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With the passage and signature into law by the Governor of S.B. 1320 - effective September 1, this will be changing. Notaries will now be allowed to accept passports issued by foreign governments, removing the need for a sworn witness. This will also increase the importance of the settlement or closing agent, who will now be responsible for verifying the identification of non-US citizens. Although there had originally been some push to include additional forms of ID (including any foreign ID card with a photo and signature), a foreign passport will be the only acceptable form of identification for now. With an increasing number of homeowners likely to come from the ranks of foreign nationals and immigrants, this little-noted provision may become very important in years to come.
Notes From The 82nd Legislative Session.
- The big topic in Austin, as it was in other states, was the budget shortfall. More than a few will have an ox gored soon.
- Because of that concern—or in spite of it—many of the Texas mortgage lenders believe that the biggest regulatory or legislative changes they'll face this year will be at the Federal level…namely, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Dodd-Frank act.
- Some of the folks to whom I've spoken to are expecting that the Federal Government may even pressure the state to follow up on the act with its lenders and bankers. The anticipation, although it's early, is that Texas may be one of those states that "pushes back."
- Finally, there seemed to be a fair amount of discussion in the hallways about tax lien loans, and, specifically, the priority conferred by the loan. There are no bills on the matter right now, and down the road, it's not clear yet which way the wind will blow. But it is being talked about…
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Designed by Oscar Ruffini, an architect from San Angelo, the 1891 courthouse in Sonora exemplifies the Second Empire style. All windows were restored and missing roof dormers and roof cresting were reconstructed from historic photographs. Original wood windows, doors, stairways and wainscot were refinished to match the original stain and window wood shutters were reconstructed. Wall colors were restored and a decorative wall stenciling of gold and copper leaf was recreated. The courthouse was rededicated on June 11, 2002.
Sutton County Court House is located deep within West Central Texas, in the town of Sonora, and is the only courthouse Sonora has ever known. The Sutton County courthouse was built in 1891, and it still presides over an area once dominated by the Comanche and later known as the "Stockman's Paradise." The courthouse is also supposedly where William "News" Carver, of Butch Cassidy's outlaw "Wild Bunch" gang, took his last breaths after a shootout with the sheriff in 1901.
Rivers run through it ... in the northwestern region of Sutton County The Devils River begins, whitewater river in southwestern Texas. Here six watercourses come together, Dry Devils River, Granger Draw, House Draw, Jackson, Flat Rock Draw, and Rough Canyon. It flows southwest for 94 miles through Val Verde County and empties into the northeastern shore of the Amistad Reservoir, an impoundment of the Rio Grande near Del Rio, on the Texas/Mexico border. The Devils River is considered the most unspoiled river in Texas. Its remote location in a hostile environment limits pollution. In addition, the river flows partly underground, as it passes underground, the gravel, sand and limestone scrub the river water clean and re-emerges 20 miles later. This makes the Devils River one of the cleanest water sources in the world.
The Caverns of Sonora, a National Natural Landmark, is a unique cave located 8 miles west of the small city of Sonora, the seat of Sutton County, Texas. It is a world-class cave because of its stunning array of calcite crystal formations, especially helictites. These helictites are found in extreme abundance, often with a rare purity and complexity. One formation is so densely packed with them it has been dubbed the "Snake pit". The founder of the National Speleological Society, Bill Stephenson, said of the cave after his first visit: "This is the most indescribably beautiful cave in the world, its beauty cannot be exaggerated, not even by a Texan."