The Texas Real Estate Commission has adopted new versions of all its forms. The new forms are required to be used starting March 1, 2012. However, there are two situations where a seller needs to be using the updated sales contracts immediately: a seller in a subdivision with a mandatory HOA, and a seller with a property that has a private transfer-fee obligation. Even though using the updated TREC forms isn't mandatory until March 1, the revised versions contain notices related to those two situations that have been required since Jan. 1, 2012. Until zipForm updates its library—likely in mid-February—you can download blank versions of these forms at TREC's Web site and TexasRealtors.com.

The rest of the TREC forms were revised in order to update the commission's Web site and phone number. You can see a list of all the changes at TexasRealtors.com - pdf.

The Texas Association of REALTORS® has revised property-management forms 2001, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2201, and 2212. These leasing and property-management forms have an effective date of Jan. 1, 2012, but it's OK to use previous versions until zipForm has updated them. See a summary of the changes at TexasRealtors.com - pdf.