I was given permits to build an expensive boat house and dock in Texas, on a lake owned by the local municipal water district. They control all construction permits, etc., and own a narrow strip of land along the entire lakefront. Who owns the dock structure itself?

No one on here can answer that. YOu need to go look it up at the local county register of deeds. If there is a structure, you may be able to do a permit history search for that speecific property to find out also. If you are not sure, you should consider hiring an attorney or title company to perform a limited title history search for you.

Perhaps further explanation is necessary. We bought "lakefront" land 5 years ago, on a lake owned by a local municipal utility district in TX. The district owns a strip of land all around the lake. We got their necessary permits and built a boat house behind our property. Access is by annually renewable "ingress and egress permits" to the water front. The district has now declared the land where my dock is, to be "surplus land", and they intend to sell it, along with my boat dock; no compensation to us whatsoever. Because a friend of the exec. director wants it. My main question at this point is: "who owns the dock?" They won't tell me because I don't even think they know. If they had followed their own permitting rules, this would have never happened. This has cost us $100,000 loss in value to our property.

Title searches have been done. Of course, we built the dock and the prior owner had no boat dock at all. BTW, I've already consulted with 2 R.E. attorneys, who tell me a suit will cost $50,000-$60,000. We can't afford that. Just hoping here that maybe someone has dealt with a similar situation. Thanks for any responses.