The Property Owners Association of Terlingua Ranch, Inc. is a non-profit corporation. We have approximately 5,000 members who own 9,500 individual tracts of land spanning the 190,000 acres which comprise Terlingua Ranch. POATRI's goal is to be a benefit and resource to our property owners.
The Purpose of POATRI
- To be a useful resource and benefit to the property owners of Terlingua Ranch
- To maintain and improve roads that give access to Terlingua Ranch tracts
- To administer and enforce the Terlingua Ranch Maintenance Agreement and the collection of assessments
- To develop, improve, or maintain any recreational areas or health and safety projects on property owned by POATRI
Basics of POATRI
Basics information for the the Property Owners Association of Terlingua Ranch, Inc. is below. Please visit our Library for more information.
Here at Headquarters
Terlingua Ranch has many resources available here at Headquarters to help our Property Owners. Visit TerlinguaRanch.com for more information.
The Board of Directors is elected by the members and are vested with the administration of POATRI affairs. To learn more about the Board of Directors please click here. The Board of Directors is charged with the responsibility of hiring a Manager to oversee the daily operations of POATRI. The staff is under the direct supervision of the Manager.
Terlingua Ranch began in the late 1960’s when the Developer, Great Western Corporation, started to purchase smaller private ranches. Eventually Great Western Corporation acquired about 190,000 acres and changed their name to Terramar. Smaller individual tracts where platted to be sold to individual owners. Roads had to be created in order to access the individual tracts so that the tracts could be sold. By the early 1970’s, Great Western realized that the roads they were creating would need to be maintained through the generations and at that point the Terlingua Ranch Maintenance Association (“TRMA”) was founded and filed for record in October of 1971.
The TRMA document filed by Great Western placed a permanent encumbrance on the property stating that it was all part of Terlingua Ranch. Current and future owners would be legally required to contribute towards the Maintenance Fund so that the roads could continue to be maintained and to fund any other projects deemed “for the common good and benefit of owners of Terlingua Ranch”.
POATRI is responsible for the maintenance of Terlingua Ranch roads. The Terlingua Ranch Road Crew maintains 1,100 miles of roads through mountains and desert so that our 5,000 property owners can access their 9,500 different tracts of land in a high clearance 4WD/AWD vehicle.
Since July of 2005, the assessments have been based on an annual flat fee charge for each property owner account. Every October our Board of Directors may vote to increase the annual fee by the consumer price index or national inflation for the upcoming year. Our annual assessment fees are applied to all billable accounts at the end of November and the statements are mailed out in early December. The annual assessments are due on March 31st. A $10 late fee is applied to all accounts that are not paid in full by April 15th.
As long as all of the land is in the exact same name(s) there will only be one account and one fee. If you were to buy land with other friends, family or business names, then you could have several accounts and several annual fees.
The amount of the annual assessment pays for about an hour and a half of maintaining our roads.
The 2024 annual assessment is $219.03. The 2023 annual assessment was $210.26. Assessments can be paid online here.
Past assessments, interest and liens are legally attached to the land. If there are past assessments and interest on your account, when you sell land, the debt will transfer with the land to the new owner. If you purchase land from someone who has past assessments or interest on their account you will become responsible for that debt. Past assessments and interest are pro-rated by acreage on all non-exempt tracts belonging to the account. Please contact Property Owner Services for the amount that will transfer if you are not already working with professionals.
Exempt Tracts are tracts which are not subject to the annual assessment fee. The first exempt tracts were created by the Developer in the original TRMA document. Exhibit A of the TRMA document lists all of the land that is a part of Terlingua Ranch and Exhibit B lists all of the tracts subject to pay assessments. When the Developer realized that a permanent encumbrance was necessary for the future of Terlingua Ranch and the maintenance of the roads, they had already sold some of the land and therefore could not bind property they no longer owned to legally pay assessments. The tracts that are exempt due to the original TRMA document are considered exempt by Exhibit B. Some of the tracts listed as exempt on the TRMA document were later changed to be no longer exempt by the Developer when they were sold by stating that the owners of the property did have to pay a maintenance fee on the deed.
There are other reasons a tract could be exempt. If the Developer sold land and specifically stated on the original deed that the land was subject to $0.00 maintenance charge, then those tracts are considered exempt by deed.
There are other tracts that are only temporarily exempt due to the Temporary Partial Waiver documents filed in 2007 and 2008. The tracts listed on the Temporary Partial Waiver documents remain exempt as long as they are owned by the same individuals who owned the land when the documents were filed. Once those tracts are sold they are no longer exempt.
Property Owners who only own exempt tracts are not required to pay the annual assessment fee. We do send voluntary donation letters to our exempt owners and the support they give is greatly appreciated.
Members and their rights are fully defined in Article 3 of our Bylaws.
It is the property owner’s responsibility to make sure our office and the Brewster County Tax Office have a correct address on file. If you ever see anything on your statement that does not look correct, please contact Property Owner Services so the situation can either be explained or corrected.
Hunting has always been a part of Terlingua Ranch. The only land on which you are allowed to hunt is land you either own or have written permission from the owner. The deer locker at Headquarters is operational every Thanksgiving to mid-December. There is a charge for each carcass stored. Please contact the Game Wardens of Brewster County for additional information. Terlingua Ranch office does not keep a list of possible deer leases but we do keep forms on file for property owners wishing to inform the Game Wardens that hunting is never to be allowed on their property and that poachers on their property should be prosecuted.
Terlingua Ranch publishes a quarterly newsletter to keep our property owners informed about what’s going on “Around the Ranch”. We send all property owners in good standing a newsletter either by mail or email. Our newsletters can be found by selecting the Newsletters tab on our Library page.
The Lodge Office is open every day from 8 am to 7 pm.
Property Owner Services Office is open Monday – Friday from 9 am – 5 pm.
The Terlingua Ranch Lodge has rooms, RV sites and tent sites available for those that need a comfortable place to stay. In our rooms you will find two beds, full bath, an air conditioner and heater, a writing table and a dresser. Property owners in good standing receive reduced rates on our cabin guest rooms.
The Terlingua Ranch Lodge swimming pool has a beautiful view and is open from 10am to 10pm, March through October each year. Swimming pool use is included with each room, RV or campsite rental. If you are not a guest at the Lodge there is a $25.00 season pass for POATRI members in good standing or otherwise a $8.00 fee per person per day. Pass keys are available at the office.
Our Bath House costs $2.00 per person per shower and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Property Owners and Lodge guests enjoy free use of this facility. Airbnb
The Bad Rabbit Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Our Cafe is open 7am – 8pm Sunday – Saturday. You can reach the Bad Rabbit Cafe by calling 432-371-2244.
Beer & Wine are available at the Bad Rabbit Cafe. Our guests may bring in their own liquor and buy mixers from the Cafe.
Free WiFi is available at our headquarters for use by POATRI members and guests of our Terlingua Ranch Lodge.
Our Laundromat is open everyday from 12 pm to 10 pm. We have coin operated machines and a change machine that accepts dollar bills. You can purchase rolls of quarters and laundry soap at the Lodge Office during business hours.
In our Map Room you can find all of the original Terlingua Ranch plat maps, USGS maps which show all of the major roads and topography and our property owner database.
Our retail gift shop in the Terlingua Ranch Lodge office can supply you with all of your Terlingua Ranch souvenirs.
Our Office sells non-potable water for 10 cents per gallon, and potable water for 25 cents per gallon to property owners. Non-potable water may be purchased twice a month (from the 1st to the 15th, and from the 16th to the 31st) with a limit of 500 gallons for each purchase. Potable water may be purchased on the same schedule with a limit of 50 gallons for each purchase. Water may be purchased from 9am to 3pm. The office also sells eight pound bags of ice.
The Meeting Room Bunkhouse is located below the restaurant and is available for use by our property owners for a non-refundable $25 deposit and is a great place for parties, meetings or classes.
We hope this information helps you better understand how very small the assessment payment is compared to all of the benefits it provides.