrrad L.4. Clyde, Fags 5 

estate of shy daoadant In this state, uhleas 

ha la pernitted to own land under the prorlslono 

or this title. 

nArtlola 21(o). Iand owned in trust, either 

by an alien or by a oitlaan of the United 

States, for tha beneficial uaa or ehy alien or 

allene, or any corporation prohibited from 

owning land In thla State under the provl~1on.a 

or thie title, ahall be aubjaot to ~orfaitura 

aa though the legal title tharato WUII in such 

alien or oorpora tlon. 

alsrtiole 21(d), All aliens now ownlog 

landa In the State of Texas, ahall on or bafom the 1st day or January 1923 ii18 a written 

report under oath, with the Clark of the County 

Court Or the County in whloh s~oh land is 

located, giving the name, age, oooupatlon, 

personal desoription, place of birth, laaet 

foreign rasidanoe and ailaglanoe, the data and 

place or arrival or said alien In the United 

Statea, and his or har present raaldanua and Post 

Mrlor addraas, and the length or time of residence 

in the State or Texan, the fOr@ign prinO@, pOtentate, 

state:or aovaraignty, of whioh the alien may be at 

the time be a oltlzan or eubjaot, and the number 

or aoras or land owned by suoh allan in enoh 

oounty, the nana and number of the survey, the 

abstraot and oertirioata number, the nama Or 

the parson or parsons, froa when aoqulrod, the 

data when aoquirad, and ehall either deeorlba 

said land by matea and bounds, or radar to 

rooordad dead in whioh same is 130 daeorlbed, 

which report shall be known aa ‘i?lJPCRT OF ALIZN 

G;.XXISHIIF . ’ Irovidad further, that all aliens 
Eonorable Alfred -I. Clyde, yega 6 

heraarter purchasing, or ln any amnnar aoqulring lands looatod in Taxao, ahall within 

six sontha after such purohasa, or acquisition, 

file nlth the County Clark or the County in 

whioh such land Is looatad, a ‘Report oi Allen 

(Rnarshlp,* in tan8 as abovu required. 

“.%ny alien who may now own land l.n Taxaa, 

or who may haraaitar aoqulra any lands ti Toxaa, 

by purohasa or othsrwiaa, who does not, 

wlthln the tlma praeorlbad in thlr Artlolr, 

file tha raporta hanin provided for, shall be 

subjeot to haw suoh land rorraftad and eacheated to tha State or Taxaa. The reports 

heraln aoqulrad shall when the allan Is a minor 

or fosana &arson, be A3za 

guardian of euoh alien. 

d’ by the parent or 

It shall be the duty 

or tha Clerk of the County Court ot aeoh county 

to file and raoord the reports above provided 

ror In a eaparate Yoluna, to be entitled, *RZCCRD 

OF ALIE OWriRD LANDS, I for 8aid oounty, whloh 

reoord ehall be alphabetloa~ly indexed. The 

recording iaae ror raoordlng auoh report6 ehall 

be paid by the alien owner. 

UsaO. 2. All law6 and parta or lawa ~ln 

confllot herewith are hereby exprssely rapaalad. 

“Sao. 3. The rsot that aliens who do not 

propose becomlng oltizanr of the Unltad States 

are now attempting to acquira title to large 

bodies or fertile land in this State ‘orsates 

an anergmoy and an tiparatlva pub110 naoeeslty 

that this bill shall and it hereby dose take 

arreat.fTom and after its pesaaga, and it is 60 

anaoted. * (3mphasi.s added) 

A careful study or the whole eOt makes it clear 

that the X,agialotura by 1ncorForating Art. 21(b), whloh wa have 

undereoorad, did 80 tar the 8010 purpoae of preventing an 

alien fron doing lndireotly, (that is by incorporating), 

from doiu what he is prohibited from doing directly. As 

bald in our opinion Xc. C-3911, an alien my aoqulre and 

hold title to real estate looated within the corporate 
,c.nor,blo \lfrad ‘1. Clyde, !WO 7 

liialts or towns. 

suprn 1. 

(&oh exemption ir oontalrmd In AH. 16, 

Then, labor in mid l ot l ppaara Art. 2lU(b) whloh 

7-n requok: 

“Irtiola 21(b). 

saloritiy 

38 rorporotlon In whloh the 

or ~aoa~Ital abook is le.zallv or 

as thowh owned b+ a ion-rmsldant, l .llan.* 

ii.cmphgPa addad). 

Lt la oleor to ua that the phrase *owned by allaru 

-ro!iibItsd by law from cwnla~ land In 2ha stats of Taxam”, 

~;33;ia that ii the allass who own or omtrol the ntook of 

zuoh oot:.msClon are prohlbltad Zrolp OHnloF, thti RU, eatak 

.:a quastlon, then the corporation they aontrol la like- 

-::isa rrohlbltad. The above oonatmotion neoraa~~rlly iollowa 

: n that alien8 are no,% grohlblted ,froui ownSng real $roparty 

in 1morpor.s tad toma. &id Artlola pmvl~!rs that land 

:-mad by 3 mrporstlon In which the xajorlty or the oapltal 

4ocr: is zuunad by alIens Wo&11 be subieot tq~iaaohaat under 1. ‘. ;.,,e Trovlalona 03 tkle title, 3s thou& ov;a@ ~br a mmn 12 suoh a oorpora tlon owns aand in an inown cuk IO k. l eoheatad? 4fa think not, rot the 

400 aaya it ehall be aschestud “a8 thQwh owned by a non- 

;-;lyJ me+. * iI owned by II non-rsaldant alien it eane asehan ad, a8 the low r~naalp glvsa to a non-raaldant 

allan thr right io own auoh laniir In krborporatad towna. 

It is also ai@!Ifloant to note that In the o&tIcatlon or cuf atctataa In 1925, the abow Artlale 21(d) was 

changed so 81 to ‘m UC-% ziot 0~4 rllana, but also slim ooz- 

;:oratlons to ako wr P ttaa ragorta undar oath to thn County 

Clark, and groriding that dlleri oorporatfoaa aa wall Pa aliens . 

;vho OIYL~ land In Taxno or wku sy haradttar eoqui.28 any land in 

hxaa, wP& do not r1l.a such raportr shall be eubJeot to here 

3uoii load forfeited n7.d aachautad to the 3tat-a 0r Texas. SUOh 

.xtiaie 21(d) in 110~ oodiiiad as .ztlola 176, ?..;.C.S. 

It is, tkerafora, tLe o!;inlon of this drpartaent 

tl;irt a oorrcrufion in ~&lot: t:;a nujorlty of tha capital 

,togi 1~ le;.+lly sr equitably owned by uliar;e my acquire 

;lcd C:Y:X lots or :~aroalt) OS land in any inc.orForuted oity Or 

:3wa in t:tiQ .Xzta. It ;leosser?ly lo?-lows that euch lands 

~xnnot be ewzheated.