Texas Guides / Colonias

Colonias in Texas: what they are, your rights, and how to secure title to your lot

Updated: 2026-10-23By Roberto Montes, founder, Nuestras TierrasLegal review: pending

Along the Texas-Mexico border, hundreds of colonias are home to families who bought a lot, built their house a room at a time, and are still waiting for water, sewer or a deed. If you're searching for how to get utilities on your lot or what to do when your lot has no deed, this guide walks through your rights under Texas law and the steps you can take.

What are colonias in Texas?

"Colonia" means neighborhood or community in Spanish. In Texas, it refers to communities that lack basic services such as safe drinking water, sewer, paved roads and drainage. The Texas Attorney General notes they are found mainly along the border (Attorney General).

How they began. According to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), colonias date to the 1950s. Outside city limits, counties had little power to regulate how land was divided. Some developers bought low-value farmland, sometimes flood-prone, split it into lots, bulldozed dirt roads and sold the lots without services on 10- to 20-year contracts for deed (TDHCA). Families paid monthly and built as they could, many while working in agriculture or construction.

TDHCA also corrects a common misconception: based on 1990 Census data, more than 75% of colonia residents were born in the U.S. and 85% were U.S. citizens. These are working families who bought in good faith.

How many there are. There is no recent official statewide count. These are the figures from official sources, with their dates:

Source: Texas Secretary of State, Colonia Initiatives Program, 2014 assessment, as published by TDHCA. The Secretary of State's colonias page is no longer online.

The Attorney General maintains the Colonia Geographic Database, covering more than 1,800 colonias in 29 border counties. The office itself calls it "historical," so it may not be current. The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) publishes annual EDAP reports on the program that funds water and sewer projects in economically distressed areas. For more numbers, see Texas key figures.

The rules for subdividing lots near the border

Starting in 1989, Texas passed laws to stop new colonias from forming and to help existing ones. The Attorney General sums them up in four parts: subdividers must provide water, sewer, roads and drainage; they can't advertise or sell lots that lack a plat or water and sewer; utilities face limits on connections; and contracts for deed carry special protections (Attorney General summary).

The model subdivision rules

The TWDB writes model subdivision rules. By statute, they must prohibit new residential developments with lots of 5 acres or less that lack adequate water and sewer, and more than one single-family home per lot (Water Code §16.343). A county or city that seeks EDAP money must adopt and enforce these rules across the county's unincorporated area (§16.350).

Plats in border counties

Local Government Code chapter 232, subchapter B, applies to counties any part of which is within 50 miles of the border, plus certain counties within 100 miles that contain most of a city of more than 250,000 people (§232.022). In those counties:

• Anyone dividing land into residential lots needs a county-approved plat if any lot is 5 acres or less. A lot of 5 acres or less is presumed residential (§232.022 and §232.023).
• It counts as a subdivision even if lots are sold by contract for deed, oral contract or any other executory contract (§232.023).
• The plat must describe, in English and Spanish, the water and sewer facilities to be installed and the date they'll be working (§232.023).
• The subdivider must record sales contracts with the county clerk within 30 days of selling a lot (§232.031).
• Advertising can't mislead and must accurately state whether water, sewer, electricity and gas are available (§232.033).

What the statute says versus what happens in practice. The statute puts these duties on the subdivider. In practice, many colonias were formed before these laws, and older lots don't always have an approved plat. So each case depends on when your lot was divided and sold.

How to get water and electricity on your lot

Here is the rule in counties within 50 miles of the border (Local Government Code §232.029):

• Water and sewer: a utility can't connect subdivided land without a county certificate that the plat is approved.
• Electricity and gas: a utility can't connect it until the county confirms adequate water and sewer are in place.

The most common exceptions. A utility may connect if the county certifies that one of these applies:

For these exceptions, the person requesting service can't be the subdivider and must give the county documents such as a copy of the contract and notarized affidavits (§232.029). Read the full statute: these are summaries.

How to ask the county to review your lot

1. Write a letter to the county commissioners court. Ask it to determine whether your lot has an approved plat and whether water, sewer and electricity are installed. Include the address, lot number and colonia name. The law lets an owner or resident of the lot make this request (§232.028).
2. Keep a copy showing the date you delivered it.
3. Wait for the answer. The county has 20 days to decide and 10 more days to issue the certificate, if appropriate. It may charge a fee for the certificate.
4. Take the certificate to the water or electric utility.

In practice, many border counties have a planning or subdivision office that handles these requests. Call first to find out who should receive your letter.

My lot has no deed: contracts for deed

Many colonia lots were bought under a contract for deed: you pay in installments and the seller keeps the deed until the last payment. If you will live there, the Property Code gives you strong rights. The seller must record the contract within 30 days, send you an annual statement each January, and give you the documents in Spanish if you negotiated in Spanish. And you can convert the contract into a deed in your name at any time, without penalty (§5.081). We cover all of it in the contract-for-deed guide.

Why recording matters. An unrecorded property document is void against a later buyer who paid for the land without notice of it (Property Code §13.001). Unrecorded "papelitos" are one of the ways families lose their lots.

If the lot is in the name of a relative who died, the issue is an inheritance. See the guides on heirs' property and the affidavit of heirship.

How to check your lot, step by step

1. Gather your papers: the contract, payment receipts, any deed, property tax receipts and any ads or promises from the seller.
2. Search the county clerk's records. In the county's real property records, search your name, the seller's name and the colonia's name. Your deed or recorded contract should appear there. Many counties offer online search.
3. Find the plat. Subdivision plats are also recorded with the county clerk. If your colonia has no approved plat, that affects utility connections.
4. Check the appraisal district. See whose name the lot is under for taxes and whether taxes are past due. Find yours in the Comptroller's directory. Note: being listed at the appraisal district does not prove you own the lot; a recorded deed does.
5. Request the county utility review described above if you lack water or power.
6. Get help if something doesn't add up: the lot isn't in your name, the contract isn't recorded or taxes are owed. See the back taxes guide.

When buying or selling, title companies recommend a title commitment and an owner's title insurance policy. That is standard practice, not a legal requirement for you. Even the statutory notice for border installment contracts advises buyers to have a title abstract or commitment reviewed by an attorney and to buy an owner's policy (§232.033).

Programs that help and free legal aid

TDHCA programs depend on federal funding that changes each year. Confirm with your county's center whether funds are available now. See every option on free legal help in Texas, and don't pay a "notario" to fix your papers: see why in a notary is not a lawyer.

Primary sources: Texas Local Government Code chapter 232; Water Code chapter 16, subchapter J; Property Code chapters 5 and 13; Government Code §405.021 and §2306.582; TDHCA; Texas Attorney General; TWDB. This guide will be updated when the law changes.

Costs and timing

The county certificate fee and deadlines come from Local Government Code §232.028. Bexar fees are effective January 1, 2024, per the county. We could not verify Hidalgo and El Paso recording fees online: call the county clerk before you go.

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Nuestras Tierras, https://nuestrastierras.org/en/texas/guides/colonias/. Updated: 2026-10-23. Legal review: pending. General information, not legal advice.