Source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/getting-your-home-back-after-property-tax-sale-texas.html
Timestamp: 2019-05-27 00:14:29
Document Index: 3672253

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 33', '§ 33', '§ 34', '§ 34', '§ 33', '§ 34']

Getting Your Home Back After a Property Tax Sale in Texas | Nolo
When you don’t pay your property taxes in Texas, the taxing authority can foreclose on your home and sell it to a new owner. You do, however, get the opportunity to save your home both before and after the sale. This is called “redeeming” the home. If you don't redeem, you’ll lose your home permanently.
How Texas Tax Foreclosures Work
If you get behind on your real property taxes in Texas, the taxing authority may initiate a foreclosure by filing a lawsuit in court. The court will enter a judgment and the home will be sold to pay off your tax debt. If no one bids on your home at the sale (or no one bids a sufficient amount), the county gets the home. (To get details on tax foreclosures in Texas, see What Happens If I Don't Pay Property Taxes in Texas.)
Your Right to Redeem Before the Sale
In Texas, you can pay off the overdue amounts to “redeem” the home before the sale takes place. This will release the tax lien that exists on the home and stop the foreclosure (Tex. Tax Code § 33.53).
How much you’ll have to pay to redeem before the sale. To redeem before the sale, you’ll have to pay the amount of the judgment. This will include taxes, interest, penalties, and costs (Tex. Tax Code § § 33.43, 33.48).
Your Right to Redeem After the Sale
Some states, including Texas, give you the right to redeem after the sale and buy your home back. In Texas, there is a two-year redemption period for residential homestead properties and agricultural properties. Other types of properties have a 180-day (six-month) redemption period (Tex. Tax Code § 34.21).
The post-sale redemption period starts when the deed is filed in the county records (Tex. Tax Code § 34.21).
This means that if you wait until after the sale to redeem, you’ll have to pay more than if you redeemed before the sale.
How much you’ll have to pay to redeem if the county has resold the home. If the county got the home at the sale and has since resold it to a new owner, you must pay:
Steps You Can Take to Reduce Your Taxes Before the Tax Foreclosure
Even though you can redeem your home after a Texas tax foreclosure, in most cases, it is better to take action before this happens to try to make your taxes more affordable. For example, before you fall behind in your taxes you could:
research whether you meet the qualifications for a property tax abatement (for example, if you are 65 years of age or older and you occupy the home as your primary residence) (Tex. Tax Code § 33.06), or
challenge the assessed value of your home (if you think it is incorrect) to reduce the amount of taxes you have to pay. (Learn more in Should You Challenge Your Property Tax Assessment in Texas and Procedures for Challenging Your Property Tax Assessment in Texas.)
To locate the statutes governing Texas tax foreclosures and your right to redeem the home, go to Chapter 34 § § 34.01 through 34.23 of the Texas Tax Code.