Case Information
*1 . . - . . OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN ’
Honorable Llnton S. Savage
title either legal or equitable in or to any
lands in the State of Texas, exoept as herein-
after pr0viaea.n .
Article 167. "This tit18 shall not apply
. to any land now owned in this State by aliens, . *2 1 *. .._.
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not acquired in violation of any laws of this State, ao long as it is held by the present owners; nor to lots or par&e18 of land owned by aliens in any%noor- : poratea town'or city of this State, nor the follow-
lng classes of aliens, who are, or who shall beoome bona rid8 inhabitants of this State, so long as they shall continue to be bonn fide inhabitants of this State:
"1. Aiiens who were bone'fide inhabitants of this Stat8 on the date on which this Act beoomes a law. Aliens eli.gible to citizenship in the United “2.
States who shall become bona fide inhabitants of this State, and who shall, in conformity with the naturali- zation la?3 of the tlnited States, have declared their $ntention to beoome oitizens ofthe United States. .I.
“3. Aliens who'are natural born Oitiz8nS'of na-
tions whioh have a oomnon land boundary with the
United States,.
"4. Ali8I.U who are'oitizens or sub,jeots of 3 na- tion which now pernits oitizens of this State to own land in fee in such oountry."
Article 168. "Any resident alien who shall ao- quire land under any provision of~the preoeding ar- tiole shall have five years after he shall cease to be a bona fide inhabitant of this State in VihiOh to .~ alienate said land.*
Article 169. "The provisions of this title shall not prevent aliens or alien oorporations froix lending nohey secured by lien upon real estate or any interest therein, nor from enforoing any such lien, nor from ao- ouiring and holding title to such real estate or any interest therein When Sold for the purpose Of enforcing ' such lien, or for enforoing the oolle,otion of a debt."
Article 170. =A11 aliens and all alien oorpora- tions who are prohibited from owning land in this StSte under the provisions of this title,.who shall th8reQft8r acquire.real estate in Texas by devise,' descent, or by purahase as p8IBIitted by this title,
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sonorable Linton ST Savage, Page s
may hold 8-e for fife years, and if such alien Is a minor, he may ho,ld same for five years after at- taining his majority, or if of unsound mind for five years after the appointment of a legal guardiy.n Z'-,
Artiole 191: "Any alien who shall hereafter ao-. quire lands in Texas, in contravention of the provi- sions of this title, may, nevertheless, oonvey th8 fee simple title thereof at any time before the insti- tution of escheat prooeedlnes as hereinafter provided, If any such conveyance shall be mad8 'by such alien _ either to an alien or to a citizen of the United States, in trust, and for the purpose and with the intention of evading the provisions of this title, such convey- anoe shall be null,. and void: and any such land so con- veyed shall be for+'eited and escheated to the State.* ?a
Article 172. "The Attorney General or the dis- trict or county attorney when he shall-be infOrEI8d or have reason to believe that lands in this State are being held contrary to the provisions of this tit18 shall institute suit in behalf of the State of Texas praying for the escheat of the sane on behalf of the State."
Article 1%. "No alien shall ever be appointed or permitted to qualify as guardian of thefstate of any minor or person of unsound mind, or as exeoutor or administrator of the estate of any desoendent (de- cedent) in the State, unless he is permitted to own land under the provisions of this title."
Artiole 174, Wo corporation in whioh the najor- ity of the capital stock is legally or equitably owned by aliens prohibited by law from owning land in Texas shall acquire title to or own any lands in Texas or any leasehold or other interest in such lands exoept as here- inafter provided and land so owned shall b8 subjeot to esoheat as though owned by a non-resident alien."
Ar&icle 175. "Land owned in trust, either by an alien or by a citizen of the United States, for th8 benefioial use of any alien or aliens, or any corpora- tion~prohibited from owning land in this State under the provisions of this title, shall be subject to ez- cheat as though the legal title thereto was in such alien or corporation."
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Artiole 176. "All alien (8) and all alien oor- porations now ooming lands in this State shall on or before the last day of January 1926 file's written report under oath, with the clerk of the oounty!&urt . “of the oounty in vrhich suoh land is located, giving
the name; age, ocoupation, personal description, place .Of birth, last foreign residenoe and allegiance, the date and plaoe of arrival of said alien in the United ~States;and his or her present residence and post-of- fice address, and the length of time of residence in Texas, the foreign prinoe, potentate, State or sover- eignty, of which the alien may at the time be a citi- .zen or subject, and the number of aores of land ov.?led
by such alien in such county, the name and number of the survey, the abstract and certificate number, the name of the person or persons, from whom acquired, ana shall either describe said land by metes and bounds, or refer to records-.Z in viMoh save is so described, which report shall be known as 'RRFORT OF ALIZH OXZR- I SHIP. All aliens and all alien corporations here- after purchasing, or in any'menner acquiring lands located in Texas shall within six months after such purchase, or acquisition, file with.the county clerk of th8 county in which such land is located, a 'Re- port of Alion Ownership,'~ in.terms as above required. Any alien or alien oorporation who may now own land in Texas, or who may hereafter aoquire any land in I Texas, by purohase or otherwise, who does not within th8 time Presoribed in, this artloli?, fila the reports ! 1 herein provided for, shall bc subject to have such land forfeited and esoheated to the State of Texas. I The reports herein required shall, when the alien is ! a minor or insane person, be filed by the parent or guardian of suoh alien. The,county clerk of each
county shall file and record the reports above pro-. vided forin a separate volume, to be entitled !RE- CORD OP ALIRN O:"MD IANDS' forsaid county. TiM re- cording of such reports shall be paid by the alien <qi. ;. . ovmerr*r The above quo&d articles of the 192E codification
embody with only minor changes the provisions of S. B. ho. 142, Ch. 194, Acts of the Regular Sessionof the 37th Legislature,
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i- , 1021, which ‘aot was in turn an amendment of Title 3 of the
1911 Codlfioatlon.
These statutes and particularly ‘Article 17’@re- qu1&g report and recod of ownership of land by aliens, baOe boen oonsidered in three conference opinions Of this DepQrtment . Opinion No. 2466, Book 58, p. 352, dated Deoem- appeari g n at page 513 of the Bi-ennial Report her 2, 1922, or the Attorney General for 1922-1924, held that land belong- ing to aliens exemuted by what is now Article 167 were not required to be reparted and registered under the provisions or what is now Article 176. This ruling was reversed by opln- ion Ro. 2687, Book 62, page 78, dated February 19, 1927, re- Dortod at page 402 of the Attorney General’s Report for 1926- 1920, wherein it was held that “all aliens owning lands in tl)j.n State, whether they come within the exception noted in Arttale 167 or not, inoluding corporations of the kind just referred to, are required by the terms of Article 176 to file Written reports under oath with the olerk of the county court of the county In which suoh land is located in the terms and maor the conditions stated by law.” This latter opinion was expressly approved and follovled by conference opinion No.
ZO’JO, dated July 6, 1 936, reported at page 161 of the AttOr- neY General’s Report for 1954-1936. We have given careful atUdy to these ooinions and believe that the reasoning and ~oUol.usions of the last two oplnions are correct.
We shall now~.conslaer the five speoifio questions *ioh you have asked.
“1.. y,aat is an ‘alien’ corporation within the meaning of Article 166, V.A.S.7 Does it mean a cor- poration incorporated under a foreign law Or govern- mentor does the term also include a corporation as oontemplated in Artiole 1747”
This preolse question was considered in opinion-No.
2667, supra, ffom which we quote{%
“Your inquiry .does not extend to the interpre- tation of the terms ‘all alien corporations’ in
Artiole 176, but it is in a manner here incidentally involved, We believe that those terms, as well as similar terms used in Article 166, are not intended *6 1.
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Honorable Linton S. Savage, Page 6
to apply to oorporationsorganized in foreign
countries osmlng lands in this State, but rather
to the character of alien corporation defined ii$. Article 174, that is, corporations whether domes.tic or foreign, in which the majority of the capital
stock is legally or cqultably owned by aliens pro-
hibited by law from owning land in Texas. If there Were any doubt about th1.s upon the face of the 1925 codification resort to the act itself would clear the doubt inasmuch as the expression ‘alien corporations’, Is then found to be an interpolation of the codifiers, judtified only by the terms of Article 174.”
We believe the above correctly. answers your first question. \
Article 174 provides that ‘no corporation in wh;% the majority of the capital stock is legally or equitably owned by aliens prohibited by.law from owning land in Texas . : . I, If the majority of the capital stock is o\\?led by aliens not >rohibited from owning land in Texas under Articl??i67, must the cor- poration comply with. the provisions of Article 176?t1
Since Opinion No. 2667, supra’, holds thet all aliens must report land owned by them irrespective of whether or not they fall within any of the exemptinns of Article 167, and since said o$nion holds that a corporation, a majority of whose stock is owned by aliens,is an “alien corporation” within the meaning of title 5, it follows that the corporation referred to in your letter must report land owned by it in complianoe with Article 176.
*S.;‘Article 167 (4) provides ‘Aliens who are oiti- ,.%ens or subjects of a nation which now permits citi-.~
zens of this state to own land in fxin such country,’ Does this provision refer to the year 1854 when the statute was passed, or to the date of acquisition of the land by the corporation?*~
In view of our answer to your first two questions, Your third question becomes immaterial, since the corporation is required to make report of its land In any event.
“4. Assuming it is necessary for the instant corporation to file a report of alien ownership as
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Honorable Finton 9. Savage, Page 7
provided for in Artio1.e 176, would a report filed
more than six months after the date of the aoquisi- ~tion of the land prevent esoheat by the State?” ;:- ’ 176 provides ln~ part:
Article .a, DAll aliens and’all alien corporations hereafter ourcha’sinn. or in any manner aoquiring lands located In Texas ,-&all, within six months after suah pur- ohase or aaquisition, file with the county alerk of the county in which suoh land is located, a ‘Report of Alien bwnershipt in terms as above required.- Any s,, alien or alien corporation who may now own land in.
Texas, or who may hereafter acquire any land in Texas, by purchase or otherwke, who does not-within the - timeiprescrlbcd insia artiola, file the I?;~;?%~~ here n orovided for, shall be subject to h
Iand forfeited and esoheated to thestate of Texas,” (Xmphasis ours~.)
It is the mar&e& intention of the Legislature by the foregoing language to subjeot to the penalty of escheat any alien or alien oorporation who does not file a report of alien ovmership.of land within six months of acquisition, Assuming that the instant corporation must %.
execute a report of alien ownership, whet should be the general form and requisites of said report?”
The form and requisites of the report of~alien owner- ahip are set out in detail in the first, part of prticlo 176, quoted above,
Vre shall aopreciate your giving us the name and full 5Wtlculnrs of the corporation to which you refer, so that we ay determine what action this Department may be required. to Vako in discharge of the duty imposed by Article 172,
‘Tours very truly’ ATTOFUEY GEWtAL OF TX%% Walter R. Xoch Assistant .