Texas tax sale law
Texas sells the property itself at a tax-foreclosure deed sale — no lien certificate exists; the deed vests title subject to the former owner's statutory right of redemption, which runs from the day the deed is filed for record. Each row below carries the statute it rests on, the operative text verbatim, and the date it was read from the official source.
| Fact | What the law says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| What is sold | The officer sells real property under an order of sale or tax warrant and executes a deed vesting good and perfect title in the purchaser, subject only to the former owner's right of redemption and certain recorded covenants and easements; the redemption right gives the former owner no use or possession meanwhile. Section history shows amendments through Acts 2025, 89th Leg. (H.B. 3680), eff. 2025-09-01. | Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(a), (n); § 34.21(h) · read 2026-08-30 |
| Redemption period | Residence-homestead, agricultural-use and mineral-interest property may be redeemed on or before the second anniversary of the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record; all other real property within 180 days of filing. The clock runs from deed filing, not from the sale. § 34.21(l): an instrument purporting to transfer the owner's right of redemption is void. | Tex. Tax Code § 34.21(a), (e)(1) · read 2026-08-30 |
| Redemption interest / premium | Redemption requires paying the purchaser the bid, the deed recording fee, and the taxes, penalties, interest and costs the purchaser paid, plus a redemption premium of 25% of that aggregate in the first year or 50% in the second; for property on the 180-day track the premium may not exceed 25%. It is a flat premium tied to the year of redemption, not an annualized rate. Allowable 'costs' are defined and capped by § 34.21(g)(2), (i) — the purchaser must itemize them in writing on the owner's request. | Tex. Tax Code § 34.21(a), (e)(2) · read 2026-08-30 |
| Bidding mechanic | The sale is conducted in the manner of an execution sale; if no bid reaches the lesser of the judgment amount or the adjudged value, the officer bids the property off to the taxing unit. A county commissioners court may authorize online-bidding auctions in place of the courthouse-steps sale. Struck-off property is later resold under § 34.05 — a different statute; Bexar County's list in this corpus is a § 34.05 resale inventory, not an original sale. | Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(a), (a-1), (j) · read 2026-08-30 |
| Statutory sale timing | A sale must take place at the county courthouse between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month (first Wednesday when the first Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4); an online auction may begin at any time but must conclude at 4 p.m. that day. | Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(r), (r-1), (r-2) · read 2026-08-30 |
| Bidder registration | Two county-dependent regimes: § 34.011 (adopted by commissioners-court order) requires pre-sale bidder registration with the county assessor-collector, and § 34.015 bars the officer from delivering a deed unless the winning bidder exhibits an unexpired assessor-collector statement showing no delinquent county taxes — automatic in counties of 250,000 or more that have not adopted § 34.011. The § 34.015 statement expires 90 days after issuance; § 34.015 last amended eff. 2023-09-01. | Tex. Tax Code §§ 34.011, 34.015(b), (p) · read 2026-08-30 |
| Payment at sale | Chapter 34 prescribes no express payment or deposit terms for a winning bidder; payment mechanics follow the execution-sale manner incorporated by § 34.01(a), and any deposit rules at an online auction come from the county's commissioners-court rules. Verified as absent by a full read of §§ 34.01–34.015 and a term search across the fetched chapter text; the only payment clauses concern purchasing taxing units and excess-proceeds deposits. | Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(a), (k); ch. 34 generally · read 2026-08-30 |
| Funds above the taxes due | Excess proceeds go into the court registry and are held two years from the sale; any person may petition within that window, the court pays claims in a statutory priority order ending with the former owner, the clerk must notify the former owner when the excess tops $25, and unclaimed proceeds go to the taxing units. § 34.03 was amended by Acts 2023 (H.B. 4250, eff. 2023-09-01 — the post-Tyler owner-notice provisions) and Acts 2025 (H.B. 16, eff. 2025-12-04). § 34.04(f)–(j) tightly regulates assignments of owner claims. | Tex. Tax Code §§ 34.03(a)–(b), 34.04(a), (c) · read 2026-08-30 |
A statutory sale day is a fact about the law, not an announcement of a sale. No date on this page means a county has scheduled anything — the sale calendar lists only dates counties have actually published.
The operative text
Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(a), (n); § 34.21(h) · read 2026-08-30
The deed vests good and perfect title in the purchaser or the purchaser's assigns to the interest owned by the defendant in the property subject to the foreclosure … subject only to the defendant's right of redemption … The deed may be impeached only for fraud.
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code § 34.21(a), (e)(1) · read 2026-08-30
…may redeem the property on or before the second anniversary of the date on which the purchaser's deed is filed for record… …the owner's right of redemption may be exercised not later than the 180th day following the date on which the purchaser's or taxing unit's deed is filed for record…
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code § 34.21(a), (e)(2) · read 2026-08-30
…by paying the purchaser the amount the purchaser bid for the property, the amount of the deed recording fee, and the amount paid by the purchaser as taxes, penalties, interest, and costs on the property, plus a redemption premium of 25 percent of the aggregate total if the property is redeemed during the first year of the redemption period or 50 percent of the aggregate total if the property is redeemed during the second year of the redemption period.
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(a), (a-1), (j) · read 2026-08-30
If a bid sufficient to pay the lesser of the amount calculated under Subsection (b) or the adjudged value is not received, the taxing unit that requested the order of sale may terminate the sale. If the taxing unit does not terminate the sale, the officer making the sale shall bid the property off to the taxing unit…
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(r), (r-1), (r-2) · read 2026-08-30
A sale of real property under this section, other than a sale conducted by means of a public auction using online bidding and sale under Subsection (a-1), must take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month or, if the first Tuesday of a month occurs on January 1 or July 4, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month.
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code §§ 34.011, 34.015(b), (p) · read 2026-08-30
A commissioners court may require that, to be eligible to bid at a sale of real property under this chapter, a person must be registered as a bidder with the county assessor-collector before the sale begins. … The officer may not execute or deliver a deed to the purchaser of the property unless the purchaser exhibits to the officer an unexpired written statement issued under this section … showing that: (1) there are no delinquent taxes owed by the person to that county…
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code § 34.01(a), (k); ch. 34 generally · read 2026-08-30
The sale shall be conducted in the manner similar property is sold under execution except as otherwise provided by this subtitle.
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Tex. Tax Code §§ 34.03(a)–(b), 34.04(a), (c) · read 2026-08-30
…keep the excess proceeds paid into court as provided by Section 34.02(d) for a period of two years after the date of the sale unless otherwise ordered by the court… A person, including a taxing unit and the Title IV-D agency, may file a petition in the court that ordered the seizure or sale setting forth a claim to the excess proceeds. The petition must be filed before the second anniversary of the date of the sale of the property.
Source: https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/property-tax/docs/96-297-25.pdf
Texas counties on this site
- Bexar County — 27 parcels listed
- Cameron County — 2 parcels listed
- Walker County — 14 parcels listed
Elsewhere on this site
Statutory facts on this page were read from the official statute host or the state's own promulgated rules on the dates shown. Statutes are amended; the citation and quote are provided so every field can be re-checked at its source. This page is not legal advice.