How to Fill Out Form T-47: Texas Residential Real Property Affidavit

To fill out Form T-47, the Texas Residential Real Property Affidavit, you complete a single page identifying yourself as the property owner, describing the property and the existing survey, and disclosing any changes to the property since that survey was performed. Every owner on title must sign in front of a notary. The form is free from the Texas Department of Insurance, and your title company uses it to decide whether the existing survey is good enough to issue title insurance with area and boundary coverage.¹

Get the Official Form

Download the current T-47 directly from the Texas Department of Insurance title forms page.² Title companies and real estate agents will also email you a copy on request. Use the TDI version. Older copies in circulation may not match the promulgated form, and a title company can refuse a non-standard version.

Complete the Form Field by Field

The T-47 is one page, but every field matters. Title underwriters flag or reject affidavits with missing, inconsistent, or vague entries.

Header Information

At the top, enter the date, the GF (guaranty file) number assigned by the title company, and the name of every affiant. The affiant is the current property owner. If more than one person is on title, list each owner and have each one sign. Write names exactly as they appear on the deed. A mismatch between the affidavit and the ownership records creates unnecessary delays.

Property Description and Survey Date

Enter the property address and the legal description, including the county. The legal description should match the existing survey and the deed. For a platted subdivision that is usually a lot and block reference; for unplatted land it is a metes and bounds description. Then fill in the date of the existing survey. Check this against the date printed on the survey drawing itself. If the two dates do not match, the title company will send the affidavit back.¹

Item 4: Changes Since the Survey

This section carries the most weight. The form asks whether, since the date of the survey, there have been any:

New construction or improvements, including additional buildings, rooms, garages, swimming pools, decks, or other permanent structures or fixtures.
Boundary changes, such as relocated fences or boundary walls.
Construction projects on adjoining properties that occurred on or near your boundary line.
Any replattings, easement grants, or easement dedications affecting the property, such as a new utility line.

If none of these apply, write “None” in the space provided. Do not leave it blank. A blank Item 4 is ambiguous, and underwriters will not guess.¹

If changes have occurred, describe each one in enough detail that the title company can assess whether the old survey is still usable. Include what was built, roughly when, and where on the property. A vague note like “added stuff to backyard” will not work. Something like “installed a 12×24 wooden deck along the rear of the house in March 2022, approximately 15 feet from the back fence line” gives the underwriter what they need. When improvements encroach on an easement or sit close to a boundary, expect the title company to require a new survey regardless of how well you describe them.

Item 6: Liability Limitation

The form includes a built-in limitation stating that the affiant has no liability to the title company for incorrect information unless the affiant personally knew it was incorrect and failed to disclose it.¹ Honest mistakes are treated differently from deliberate omissions. This cap applies only to your relationship with the title company. It does not shield you from claims by the buyer or from criminal liability for a knowingly false sworn statement.

Get It Notarized

The T-47 is a sworn affidavit, so it must be notarized to be valid. Every affiant must sign in the presence of a notary public, who administers an oath, witnesses the signature, and applies a seal. Under Texas Government Code Section 406.024, a notary may charge up to $10 for administering an oath or affirmation with certificate and seal.³ Many banks, shipping stores, and real estate offices have a notary on staff. If multiple owners cannot be in the same place at the same time, each can notarize separately. The completed pages are then assembled before delivery to the title company.

Remote Online Notarization

Texas authorizes online notarization under Subchapter C, Chapter 406 of the Government Code. An online notary uses two-way video and audio conference technology to witness signatures remotely.⁴ Real estate affidavits like the T-47 are not excluded from electronic notarization. Confirm with your title company in advance that they will accept a remotely notarized T-47, because some underwriters have internal policies that are more restrictive than the statute.

Deliver It and What the Title Company Checks

Once notarized, deliver the T-47 and a legible copy of the existing survey to both the buyer and the title company within the deadline stated in your contract. Email delivery is standard practice, though some title companies prefer originals at or before closing. Do not wait until the last minute.

The title company’s underwriting department reviews the affidavit and the survey together. They look for a few specific things: that the survey was performed by a registered professional land surveyor, that the property description on the affidavit matches the survey and the deed, that Item 4 is filled in clearly, and that the notarization is complete. If everything checks out, the title company issues the owner’s or lender’s policy with area and boundary coverage included.¹ If the underwriter spots a problem, such as an old or illegible survey, disclosed improvements that raise encroachment concerns, or a mismatch in the legal description, they will either add exceptions to the coverage or require a new survey.

What Happens If You Lie on the Form

The T-47 is a sworn statement, not a casual disclosure. Deliberately lying on it, for example stating that no improvements were made when you know a storage building was added over an easement, exposes you to criminal liability under Texas perjury law. Under Texas Penal Code Section 37.02, making a false statement under oath with intent to deceive is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $4,000.⁵ If the false statement is material to an official proceeding, the charge can escalate to aggravated perjury, a third-degree felony.⁶

Beyond criminal exposure, a buyer who discovers undisclosed changes that affect the property’s boundaries or usable area can pursue civil claims against the seller. The Item 6 limitation protects the affiant only from the title company and only for unknowing errors. Intentional concealment has no safe harbor. When in doubt about whether a change is worth disclosing, disclose it. A title company that sees a disclosed improvement and decides the old survey is still adequate is a far better outcome than a buyer who discovers an undisclosed encroachment after closing.

1
Texas Department of Insurance. Form T-47 Residential Real Property Affidavit
2
Texas Department of Insurance. Title Forms
3
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Notary Public Educational Information
4
Office of the Texas Secretary of State. Online Notary Public Educational Information
5
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 37.02 – Perjury
6
State of Texas. Texas Penal Code PENAL 37.03 – Aggravated Perjury