The first-week deadlines on a Texas resale contract, and how to track them

Texas resale transactions move fast in their first week. Money has to reach the escrow agent, the option period starts running, and title clocks begin. For a brokerage with dozens or hundreds of open files, these early dates are where small slips can turn into disputes and lost termination rights.

This guide covers the early deadlines in the current TREC One to Four Family Residential Contract (Resale), form 20-19, effective July 1, 2026, plus the broker trust money rule, and turns each into an operating habit.

How TREC counts days

Every deadline below depends on one counting rule. TREC explains that, starting with the effective (final execution) date of the contract, the first day of the period starts the next day, and each day is counted as a calendar day.

Form 20-19 adds a specific extension for money deadlines: if the last day to deliver the earnest money, option fee or additional earnest money falls on a Saturday, Sunday or Legal Holiday, the deadline moves to the end of the next day that is not one of those. The form defines Legal Holiday by reference to the Texas Government Code.

Because the effective date is the date of final execution, a file that does not record it accurately makes every downstream date a guess.

Earnest money and option fee: 3 days

Paragraph 5A of form 20-19 says that within 3 days after the effective date, the buyer must deliver the earnest money and the option fee to the escrow agent named in the contract. The two may be paid separately or combined in a single payment. Additional earnest money, if any, is due within the number of days the parties write into paragraph 5A(1).

The consequences of a miss are spelled out in the form:

• Late earnest money. Under paragraph 5C, if the buyer fails to deliver the earnest money on time, the seller may terminate the contract, exercise remedies under paragraph 15, or both, by giving notice before the buyer delivers the earnest money.
• Late or missing option fee. Under paragraph 5D, if no dollar amount is stated as the option fee or the buyer fails to deliver it on time, the buyer does not have the unrestricted right to terminate under paragraph 5.
• Strict timing. Paragraph 5E states that time is of the essence for paragraph 5 and strict compliance with the time for performance is required.

Asked whether a buyer who never paid the option fee can still terminate during the option period, TREC's FAQ answers "Probably not."

The option period ends at 5:00 p.m.

Paragraph 5B gives the buyer the unrestricted right to terminate by notice within the number of days after the effective date that the parties fill in. Notices under that paragraph must be given by 5:00 p.m., local time where the property is located, on the date specified. If the buyer terminates on time, the option fee is not refunded and any earnest money is refunded to the buyer.

Two operating details matter here. First, the cutoff is a time of day, not just a date, so a task that is "due today" is not precise enough. Second, paragraph 21 requires notices in writing, so the file should hold proof of when and how notice went out.

The broker's own clock: Rule 535.146

Separate from the contract, TREC Rule 535.146 governs trust money a broker accepts. The rule says trust money is held in a fiduciary capacity and must be kept in a designated trust account or delivered to an authorized Texas escrow agent under the principals' agreement. A sales agent may not maintain a trust account, and any trust money a sales agent receives must be delivered immediately to the sponsoring broker.

Unless the principals expressly agree in writing to a different time, the broker must deposit the trust money in a trust account or deliver it to an authorized escrow agent within a reasonable time, which TREC has determined to be no later than the close of business of the second working day after the broker receives it. The same rule prohibits commingling trust money with the broker's personal money or other non-trust money.

Title and disclosure dates that follow

Form 20-19 also sets dates that tend to slide when no one owns them:

• Title commitment. Under paragraph 6B, the seller must furnish the commitment within 20 days after the title company receives a copy of the contract, with an automatic extension of up to 15 days if it is not delivered in time.
• Objections and cure. Under paragraph 6D, the buyer's objection deadline is the earlier of the closing date or the number of days filled in after receiving the commitment, exception documents and survey. The seller then has 15 days to cure, and the buyer has 5 days after the cure period to terminate or waive.
• Seller's Disclosure Notice. If the buyer has not received it, paragraph 7B(2) lets the buyer terminate within 7 days after receiving it, or before closing, whichever comes first.

Turning dates into tracked tasks

None of these deadlines is complicated on its own. The risk in a growing brokerage is volume: every open file carries its own dates, often tracked in agents' calendars and inboxes. A few habits help:

1. Capture the effective date as data. Record the final execution date on the transaction record the day it happens, and calculate the 3-day, option period and other dates from it automatically, including the weekend and Legal Holiday extension for money deadlines.
2. Give each date an owner. Assign earnest money and option fee receipt confirmation to a named person, not to "the agent."
3. Store proof on the file. Attach the escrow agent's receipt and any termination notice, with the time sent, to the transaction record.
4. Log trust money on receipt. When the brokerage receives funds, record the received date so the two-working-day deposit deadline is visible.
5. Escalate before the miss. Flag files where receipt is not confirmed by the end of day 2, and route option period expirations to a supervisor on the last day.
6. Review exceptions by office. A weekly view of late or unconfirmed deadlines shows where processes need attention.

This is the model behind PulseHubCo's connected modules, built for brokerages with 20 or more agents up to multi-office enterprises: contract dates become milestones with owners, and at-risk tasks surface to the broker. Systems like these can help reduce missed deadlines; they do not replace reading each contract. For the supervision side of the same obligations, see our guide to TREC Rule 535.2.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Contract terms vary by transaction and TREC forms and rules change, so confirm current requirements with TREC, the executed contract and your counsel. For more guides like this, browse PulseHubCo Insights.