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Plain-English guides to the public records behind Texas real estate and property tax: what each record means, where it comes from, and how lenders and investors use it.
Tax delinquency
A Calendar of the Texas Property Tax Year
Month-by-month Texas property tax dates: Jan 1 lien, Feb 1 delinquency, May 15 protests, July 1 penalty jump, Oct 1 bills and first-Tuesday sales.
How Texas Appraisal Districts and Tax Offices Differ
Who does what in Texas property tax: the appraisal district values property and keeps owner records, taxing units set rates, tax offices bill and collect.
How Texas Property Tax Delinquency Works
Texas property taxes go delinquent Feb. 1. Here is how penalty, interest and the July 1 attorney collection penalty build up, with the statutes.
How to Read a Texas Delinquent Tax Statement
A field-by-field guide to a Texas delinquent property tax statement: taxing units, base tax, penalty, interest, collection fees, suit and deferral flags.
Installment Agreements with Texas Tax Offices
Texas tax office payment plans: §33.02 delinquent installment agreements, four payments for seniors and the disabled, split payment and disaster plans.
Texas Delinquent Tax Suits Explained
What a Texas delinquent property tax suit is, who files it, who gets sued, what it costs the owner, and how it ends: paid, dismissed or judgment.
The Over-65 and Disabled Property Tax Deferral in Texas
How the Texas §33.06 deferral stops tax suits and sales on homesteads of owners 65+, disabled owners and disabled veterans, and why it matters for data.
Tax suits
Texas Delinquent Tax Suits Explained
What a Texas delinquent property tax suit is, who files it, who gets sued, what it costs the owner, and how it ends: paid, dismissed or judgment.
Tax sales
Excess Proceeds From Texas Tax Sales
When a Texas tax sale brings more than the judgment, the excess goes to the court. Who can claim it, the 2-year deadline, and the strict Texas fee limits.
Redemption Rights After a Texas Tax Sale
Texas owners can buy back tax-sold property: 2 years for homesteads and ag land (25% or 50% premium), 180 days otherwise. What it costs and how.
Struck-Off Properties and Tax Resales in Texas
When a Texas tax sale gets no bid, the property is struck off to the taxing unit and resold later. How resales work, minimum prices and what to check.
Tax Judgments and Constable or Sheriff Tax Sales in Texas
After a Texas tax judgment, a sheriff or constable sells the property on the first Tuesday. Notice, minimum bids, bidder rules, the deed and possession.
Tax Lien Certificates vs Tax Deeds: Why Texas Is a Deed State
Tax lien certificate states vs tax deed states, why Texas sells a redeemable deed instead of a lien, and how Florida, Arizona, Georgia and others compare.
Who Runs Texas Tax Suits and Where Sale Lists Are Posted
Texas tax sales involve tax offices, private law firms, sheriffs and constables, and online auction sites. Who does what, and where to find sale lists.
Redemption
Redemption Rights After a Texas Tax Sale
Texas owners can buy back tax-sold property: 2 years for homesteads and ag land (25% or 50% premium), 180 days otherwise. What it costs and how.
Property tax loans
Property Tax Lender Advertising Rules in Texas
What Texas property tax lenders must and must not say in mail and ads: the §351.0023 installment notice, 7 TAC §89.208, and the 30-day lawsuit rule.
Texas Property Tax Loans and Tax Lien Transfers
How Texas property tax loans work: the §32.06 tax lien transfer, Finance Code ch. 351 licensing, the OCCC, rate and fee caps, and who cannot get one.
Foreclosure
Bankruptcy and the Automatic Stay for Real Estate
What the bankruptcy automatic stay does to foreclosures, tax suits and evictions, its limits for repeat filers, and what it means for Texas investors.
HOA Foreclosures in Texas
How Texas HOAs collect and foreclose assessment liens under Property Code ch. 209: notices, payment plans, court orders and the 180-day redemption right.
Home-Equity Foreclosures in Texas and the Rule 736 Expedited Process
Why Texas home-equity loans, HELOCs and reverse mortgages need a court order to foreclose, and how the expedited Rule 736 case works.
Texas Non-Judicial Foreclosure: Notice of Sale to First-Tuesday Auction
How Texas trustee foreclosures work: the 20-day cure notice, the 21-day notice of sale, courthouse posting, and the first-Tuesday auction.
Liens
Abstracts of Judgment in Texas: How Judgment Liens Attach, and Homestead Protection
How a Texas abstract of judgment becomes a lien on real property, how long it lasts, why it doesn't attach to a homestead, and how owners clear it.
Federal and State Tax Liens on Texas Property
How IRS and Texas Comptroller tax liens attach to real estate, where they are filed, how long they last, and what they mean for a sale or foreclosure.
Lis Pendens in Texas
What a Texas notice of lis pendens is, when it can be filed, how it binds buyers and lenders, and how it is removed under Property Code §12.0071.
Mechanic's Liens in Texas
How Texas mechanic's and materialman's liens work after the 2022 reforms: who can file, deadlines, homestead rules, and how liens are removed.
Lis pendens
Lis Pendens in Texas
What a Texas notice of lis pendens is, when it can be filed, how it binds buyers and lenders, and how it is removed under Property Code §12.0071.
Probate
Affidavits of Heirship and Small Estate Affidavits in Texas
How Texas heirs pass a house without full probate: the recorded affidavit of heirship, the $75,000 small estate affidavit, and their limits for title.
Heirs' Property in Texas
What heirs' property is, why fractional family ownership blocks sales, and how Texas's Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act changes partition suits.
Probate in Texas and the House
How Texas probate moves a house to heirs: independent administration, muniment of title, the four-year rule, and what a buyer needs to see before closing.
Divorce
Divorce and the Marital Home in Texas
How Texas community property law, homestead rules, standing orders and divorce decrees affect selling a house while a divorce is pending or after.
Evictions
Evictions in Texas Justice Courts: The 2026 Rules
How Texas evictions work for suits filed on or after Jan. 1, 2026 under SB 38 and new Rule 510: notices, service, trial timing, appeals and writs.
Code violations
Code Violations, Substandard Buildings and Demolition Orders
How Texas cities enforce building codes: code cases, substandard building hearings, repair or demolition orders, civil penalties and city liens.
Creative finance
Executory Contracts and Lease-Options in Texas
Why Texas treats lease-options and contracts for deed as executory contracts, the Property Code ch. 5 rules, and the lien rule that blocks subject-to.
Subject-To and Due-On-Sale Basics
How subject-to purchases work, what the due-on-sale clause and Garn-St Germain actually say, and the Texas notice rules buyers should know.
Wraparound Mortgages and Seller Finance in Texas
Texas wrap mortgage rules: Finance Code ch. 159 disclosures and rescission, who must originate, the 3-loan exemptions, and federal seller-finance limits.
Owner signals and data
Absentee Owners and Tired Landlords
How to spot absentee owners and tired landlords in Texas public records, the signals of a landlord ready to sell, and tenant rules that follow the house.
Daily Data vs Monthly Lists
Why timing matters for Texas tax, foreclosure and court leads, what goes stale in a monthly list, and how to use daily public-records data well.
Finding and Working Vacant Properties in Texas
Public-record clues that a Texas house is vacant, what cities can do to vacant buildings, squatter removal under Property Code ch. 24B, and outreach.
How to Stack Distress Signals
Why one distress signal is weak and several on the same parcel are strong: how to combine Texas tax, court, code and owner records into a ranked list.
Compliance
TCPA and Do Not Call Basics for Outreach to Owners
Federal TCPA, Do Not Call and Texas telemarketing rules for calling and texting property owners, including SB 140 and the 2025 consent changes.
Texas Data Broker and Privacy Laws for Real Estate Data Users
How Texas's data broker law (ch. 509), privacy act (ch. 541) and breach law apply to public-record property data and skip-traced contact data.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act and Property Data
When a property or distress list becomes a consumer report under the FCRA, and why real estate data is for marketing, not eligibility decisions.
Public records and data
Glossary of Texas Property Tax and Real Estate Records Terms
Plain-English definitions of 100+ Texas property tax, foreclosure, probate, lien and public-records terms used by tax lenders and real estate investors.
How Public Records Work in Texas
Where Texas property, tax, court and city records live, what the Public Information Act covers, and what it doesn't, in plain English.
Why Texas Is a Non-Disclosure State and How Values Are Estimated
Texas doesn't make sale prices public. Here is why, where appraisal values come from, and how to estimate a Texas property's value.