Sec. 1.111. REPRESENTATION OF PROPERTY OWNER. (a) A property owner may designate a lessee or other person to act as the agent of the owner for any purpose under this title in connection with the property or the property owner.

(a-1) A lessee designated by a property owner as the owner's agent under Subsection (a) may, subject to the property owner's approval, designate a person to act as the lessee's agent for any purpose under this title for which the lessee is authorized to act on behalf of the owner in connection with the owner or the owner's property. An agent designated by a lessee under this subsection has the same authority and is subject to the same limitations as an agent designated by a property owner under Subsection (a).

(b) The designation of an agent must be made by written authorization on a form prescribed by the comptroller under Subsection (h) and signed by the owner, a property manager authorized to designate agents for the owner, or another person authorized to act on behalf of the owner other than the person being designated as agent, and must clearly indicate that the person is authorized to act on behalf of the property owner in property tax matters relating to the property or the property owner. The designation may authorize the agent to represent the owner in all property tax matters or in specific property tax matters as identified in the designation. The designation does not take effect with respect to an appraisal district or a taxing unit participating in the appraisal district until a copy of the designation is filed with the appraisal district. Each appraisal district established for a county having a population of 500,000 or more shall implement a system that allows a designation to be signed and filed electronically.

(c) The designation of an agent under this section remains in effect until revoked in a written revocation filed with the appraisal district by the property owner or designated agent. The designated agent revoking the designation must send notice of the revocation by certified mail to the property owner at the owner's last known address. A designation may be made to expire according to its own terms but is still subject to prior revocation by the property owner or designated agent.

(d) A property owner may not designate more than one agent to represent the property owner in connection with an item of property. The designation of an agent in connection with an item of property revokes any previous designation of an agent in connection with that item of property.

(e) An agreement between a property owner or the owner's agent and the chief appraiser is final if the agreement relates to a matter:

(1) which may be protested to the appraisal review board or on which a protest has been filed but not determined by the board; or

(2) which may be corrected under Section 25.25 or on which a motion for correction under that section has been filed but not determined by the board.

(f) A property owner in writing filed with the appraisal district may direct the appraisal district, appraisal review board, and each taxing unit participating in the appraisal district to deliver all notices, tax bills, orders, and other communications relating to one or more specified items of the owner's property to a specified person instead of to the property owner. The instrument must clearly identify the person by name and give the person's address to which all notices, tax bills, orders, and other communications are to be delivered. The property owner may but is not required to designate the person's agent for other tax matters designated under Subsection (a) as the person to receive all notices, tax bills, orders, and other communications. The designation of an agent for other tax matters under Subsection (a) may also provide that the agent is the person to whom notices, tax bills, orders, and other communications are to be delivered under this subsection.

(g) An appraisal district, appraisal review board, or taxing unit may not require a person to designate an agent to represent the person in a property tax matter other than as provided by this section.

(h) The comptroller shall prescribe forms and adopt rules to facilitate compliance with this section. The comptroller shall include on any form used for designation of an agent for a single-family residential property in which the property owner resides the following statement in boldfaced type:

"In some cases, you may want to contact your appraisal district or other local taxing units for free information and/or forms concerning your case before designating an agent."

(i) An appraisal review board shall accept and consider a motion or protest filed by an agent of a property owner if an agency authorization is filed at or before the hearing on the motion or protest.

(j) An individual exempt from registration as a property tax consultant under Section 1152.002, Occupations Code, who is not supervised, directed, or compensated by a person required to register as a property tax consultant under that chapter and who files a protest with the appraisal review board on behalf of the property owner is entitled to receive all notices from the appraisal district and appraisal review board regarding the property subject to the protest until the authority is revoked by the property owner as provided by this section. An individual to which this subsection applies who is not designated by the property owner to receive notices, tax bills, orders, and other communications as provided by Subsection (f) or Section 1.11 shall file a statement with the protest that includes:

(1) the individual's name and address;

(2) a statement that the individual is acting on behalf of the property owner; and

(3) a statement of the basis for the individual's exemption from registration under Section 1152.002, Occupations Code.

(k) On written request by the chief appraiser, an agent who electronically submits a designation of agent form shall provide the chief appraiser information concerning:

(1) the electronic signature of the person who signed the form;

(2) the date the person signed the form; and

(3) the Internet Protocol address of the computer the person used to complete the form.

(l) A person may not knowingly make a false entry in, or false alteration of, a designation of agent form that has been signed as provided by Subsection (b).

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 435, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1988. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 796, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1989; Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 6, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1991; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 981, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1031, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 349, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 156 (H.B. 1203), Sec. 1, eff. May 26, 2009.

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 1267 (H.B. 1030), Sec. 1, eff. June 19, 2009.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 771 (H.B. 1887), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 831 (H.B. 3216), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2011.

Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 715 (H.B. 3439), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2013.

Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 481 (S.B. 1760), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2016.