Texas Real Estate Exam Special Topics: All 11 State-Law Subjects

Special Topics looks scattered only when you study it as a list of definitions. On the exam, each question usually turns on one clean distinction:

• community property or separate property
• homestead creditor protection or tax relief
• private consumer claim or TREC discipline
• will beneficiary or person with authority to convey
• foreclosure or short sale
• effective deed or recorded priority
• Texas VLB program or federal VA guaranty
• private covenant or governmental zoning
• equitable interest or legal title

The fastest approach is to identify the official row first. Once you know the legal bucket, most distractors fall away.

What is the exam testing in Special Topics?

These questions test classification before calculation or recall. A strong answer follows three steps:

1. Name the legal bucket. Decide whether the facts concern marital property, homestead, consumer protection, probate, a tenancy, a distressed sale, recording, a lien, VLB, a private restriction, or equitable title.
2. Find the decisive fact. Look for the acquisition source, the type of notice, the actor with authority, the relevant deadline, or the stage of the transaction.
3. Apply only that rule. Do not borrow a number or remedy from a neighboring topic just because the vocabulary sounds similar.

This is why memorizing eleven isolated definitions is not enough. The exam asks whether you can choose the right Texas rule from a short fact pattern.

What is covered in Texas Special Topics?

The table below follows the official A through K order. Each row links to the lesson that owns the subject.

The Special Topics rules worth memorizing

1. Community property starts with acquisition

Texas Family Code Sections 3.001 through 3.003 provide the clean exam framework:

• property owned before marriage is separate property
• property acquired during marriage by gift, devise, or descent is separate property
• property other than separate property acquired during marriage is community property
• property possessed during or at dissolution of marriage is presumed community property
• clear and convincing evidence is required to prove separate-property character

The deed name can matter for title, but it does not answer the marital-property classification by itself.

2. Homestead is not one rule

Watch the noun after homestead:

The current statewide school-district residence homestead exemption under Tax Code Section 11.13(b) is $140,000. Section 11.13(c) provides an additional $60,000 school-district exemption for a qualifying person who is disabled or age 65 or older. The Texas Comptroller's current exemption guidance confirmed both figures on August 30, 2026. These amounts can change.

3. A real estate license is not blanket DTPA immunity

Business and Commerce Code Section 17.49(i) exempts some acts or omissions by licensed brokers and sales agents, but it preserves important exceptions. The exemption does not cover:

• an express misrepresentation of material fact that is not advice, judgment, or opinion
• failure to disclose under Section 17.46(b)(24)
• unconscionable conduct that is not advice, judgment, or opinion

A prevailing consumer can receive statutory remedies under Section 17.50. Additional damages depend on the required findings; they are not automatic. Section 17.505 generally requires written notice at least 60 days before filing a damages suit.

4. A will does not prove that one relative can sign

Texas Estates Code Section 251.051 governs the standard attested will. Section 251.052 provides that a will wholly in the testator's handwriting does not require subscribing witnesses.

Title questions require another step. Estate property generally vests at death under Section 101.001, subject to debts and administration. A will is ineffective to prove title until admitted to probate under Section 256.001. Do not assume that a surviving spouse, one heir, a beneficiary named in an unprobated will, or an unappointed executor has sole authority to convey.

5. Landlord-tenant questions hide different clocks

Three numbers from Texas Property Code Chapter 92 deserve separate memory slots:

• 30 days after surrender for the residential security-deposit refund under Section 92.103
• 7 days as a rebuttable presumption of reasonable repair time under Section 92.056
• 6 months for the retaliation protection described in Section 92.331

A forwarding address matters to the landlord's deposit duty, but Section 92.107 says the tenant does not forfeit the refund or accounting right by failing to provide it earlier.

Title, lien, and program rules worth memorizing

6. Texas foreclosure uses a sequence

For real property used as the debtor's residence, Property Code Section 51.002 supplies this sequence:

1. At least 20 days to cure before notice of sale.
2. Notice of sale at least 21 days before the sale.
3. Sale generally between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month.

If the first Tuesday is January 1 or July 4, Section 51.002 moves the sale to the first Wednesday. Section 51.003 provides a two-year deadline for covered deficiency actions after a Section 51.002 sale.

A short sale is different. The current TREC Short Sale Addendum, Form 45-2, requires lienholder consent and specified treatment of the debt and lien.

7. Texas is a notice recording state

Property Code Section 13.001 protects a later purchaser for value without notice against an earlier unrecorded conveyance. Section 13.002 makes a properly recorded instrument notice to all persons.

Use three questions:

1. Did the later purchaser give value?
2. Did the later purchaser have actual or constructive notice?
3. Which interest was recorded first?

Never jump from "unrecorded" to "void for every purpose."

8. Homestead improvement liens require extra care

Article XVI, Section 37 recognizes protections for qualifying mechanics, artisans, and materialmen. Property Code Chapter 53 supplies the statutory process.

For a homestead improvement, Property Code Section 53.254 generally requires a written contract that is:

• executed before labor or materials are furnished
• signed by the owner and the owner's spouse if married
• filed with the county clerk

Chapter 53 deadlines vary by claimant, project, and accrual facts. There is no safe one-number shortcut for every lien claim.

9. VLB is Texas, and live terms can change

The Veterans Land Board is a Texas state agency. The current Texas GLO program page identifies land, home, and home-improvement loan programs. As verified on August 30, 2026, the GLO states that a temporary moratorium on new home-improvement loan applications took effect April 30, 2026.

That operational pause does not remove Veterans Land Board from the exam outline. For an exam question, identify the program. For a real application, check current eligibility, limits, rates, and availability on the GLO site.

10. POA restrictions are private controls

Property Code Chapter 202 governs restrictive covenants. Section 202.003 directs liberal construction to give effect to their purposes and intent. Chapter 207 governs resale certificates, while Chapter 209 supplies protections and enforcement limits for covered property owners associations.

The exam distinction is simple: a recorded declaration or association rule is private. A city zoning ordinance is governmental.

11. Equitable interest is not the deed

An enforceable purchase contract can give the buyer an equitable contract interest before closing. The seller generally keeps legal title until the deed is delivered.

Equitable interest does not automatically give the buyer:

• possession before the contract allows it
• priority over every later claimant
• the right to ignore contingencies
• a guaranteed order of specific performance

When a stem says "signed enforceable contract, no deed yet," think possible equitable interest. When it says "deed delivered," think legal title.

Worked example: identify the transaction before choosing the rule

A homeowner signs a contract to sell for less than the balance secured by the property. The lender has not agreed to the sale, and no trustee's sale has been scheduled.

Answer: This is a proposed short sale, not a foreclosure. The owner is trying to sell voluntarily, but the deal requires the lienholder's consent because the proceeds will not satisfy the secured debt. Form 45-2 makes that consent and agreement part of the contract process.

Why the trap works: Both situations involve debt the owner cannot fully pay. Foreclosure is the creditor's lien-enforcement process. A short sale is the owner's sale with creditor approval. The direction of the action decides the answer.

A 20-minute study plan for this area

Use five short rounds:

1. Four minutes: recite all 11 A through K rows without notes.
2. Four minutes: drill community versus separate, and the three homestead systems.
3. Four minutes: write the DTPA, landlord-tenant, and foreclosure timing cues.
4. Four minutes: compare recording, improvement liens, POA restrictions, and equitable interest.
5. Four minutes: answer a mixed Special Topics checkpoint without topic labels.

After each miss, record the decisive fact, not just the correct letter. A note such as "later purchaser lacked notice" is useful. A note such as "answer B" is not.

Common Special Topics traps

• deciding community or separate property from the deed name alone
• using a tax exemption to answer a creditor question
• assuming DTPA additional damages are automatic
• treating an unprobated will as proof that one person may sign
• using the seven-day repair presumption as an absolute deadline
• reversing the 20-day and 21-day foreclosure clocks
• calling an unrecorded deed void between all parties
• applying one mechanic's-lien deadline to every claimant and project
• treating VLB and the federal VA guaranty as the same program
• calling an association covenant zoning
• treating equitable interest as legal title or possession

Frequently asked questions

How many Special Topics questions are on the Texas real estate exam?

The current Texas Sales Agent State Law outline assigns 5 scored items to Special Topics. The state-law portion contains 40 scored items plus 10 unscored pretest items.

Is Special Topics on the Texas state or national exam portion?

Special Topics appears on the Texas state-law portion. Its 5 scored items test Texas-specific subjects such as community property, homestead, the DTPA, state foreclosure rules, the Veterans Land Board, and equitable interest. Do not generalize these rules to another state or use them to answer a national-law question unless the question specifically asks for Texas law.

Are all 11 Special Topics subjects covered here?

Yes. The A through K table follows every subject in Pearson VUE outline #094401 and links each one to a full lesson. The checkpoint also tags at least one question to every row.

Which Special Topics subjects are most likely to be tested?

Pearson publishes only the 5-item area total. It does not publish an internal split among the 11 rows, so no source supports promising that one row will receive more questions than another.

What is the hardest Special Topics distinction?

For many candidates, it is the word homestead. Creditor protection, tax exemptions, appraisal limitations, acreage limits, and spouse joinder are related but distinct rules. Identify what the question asks before recalling a number.

Is the Veterans Land Board the same as a VA loan?

No. The Veterans Land Board is a Texas program administered through the Texas General Land Office. The VA loan guaranty is federal.

Does equitable interest mean the buyer owns the property before closing?

The buyer may have a contract-based equitable interest under an enforceable agreement. Legal title generally remains with the seller until the deed is delivered, and possession depends on the contract.

Sources and verification method

This hub was reverified on August 30, 2026. The Pearson VUE outline controls the subject names and item count. Texas statutes, the Texas Constitution, TREC rules and forms, Texas Comptroller guidance, and the Texas GLO control the changing rules and program information. Pearson does not publish live exam questions or a row-level Special Topics allocation, and this guide does not claim otherwise.

Official sources

• Pearson VUE Texas Real Estate Content Outlines #094401
• Pearson VUE Texas Real Estate Candidate Handbook #094400
• Texas Constitution and Statutes
• Texas Comptroller property-tax exemptions
• Texas Family Code Chapter 3, marital property
• Texas Business and Commerce Code Chapter 17, DTPA
• Texas Property Code Chapter 51, foreclosure
• Texas Property Code Chapter 92, residential tenancies
• TREC Chapter 537 rules and forms
• TREC contracts and forms
• Texas GLO Loans for Veterans

Use this page to prepare for the exam, then use current primary sources and qualified professionals for a live transaction or legal problem.