Bill Caption

Relating to providing information to the public and to purchasers of real property regarding the impact of military installations.

Fiscal Notes

No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated

Bill Analysis

This legislation would amend Local Government and Property code to include a notice to those interested in purchasing property near a military base to acknowledge the following statement "property may be located near a military installation and may be affected by high noise or air installation compatible use zones or other operations. Information relating to high noise and compatible use zones is available in the most recent Air Installation Compatible Use Zone Study or Joint Land Use Study prepared for a military installation and may be accessed on the Internet website of the military installation and of the county and any municipality in which the military installation is located."

Vote Recommendation Notes

We oppose this legislation on the grounds of personal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. 

Prospective homeowners should do their due diligence before buying to determine whether a home purchase is right for them. Taking into account noise related factors is a basic part of this decision making process. Home buyers don't need the state to mandate that someone else do this on their behalf when they are capable of taking on this responsibility themselves.

It is outside of the scope of limited government to add yet another disclosure mandate on sellers of homes, particularly when that disclosure could make a relatively minor issue appear to a prospective buyer to be a bigger deal than it is. This could lead to loss of a sale or artificially diminished home value. 

For these reasons we oppose HB 1639.