The MUD Mystery

There’s one sentence in one section of the contract that always ruffles everyone’s feathers whenever we teach our class Navigating the 1-to-4 Family Contract. The last sentence of section 6 E(3) Statutory Tax District states that the seller must deliver the buyer a statutory tax district notice, i.e. a MUD or WCID notice.  This is not a shocker (it’s typically taken care of by the agents and then again at closing by the title company), but what ruffles the feathers is the part says this notice needs to be signed PRIOR to executing the contract. That certainly isn’t always easy to do!

We are often asked by agents, especially after this class, if we know of a good resource for identifying these taxing districts. There are some of the good old standby options, like Realist and the County Appraisal District websites, but those require looking at the details of a specific property. We wanted to find something a bit more interactive that had broader searching capabilities. We went to work, did some digging, and found a fantastic website through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s website that will allow you to do just that! It’s not the most immediately intuitive website to navigate, but if you watch this video, you’ll be an expert in no time.

And don’t forget, another great resource will always be your escrow team at Independence Title. Our closers work daily with a tax research company, they can typically answer your tax questions within 24 hours.

Read a transcript of this video


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