01
What happens if the title company will not accept the existing survey?
A Texas title company sets its own bar. Procedural Rule P-2 lets it accept an existing survey, whatever the age. The company has to be willing to take evidence of that survey plus an affidavit verifying it. The survey must also be acceptable to the company. When it is not, Paragraph 6C of TREC Form 20-19 sends the buyer to order a new one.
What a strong answer sounds like
A clear answer names the problem and the box. Something like: the examiner will not accept the old survey, so a new survey goes on the contract at the seller's expense. In Williamson County, buyers have been regaining leverage, so asking for the seller's box to be the one checked is a fair opening.
Red flag
A flat answer that the title company always wants a new one deserves a question. Rule P-2 says the company may accept an old survey. It also says the company may not require an indemnity from a seller, buyer, borrower or lender to provide area and boundary coverage. Ask what this company actually needs, in writing.
02
Will my lender require a new survey in Texas?
Paragraph 6C of TREC Form 20-19 sets two gatekeepers, not one. The survey must be made by a registered professional land surveyor acceptable to the title company and to the buyer's lender. A survey the title company would take can still fail with the lender. Paragraph 6C then sends the buyer to get a new survey.
What a strong answer sounds like
A loan officer who answers well points at the file. Something like: the underwriter wants a survey that shows the new fence and the shed, drawn by a registered professional land surveyor. Buyers should ask in the first week of the contract, not the last.
Red flag
A shrug and a line about the lender never asking is not an answer. Paragraph 6C names the lender separately from the title company, so silence proves nothing. A buyer who raises it the week of closing has no time left to order a survey, or to move the expense onto the other side.
03
What if nobody can sign the T-47 affidavit?
The T-47 affidavit is sworn before a notary and signed by an owner of the property. The affiant swears that nothing has changed since the date of the survey. That covers new structures, rooms, garages, swimming pools and decking. It also covers moved boundary fences or walls, construction on adjoining property, and new conveyances, replattings or easement grants. A seller who cannot swear to all of it cannot give the affidavit.
What a strong answer sounds like
A straight answer sounds like this: the seller put in a deck last summer, so the affidavit will not work and a new survey goes into Paragraph 6C. Form T-47.1 is the unsworn version and needs no notary. It asks for the same facts.
Red flag
Watch for pressure to sign the affidavit anyway. The form states that it is not made for the benefit of any other party. It is also not a warranty of where the improvements sit. A sworn statement that does not match the lot is not a shortcut, it is a second problem.
04
Should I pay to amend the area and boundary exception?
Schedule B item 2 of a Texas title policy excepts discrepancies, conflicts or shortages in area or boundary lines. It also excepts encroachments, protrusions and overlapping improvements. Amending that exception narrows it to shortages in area only. Rate Rule R-16 prices the amendment at $0 on a loan policy. On a residential owner's policy it is 5 percent of the basic premium rate, with a $20 minimum.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer ties the coverage to the survey. Something like: the company will amend the exception once it has a survey it accepts, and the charge shows on Schedule D. The company may not require an indemnity from the buyer, the seller, the borrower or the lender in exchange.
Red flag
A refusal with no reason behind it should prompt a question. Procedural Rule P-2 lets a company give area and boundary coverage off an existing survey plus a T-47 affidavit. If the answer is that the buyer has to sign an indemnity instead, that is not how the rule reads.
05
What if something has changed on the property since the last survey?
A survey shows the property as it stood the day it was drawn. A fence moved a few feet, a shed, a pool, a new deck or a wider driveway all put that drawing out of date. An easement granted on the land next door does the same. The T-47 affidavit asks about every one of those.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer walks the lot. The buyer compares the old drawing against what is standing now: the fence line, the shed, the pool, the driveway. Anything on the ground that is missing from the paper is a reason to order a new survey early.
Red flag
Treat a comment that it looks about right as a non-answer. Schedule B item 2 excepts encroachments and overlapping improvements from coverage unless the exception is amended. A buyer who closes on an out of date drawing can learn later that the shed or the driveway crosses a line nobody checked.
06
Does acreage in Williamson County need a new survey?
A plat is required for the division or development of land in the Georgetown city limits or the extraterritorial jurisdiction. Parcels being subdivided that stay over 5 acres do not need one, under Chapter 3.08.020 of the Unified Development Code. So a large tract can trade for years with no plat behind it. On that land the boundary comes from a survey or from guesswork.
What a strong answer sounds like
In Georgetown, Round Rock and Liberty Hill, where T. Kerr Property Group works, a good answer is specific about the land. Something like: the tract was never platted and the septic field sits near the east line, so the boundary gets drawn. Williamson County's Department of Infrastructure grants the Authorization to Construct before any septic system goes in.
Red flag
Be careful with the line that the neighbors know where the boundary runs. Property in unincorporated parts of the county still has to meet Williamson County subdivision regulations. Fence lines, gates and mowing patterns are habits, not boundaries. The buyer is the one who pays for the gap.
07
What is the title commitment telling me about the survey?
The title commitment comes before closing and the policy issues after. It is a contract to issue a policy on its terms and requirements, not an opinion or report of title. Schedule B holds the exceptions. Schedule C holds the requirements that have to be disposed of, to the company's satisfaction, before the policy issues. A survey named in Schedule C is a requirement.
What a strong answer sounds like
A good answer reads the schedules out loud. Something like: Schedule C asks for a survey and a T-47 affidavit, and Schedule B item 2 carries the area and boundary exception. Paragraph 6D of TREC Form 20-19 then gives the buyer 5 days after the cure period ends to terminate and take the earnest money back, or to waive the objections.
Red flag
A commitment nobody reads is the real risk. The commitment lists potential issues and does not guarantee that none exist now or later. A buyer who opens Schedule C on the day of closing has already run past the cure period and the 5 day window in Paragraph 6D.
This article is general information about the Central Texas market and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Statutes, rates, deadlines and district rules change. Confirm anything that affects a decision with a licensed attorney, a tax professional, the Williamson County Tax Assessor Collector or the Williamson Central Appraisal District before acting on it.
