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TREC Forms 53-0, 59-0 & 58-0

Texas MUD, PID & Utility District Notices: Which TREC Form Do You Use?

Texas runs on MUDs and PIDs, and TREC has three different notices that all sound alike. They are not interchangeable.

By Heath Shepard, Texas REALTOR® Updated 2026-08-06

Texas leans heavily on special districts — Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs), Public Improvement Districts (PIDs), and similar entities — to fund infrastructure in newer subdivisions, and the tax or assessment obligation runs with the property, not the developer. TREC publishes three separate notice forms for this, and they are explicitly not interchangeable — each one names, in its own text, exactly which situation it does and doesn't cover.

53-0 — Public Improvement District assessments

Addendum Containing Notice of Obligation to Pay Improvement District Assessment (TREC No. 53-0), dated 11-08-2021 on the form, is for property in a public improvement district under Subchapter A, Chapter 372, or Chapter 382, Local Government Code (the form has a blank to specify which). It states plainly: "An assessment has been levied against your property for the Authorized Improvements, which may be paid in full at any time. If the assessment is not paid in full, it will be due and payable in annual installments that will vary from year to year depending on the amount of interest paid, collection costs, administrative costs, and delinquency costs." It also warns that failure to pay may result in penalties, interest, a lien, or foreclosure. Both seller and buyer sign, with the buyer acknowledging receipt before the effective date of a binding contract.

59-0 — everything that isn't a PID

Notice to Purchaser of Special Taxing or Assessment District (TREC No. 59-0), dated 02-12-2024, opens with the opposite instruction: "NOTICE: Not for use for Public Improvement Districts (PIDs)." This is the form for MUDs and other Water Code Chapter 49 districts. It cites Section 49.453, Texas Water Code, which requires each district to publish its own form of notice — and instructs the seller to use the district's own published notice instead of this TREC form, if one exists on the district's website. Only when the district hasn't published its own notice does the seller complete this form using information obtained from the district. Once completed, it covers current or projected tax rate, current or projected assessment rate or amount, voter-approved and issued bond amounts broken out by water/sewer/drainage, road, and parks/recreation categories, any TCEQ-approved standby fee, whether the district sits in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction or overlaps its corporate boundaries, any strategic partnership/annexation agreement, and the district's stated purpose. It closes with a direct statement: "The cost of district facilities is not included in the purchase price of your property."

58-0 — for transactions that skip the TREC contract entirely

Notice to Prospective Buyer (TREC No. 58-0), dated 11-07-2022 on the form and replacing the older TREC No. OP-C, is different in kind from the other two — its own closing language states it's "approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) for use when a contract of sale has not been promulgated by TREC," and should be presented before an offer is signed. In practice, that's builder/new-construction contracts and other non-TREC purchase agreements. It bundles two things into one acknowledgment: a title-examination advisement ("have the abstract covering the property... examined by an attorney of your own selection OR you should be furnished with or obtain a policy of title insurance"), and — if the property sits in a Utility District — a reminder that Chapter 49, Texas Water Code, requires the buyer to sign and acknowledge the seller's statutory district notice (the same substantive content 59-0 covers, just folded into a broker-issued acknowledgment rather than the seller's own disclosure form). It also flags the §5.014, Property Code, public improvement district notice requirement.

The one-line test: Public Improvement District → 53-0. Any other Water Code Chapter 49 special district (MUD, etc.), and no TREC contract issue → 59-0, unless the district publishes its own form, which takes priority. No TREC-promulgated contract in use at all → 58-0, delivered by the broker before the offer is signed.

One dating note worth flagging directly: 53-0's own PDF prints a revision date of 11-08-2021, while TREC's landing page for that form lists an effective date of September 1, 2021 — earlier than the printed revision date. 58-0's landing page lists an effective date of September 3, 2025, nearly three years after its printed 11-07-2022 revision date. Both are TREC's own published dates as fetched directly from trec.texas.gov; neither gap is resolved here, and either is worth a direct confirmation against TREC's current site before relying on it for a specific deadline.

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Frequently asked

What's the difference between TREC 53-0 and TREC 59-0? +
53-0 is specifically for Public Improvement District (PID) assessments under Local Government Code Chapter 372 or 382. 59-0 states directly "Not for use for Public Improvement Districts (PIDs)" — it covers MUDs and other Water Code Chapter 49 special districts instead.
Should I always use TREC's own form for a MUD notice? +
Not necessarily. TREC No. 59-0 itself instructs sellers to use the district's own published notice, if the district has one available on its website — the TREC form is a fallback for districts that haven't published their own notice.
When is TREC Form 58-0 used instead of 53-0 or 59-0? +
58-0 is approved for use when a contract of sale has not been promulgated by TREC — for example, a builder's own new-construction contract. It bundles a title-examination advisement with a general Utility District notice reminder, delivered by the broker before an offer is signed.
What does the MUD/PID notice cost the buyer? +
The forms don't set a cost — they disclose that a district assessment or tax obligation exists and (on 59-0) state directly that the cost of district facilities is not included in the purchase price of the property.
Who signs the improvement district assessment notice? +
On TREC 53-0 and 59-0, both seller and buyer sign, with the buyer acknowledging receipt before the effective date of a binding contract (or, for 59-0, at or before contract execution or at closing). On 58-0, the brokerage/agent signs along with the prospective buyer.