Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property: Texas Penal Code §32.57

The Texas Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property law gives police the right to arrest you if they believe you knowingly listed or advertised a home for sale, rent, or lease without legal title or authority, or if you actually sold, rented, or leased a home without having legal title or authority to do so.

This offense is codified in Penal Code Section 32.57 and takes effect September 1, 2025. It targets schemes where scammers market or convey homes they do not own or lack authority to sell, rent, or lease.

The statute reaches two categories of conduct: (1) listing or advertising residential property for sale, rent, or lease while knowing you lack legal title or authority, and (2) actually selling, renting, or leasing residential property you do not have legal title to or authority over. It also includes a narrow exception protecting lenders, title companies, and licensed real estate brokers and agents (and their employees or agents) who participate in a transaction without knowing another participant lacked legal title or authority.

The passage of the bill that creates this law followed in the wake of a popular NPR podcast’s expose on a kind of scam that exploits how real estate is bought and sold.

Note: in 2025, the legislature also created four different, unrelated offenses all numbered Section 32.56. As of September 1, 2025, there are four separate Section 32.56 statutes. This offense is Section 32.57, not 32.56—be careful not to confuse them.

The Penal Code classifies the Texas Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property law under Title 7 “Offenses Against Property,” Chapter 32 “Fraud.” Learn more about the Texas offense of Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property below.

What is the current Texas law about Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property?

AV Preeminent Texas lawyer Paul Saputo provides the current law defining Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property in Penal Code Section §32.57, as follows:^[1]

(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly:

(1) lists or advertises for sale, rent, or lease residential real property while knowing that the person offering to sell, rent, or lease the property does not have legal title or authority to sell, rent, or lease the property; or

(2) sells, rents, or leases to another person residential real property to which the person does not have legal title or authority to sell, rent, or lease.

A person commits this offense by knowingly listing or advertising residential real property for sale, rent, or lease while knowing the person lacks legal title or authority, or by selling, renting, or leasing residential real property to which the person does not have legal title or authority.^[2]

The same conduct may be prosecuted under this section, another law, or both.^[3]

There is an exception if the person participated in the transaction as a lender, title company, or a broker or agent licensed under the Occupations Code (or as their employee or agent) and did not know that another participant lacked legal title or authority.^[4]

This law takes effect September 1, 2025, and applies prospectively to conduct occurring on or after that date.^[5]

What is the penalty for a Texas Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property offense?

The Penal Code classifies the punishment for Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property as a felony of the first degree.^[6]

How can I be charged with a Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property offense in Texas?

You can be charged with Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property in Texas if the state’s attorneys believe that each of the elements of §32.57(a), as described in the section above, have been met.

What is the statute of limitations for Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property in Texas?

Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property has a seven year limitations period under Texas law.^[7]

Can you get probation for Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property in Texas?

The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure allows both judges and juries to grant probation for Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property, and judges are also allowed to accept deferred adjudication plea deals.^[8]

Note, however, that judges may not grant community supervision after a conviction if (1) the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon during the commission of the felony or immediate flight thereafter and (2) the defendant used or exhibited the deadly weapon himself or was a party to the offense and knew that a deadly weapon would be used or exhibited.^[9]

What level of crime is Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property in Texas?

The Penal Code classifies the punishment for Fraudulent Sale, Rental, or Lease of Residential Real Property as a first degree felony.

Learn more about the penalty range for this offense in the section above.

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Legal References:

^1. Texas Penal Code §32.57. This law is current as of 2025.^2. Texas Penal Code §32.57(a)^3. Texas Penal Code §32.57(c)^4. Texas Penal Code §32.57(d)^5. SB 1333, 89th Legislature (RS), Section 2^6. Texas Penal Code §32.57(b)^7. See Code of Criminal Procedure §12.01(3)(A)^8. See Chapter 42A, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 42A.054, Art. 42A.056, Art. 42A.102^9. Art. 42A.054(b), Texas Code of Criminal Procedure