I
688
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GROVERSELLERS
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 corpora-
or 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 (Lo-
quim 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 pro-
vlslonu 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 be-
come, bona fide inhabitants of this State, SO long
as they ahall oontlnur to be suoh bona fide h-
habitants 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 intsn-
tlon to become oltierns of the United Statss.
"(3) Aliens who are natural born eltlzsna
of nations mhloh have a c0ommanland 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 eo-
p,uirlrg and holding title to suoh real estate,
or any interest thereln, upon which: a lien my
Iionor:~ble .*lirad .. Clyde,
.a. -%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 pro-
viaions 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 thare-
of 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 WUIIin such
alien or oorpora tlon.
alsrtiole 21(d), All aliens now ownlog
landa In the State of Texas, ahall on or ba-
fom 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 130daeorlbed,
which report shall be known aa ‘i?lJPCRTOF ALIZN
G;.XXISHIIF . ’ Irovidad further, that all aliens
Eonorable Alfred -I. Clyde, yega 6
heraarter purchasing, or ln any amnnar ao-
qulring 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 ea-
cheated to tha State or Taxaa. The reports
heraln aoqulrad shall when the allan Is a minor
or fosana &arson, be A3za d’by the parent or
guardian of euoh alien. 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 OWriRDLANDS,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. (&oh exemption ir oontalrmd In AH. 16,
suprn 1. Then, labor in mid lot lppaara Art. 2lU(b) whloh
7-n requok:
“Irtiola 21(b). 38 rorporotlon In whloh the
saloritiy 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 zuunadby alIens Wo&11 be subieot tq~iaaohaat under
1. ‘. Trovlalona
;.,,e 03 tkle title, 3s thou& ov;a@ ~br a mm-
n 12 suoh a oorpora tlon owns aand in an in-
own cuk IO k. leoheatad? 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 ean-
e 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&tI-
catlon 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 P
to ako wr 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.