TEEE ATTORNEY GENERAL 

OF-XAS 

AIWTIN, TEXAS V53711 

December 5, 1968 

Honorable Jerry Sadler 

Commissioner 

General Land Office 

Austin, Texas 78781 

Opinion Noi M-311 

Re: Whether Commissioner of 

General Land Office or 

Veterans' Land Board may 

reinstate forfeited purchase contract. 

Dear Mr. Sadler: 

In your recent request for opinion, you present the 

following fact situation and questions in regard to the 

operation of the Veterans'Land Board and its affairs. 

“It has been the general concensus of opinion 

in the past years, and it is currently the 

opinion of this office, that the administration 

of the Veterans Land Program is primarily the 

duty of the General Land Office and its employees. 

. . . . 

"The Board held a forfeited land sale on 

November 19, 1968, at 11:OO A.M. here in the 

General Land Office following the provisions of 

Article 5421m. Just prior to the sale, but subsequent to the time that the Board met and ordered 

tracts to be advertised for resale, one of the 

original veteran purchasers , whose tract was forfeited 

in accordance with Article 542lm, and whose tract was 

ordered advertised for resale in accordance with 

Article 542lm, asked the Commissioner of the General 

Land Office to accept payment in full of the original 

contract and to furnish him with a paid-in-full deed. 

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. 

Hon. Jerry Sadler, page 2 (M-311 ) 

The Commissioner of the General Land Office 

refused to accept payment in full; however, the 

Veterans Land Board, having some question in their 

mind, would like for your office to inform us of 

the lecal riahts of the Commissioner to reinstate 

the contract referred to above. If you conclude that 

the contract of sale cannot be reinstated after it 

has been forfeited and ordered advertised for resale, 

can the original veteran tender the full payment 

due under the contract and receive a paid-in-full 

deed after he has lost all ri 'ghts to reinstate his 

contract?" (Emphasis supplied to question.) 

Article III, Section 49b of the Texas Constitution 

part as follows: 

provides in 

"The Commissioner of the General Land Office 

shall act as Chairman of the Board and shall 

be the administrator of the Veterans' Land 

Program under such terms and restrictions as 

._-. _ . 

are now or may hereafter be prOViaea by law." 

Section 2 of Article 5421m, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides 

in part that: 

"The Commissioner of the General Land Office 

shall be Chairman of the Board and Administrator 

of the Veterans' Land Program . . . and shall 

.- Perform ~~~ ~~~ all duties and functions of the Board 

prescribed by law, except those prescribed in 

section 2(A) hereof, which shall be performed 

by the Veterans' Land Board as constituted. 

(Emphasis supplied) 

Said Section 2(A), above referred to provides in part that: 

"The duties of the Veterans' Land Board . . . shall 

e... 0 provide for the forfeiture of contracts 

of sale and purchase and the resale of forfeited 

rand; and to formulate such policies, rules and 

regulations as may be necessary, not in conflict 

with the provisions of law, to insure the proper 

administration of the law and to carry out the 

intent and purposes thereof." (Emphasis supplied) 

Section 19 of Article 542lm, provides in part that: 

"In any case where the sale has been forfeited and 

title to the land revested in the Veterans' Land 

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Hon. Jerry Sadler, page 3 (M-311 ) 

Fund, the original purchaser or his vendee shall 

have the right to reinstate the purchase contract 

at any time prior to the date on which the Board 

shall have met and ordered the said lands to be 

advertised for resale, or for lease for mineral 

development but not thereafter." 

In answer to your question as presented, it is the opinion 

of this office that the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 

as Administrator of the Veterans' Land Program, is without 

authority to reinstate a purchase contract after it has been 

forfeited and ordered advertised for resale; and further, that 

once the contract has been forfeited and the land ordered advertised for resale, the original veteran may not, in the 

absence of further action on the part of the Veterans' Land 

Board as hereinafter set out, tender the full payment due 

under the contract and "receive a paid-in-full deed," for 

to so allow would require a prior reinstating of the contract, 

which is prohibited. 

It must be pointed out, however, that the above answers are 

directed, and limited, to the Commissioner of the General Land 

Office as statutory administrator of the Veteran's Land 

Program and are predicated upon the premise that the contract 

has been forfeited with no subsequent action by the Veterans' 

Land Board as hereinafter described. Forfeiture provisions in 

statutes are strictly construed, not favored, and will be 

interpreted where possible to prevent, rather to cause, a 

forfeiture. 25 Tex. Jur.Zd 511, Forfeitures, Sec. 10; also 

p. 502, Sec. 3, declaring forfeitures to be a harsh remedy 

disfavored both at law and in equity. 

There appears to be no reason why the forfeiture provisions 

of a contract between the Veterans' Land Board and a veteran 

purchaser would not be subject to the same rules in regard 

to their enforcement, waiver and setting aside as would a like 

contract between two individuals, as such rules are set out 

in the case of Stevenson v. Lohman, 218 S.W.Zd 311, 314 (Tex. 

Civ.App. 1949, error ref.) to wit: 

We agree with appellant that the courts do 

not favor forfeiture and when proper equities are 

shown to exist equity will intervene and will deny 

unjust enforcement of the naked legal right to a forfeiture. On the other hand, when parties enter into a 

contract providing that either should forfeit his 

rights thereunder upon default in any of the material 

provisions, thereof, it then becomes the burden of 

the party resisting such forfeiture to plead and prove 

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Hon. Jerry Sadler, page 4 (M-311 ) 

such facts as would justify a court of equity 

in preventing his adversary from doing that which 

otherwise, under the law, he has a right to do, but 

in equity and good conscience he should not be 

permitted to do." 

Section 19 of Article 542l.m provides certain prerequisites 

to the declaring of a forfeiture by the Veterans' Land Board. 

Automatic forfeiture is not specified, but forfeiture operates 

at the discretion of the Board. 

Section 21 of Article 542lm, provides in part that: "The 

Board is hereby made the sole judge of forfeiture of aTcontract under this Act, and anyone availing himself of the provisions of this Act shall by so doing agree to abide by the 

same . .." (Emphasis supplied) No specific time limit is 

placed upon the Board within which it can make. such determination. 

Section 17 of Article 5421m provides in part that 'I... in any 

individual case, the Board may, for good cause, postpone from 

time to time, upon such terms as the Board may deem proper, the 

payment of the whole or any part of any installment of the 

selling price or interest thereon." No specific time limitation 

is placed upon the Board within which it can make such decision 

to postpone such payment. When forfeitures are intended to 

take place automatically, the time should be definitely fixed. 

25 Tex.Jur.2d 517, Sec. 17, Forfeitures. 

It would therefore appear that upon sufficient showing to the 

Board that in equity and good conscience the contract should 

not be finally forfeited, the Board, being the "sole judge of 

forfeiture", and not having lost administrative jurisdiction 

of the forfeiture action, may by majority vote determine that 

there has in fact been no forfeiture and annul its purported 

forfeiture, thus in effect reinstating the contract. It would 

further appear that for "good cause" the Board by majority vote 

may postpone the due date of the delinquent payments, thus 

rescinding the purported forfeiture and reinstating the contract. There being no specific limitation of time within which 

the Board may take either such action, and any subsequent bidder 

having agreed to "abide by the same", it is the opinion of 

this office that even though the Board has theretofore met and 

ordered said lands to be advertised for resale, either of such 

actions may be taken by the Board and the contract reinstated 

at any time, at least until the Board has accepted a subsequent 

bid for resale and the rights of third parties have vested. 

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. 

Hon. Jerry Sadler, page 5 (M-311 ) 

SUMMARY 

The Commissionerod the General Land 

Office, as Administrator of the Veterans' 

Land Program, is without authority to 

accept delinquent payments and reinstate 

a purchase contract after the same has been 

forfeited and the Veterans Land Board shall 

have met and ordered the lands to be advertised for resale: but the Veterans' Land 

Board may do so at any time, at least until it 

has acceoted the bid of a subsecuent DUrChaSer 

and the kghts of third parties-have tested. 

Prepared by Harold G. Kennedy u 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

2-@ s very truly, 

&&,&&. &pzdr..~,., 

RA ORDC.MARTIN 

rney General of Texas 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

Jerry Roberts 

David Longoria 

Fielding Early 

Bob Flowers 

A. J. CARUBBI, JR. 

Executive Assistant 

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