Delinquent Property Taxes in Texas: A Lawsuit, a First Tuesday Sale, and a Flat Premium to Buy It Back
Reviewed by DocDraft Legal Team · Texas · Last updated October 21, 2026
In Texas no investor buys a certificate against a delinquent house. A taxing unit files suit in the county where the tax was imposed, a court enters judgment and an order of sale, and the sheriff or constable sells the property itself (Tex. Tax Code 33.41(a), 34.01(a)). Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner failed to pay by the date the state fixed, after which penalties and interest are added and the property can be sold to collect them. Taxes are due on receipt of the bill and are delinquent if not paid before February 1 (Tex. Tax Code 31.02(a)). A six percent penalty attaches in the first delinquent month and climbs a point a month to a flat twelve percent on July 1, while interest runs separately at one percent a month with no stated maximum (Tex. Tax Code 33.01(a), (c)). There is no waiting period to count down. Suit may be filed at any time after the delinquency date (Tex. Tax Code 33.41(a)), and the sale falls between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(r-1)). The purchaser's deed vests title subject only to the former owner's right of redemption (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(n)), and that right is where the numbers turn unusual. The price to take the property back is a flat premium with no time component, and the deadline is counted from the day the deed is filed for record rather than from the auction (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)). You pay the purchaser, not the county. Attorney review is available through DocDraft.
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Where are you with the unpaid property taxes?
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When can a Texas taxing unit sell my house for unpaid property taxes?
At any time after the tax becomes delinquent a taxing unit may file suit to foreclose the lien securing payment of the tax (Tex. Tax Code 33.41(a)). There is no fixed waiting period. Once a judgment and order of sale issue, the officer sells the property on the first Tuesday of a month (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(r-1)).
How much does a Texas owner pay to redeem after a tax sale?
The purchaser's bid, the deed recording fee, and the taxes, penalties, interest and costs the purchaser paid, plus a redemption premium of 25 percent of that aggregate total in the first year of the redemption period or 50 percent in the second year (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)). The premium does not prorate.
How long is the redemption period after a Texas tax sale?
Two clocks. A residence homestead, land designated for agricultural use, or a mineral interest can be redeemed on or before the second anniversary of the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)). All other real property runs to the 180th day after that filing (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(e)(1)).
When do Texas property taxes become delinquent?
Taxes are due on receipt of the tax bill and are delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the following year (Tex. Tax Code 31.02(a)). A bill mailed after January 10 pushes that date to the first day of the next month giving at least 21 days to pay (Tex. Tax Code 31.04(a)).
Texas delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Texas collects a delinquent tax bill through a courtroom, which is why the vocabulary here is judgments and constables rather than certificates. Delinquent property taxes are taxes an owner did not pay by the date the state fixed, after which penalties and interest are added and the property can be sold to collect them. Three features set the state apart. The sale is a foreclosure sale held on the first Tuesday of a month by the officer charged with selling it (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(a), (r-1)). The redemption clock starts when the deed is filed for record, not at the auction, and runs two years for a homestead or agricultural land, 180 days for everything else (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a), (e)(1)). The charge to redeem is a flat premium paid to the purchaser, 25 percent in year one and 50 in year two (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)).
A Del Valle house taken at a Travis County first Tuesday sale, with the deed recorded weeks later
The owner of a three bedroom house near Del Valle lets the 2023 bill go unpaid, leaving about 6,100 dollars on the delinquent roll. Penalty and interest build from February 1 under Tex. Tax Code 33.01(a) and (c), the school district's collection attorney penalty is added under its contract (Tex. Tax Code 33.07(a)), and a taxing unit sues. After judgment the property is offered at the Travis County sale, which the tax office now runs online, and a bidder takes it. That office mails a Constable's Deed within about four weeks, and the day that deed is filed for record is the day the owner's two year homestead window opens (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)). Redeeming in month three costs the same 25 percent premium as redeeming in month eleven. What the buyer actually spent is for the itemization under Tex. Tax Code 34.21(i) to prove.
Relevant Laws
Tex. Tax Code 31.02 (when taxes become delinquent)
Provides that taxes are due on receipt of the tax bill and are delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the year following the year in which imposed, subject to the split payment and postponement sections. It also gives an eligible person on active military duty transferred out of the state until the 60th day after discharge, return to the state for more than 10 days, or return to non-active duty status to pay without penalty or interest.
Tex. Tax Code 31.04 (postponement of the delinquency date)
Provides that a tax bill mailed after January 10 postpones the delinquency date to the first day of the next month that gives at least 21 days after mailing to pay, and that the postponed date is the date on which penalties and interest begin to be incurred under section 33.01. A bill covering earlier years the property was erroneously omitted from the roll gives at least 180 days.
Tex. Tax Code 31.031 (four equal installments for certain homestead owners)
Lets an individual who is disabled or at least 65 and qualified under section 11.13(c), or a disabled veteran or unmarried surviving spouse qualified under section 11.132 or 11.22, pay taxes on an occupied residence homestead in four equal installments without penalty or interest, with the second, third and fourth due before April 1, June 1 and August 1 where the delinquency date is February 1. A missed installment incurs a six percent penalty and interest under section 33.01(c).
Tex. Tax Code 32.01 (the tax lien attaches on January 1)
Provides that on January 1 of each year a tax lien attaches to property to secure the payment of all taxes, penalties and interest ultimately imposed for the year, whether or not the taxes are imposed in the year the lien attaches, and that the lien exists in favor of each taxing unit having power to tax the property. The lien is perfected on attachment and requires no further action.
Tex. Tax Code 33.01 (penalty and interest on the delinquency)
Provides a penalty of six percent of the tax for the first calendar month it is delinquent plus one percent for each additional month or portion of a month before July 1, and a total penalty of twelve percent for a tax delinquent on July 1 without regard to the number of months. Interest accrues separately at one percent for each month or portion of a month the tax remains unpaid. Both continue regardless of whether a judgment has been rendered.
Tex. Tax Code 33.02 (installment payment of delinquent taxes)
Provides that the collector may agree to installments with any delinquent taxpayer and shall do so on request by a person delinquent on a residence homestead with an exemption under section 11.13 who has not had such an agreement with that collector in the preceding 24 months. The agreement must be written and monthly, must run at least 12 months for such a homestead, and may not exceed 36 months. No penalty accrues on a qualifying homestead balance during the agreement, and the property may not be seized, sold or sued over unless the owner defaults.
Tex. Tax Code 33.04 (the annual notice of delinquency)
Requires the collector to deliver a notice of delinquency at least once each year to each person whose name appears on the current delinquent tax roll, and requires the notice to carry, in capital letters, a statement telling a residence homestead owner to contact the tax collector about a right to enter into an installment agreement directly with the collector for payment of the taxes.
Tex. Tax Code 33.05 (limitation on collection)
Provides that a suit may not be filed to collect a tax on real property that has been delinquent more than 20 years, or on personal property delinquent more than four years, and that a tax delinquent for longer than the limitation period, with its penalty and interest, is presumed paid unless a suit to collect it is pending. The collector must cancel and remove such a tax from the delinquent roll where no litigation is pending.
Tex. Tax Code 33.06 (deferral for an elderly or disabled owner or a disabled veteran)
Entitles an individual who is 65 or older, disabled as defined by section 11.13(m), or qualified under section 11.22 to defer collection, abate a suit, or abate a sale to foreclose on a residence homestead the individual owns and occupies. An affidavit delivered to the chief appraiser, the collector or its delinquent tax attorney, and the selling officer not later than the fifth day before the sale stops the sale. Interest during the deferral is five percent a year instead of the section 33.01 rate, and no section 33.01 penalty is incurred.
Tex. Tax Code 33.07 and 33.08 (the additional collection penalty)
Section 33.07 lets a taxing unit or appraisal district that has contracted with an attorney under section 6.30 impose an additional penalty on taxes delinquent on July 1 to defray collection costs, in an amount that may not exceed the compensation specified in that contract, and requires a notice of the delinquency and the penalty at least 30 and not more than 60 days before July 1. Section 33.08 does the same for taxes that become delinquent on or after June 1, with the penalty incurred on the first day of the first month beginning at least 21 days after the notice is sent.
Tex. Tax Code 6.30 (the 20 percent ceiling on collection attorney compensation)
Provides that the governing body of a taxing unit may contract with any competent attorney to represent the unit to enforce the collection of delinquent taxes, that the attorney's compensation is set in the contract, and that the total amount of compensation provided may not exceed 20 percent of the amount of delinquent tax, penalty and interest collected. A contract that does not conform to the section is void.
Tex. Tax Code 33.41 (suit to collect a delinquent tax)
Provides that at any time after its tax on property becomes delinquent a taxing unit may file suit to foreclose the lien securing payment of the tax, to enforce personal liability for the tax, or both, and that the suit must be in a court of competent jurisdiction for the county in which the tax was imposed. A suit to collect a delinquent tax takes precedence over other suits pending in appellate courts.
Tex. Tax Code 33.48 (costs and expenses recovered in the suit)
Entitles a taxing unit to recover, in addition to other costs authorized by law, all usual court costs including service of process and electronic filing fees, the cost of filing a notice of lis pendens, the expenses of the foreclosure sale, reasonable expenses of determining necessary parties and legal descriptions, attorney's fees in the amount of 15 percent of the total taxes, penalties and interest due the unit, and reasonable attorney ad litem fees approved by the court.
Tex. Tax Code 34.01 (the sale, its calendar, and what the deed conveys)
Requires property ordered sold on foreclosure of a tax lien to be sold by the officer charged with selling it, in the manner similar property is sold under execution, with the sale between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month, or the first Wednesday where the first Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4. A commissioners court may authorize a public auction using online bidding and sale. The officer must give written notice of the sale under Rule 21a to each defendant to the judgment, but failure to send or receive that notice is insufficient by itself to invalidate the sale or the title. The deed vests good and perfect title subject only to the right of redemption and listed recorded interests, and may be impeached only for fraud. Where no sufficient bid is received the officer bids the property off to the taxing unit that requested the order of sale.
Tex. Tax Code 34.21 (right of redemption, both clocks and the premium)
Provides that the owner of real property sold at a tax sale to a purchaser other than a taxing unit that was used as the owner's residence homestead or was land designated for agricultural use when the suit or the application for the warrant was filed, or the owner of a mineral interest, may redeem on or before the second anniversary of the date on which the purchaser's deed is filed for record by 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 percent of the aggregate total in the first year of the redemption period or 50 percent in the second. All other real property runs to the 180th day after the deed is filed for record, with the premium payable to a non-taxing-unit purchaser capped at 25 percent. Property bid off to a taxing unit and not resold is redeemed for the lesser of the judgment or the judgment's market value plus fee and costs. The section defines costs, gives the owner a right to an itemization within 10 days, denies the former owner use, possession and rents during the window, and makes any transfer of the right of redemption void.
Tex. Tax Code 34.02 and 34.03 (distribution of proceeds and the clerk's notice)
Section 34.02 sets the order in which sale proceeds are applied, starting with advertising costs, attorney ad litem fees, court costs and the officer's fees and commissions before the taxes, penalties, interest and attorney's fees under the judgment, and requires the officer to pay any excess to the clerk of the court. Section 34.03 requires the clerk, where the excess is more than 25 dollars, to send written notice to the former owner at the last known address before the 31st day after receipt, stating the amount and the right to claim it, and to keep the excess for two years after the date of the sale before distributing it to the taxing units.
Tex. Tax Code 34.04 (claims for excess proceeds)
Provides that a person may file a petition in the court that ordered the seizure or sale setting forth a claim to the excess proceeds, that the petition must be filed before the second anniversary of the date of the sale, and that it may be filed under the cause number of the underlying suit. It ranks former owners behind taxing units and lienholders, caps an attorney's fee for obtaining excess proceeds at 25 percent of the amount obtained or 1,000 dollars whichever is less, bars a non-attorney from charging a fee at all, and voids an assignment of the claim that does not meet its conditions.
Tex. Tax Code 34.05 (resale by the taxing unit)
Provides that a taxing unit to which property was sold may sell it at any time by public or private sale, that the sale is subject to any right of redemption of the former owner, and that the redemption period begins on the date the deed to the taxing unit is filed for record. It sets the public resale procedure through the sheriff or constable, the private sale floors, and a one year limit on an action attacking the validity of a resale.
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts: paying your taxes
The state agency page on delinquency, stating that in most cases taxes must be paid by January 31, that taxes unpaid on February 1 are considered delinquent, that the tax collector adds a six percent penalty and one percent interest on February 1 with the penalty rising one percent a month to 12 percent on July 1, that interest is charged at one percent per month with no maximum, that private attorneys hired to collect delinquent accounts can charge an additional penalty of up to 20 percent, and that some collectors allow delinquent taxes to be paid in installments for up to 36 months.
Travis County Tax Office: foreclosed properties
A county tax office page showing how the statutory scheme runs in one county. It describes foreclosure as the legal action the county takes as its final effort to collect delinquent property taxes, lists the monthly sale dates and the bidder registration deadline for each, routes bidding through an online auction platform with a 10 dollar registration fee due at least five business days before the sale, states that anyone who owes back taxes on any Travis County property is ineligible to bid, and says a Constable's Deed is mailed to the purchaser within about four weeks of the sale.
Regional Variances
Texas delinquent property tax rules at a glance
Sale mechanism
Judicial foreclosure, then an officer's deed. A taxing unit sues to foreclose the tax lien in a court for the county where the tax was imposed (Tex. Tax Code 33.41(a)), and property ordered sold under the judgment is sold by the officer charged with selling it, in the manner similar property is sold under execution (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(a)). No tax lien certificate is sold to investors. The deed vests good and perfect title subject only to the right of redemption and listed recorded interests, and may be impeached only for fraud (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(n)).
Sale calendar and venue
Between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of a month, or the first Wednesday where the first Tuesday falls on January 1 or July 4 (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(r-1)), at the county courthouse or at an area the commissioners court has designated and recorded in the county's real property records (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(r)). A commissioners court may instead authorize a public auction using online bidding and sale (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(a-1)), which is how Travis County now runs its monthly sales.
Delinquency date
One annual bill. Taxes are due on receipt of the tax bill and are delinquent if not paid before February 1 of the year following the year in which imposed (Tex. Tax Code 31.02(a)). A bill mailed after January 10 postpones that date to the first day of the next month giving at least 21 days to pay, and the postponed date is when penalties and interest start (Tex. Tax Code 31.04(a), (e)). A taxing unit that collects its own taxes may adopt a split payment option: pay half before December 1 and the rest before July 1 without penalty or interest (Tex. Tax Code 31.03(a)).
Penalty and interest before any sale
Six percent of the tax for the first delinquent calendar month plus one percent for each additional month or portion of a month before July 1, becoming a total of twelve percent for a tax delinquent on July 1 without regard to the number of months (Tex. Tax Code 33.01(a)). Interest runs separately at one percent for each month or portion of a month, with no stated maximum (Tex. Tax Code 33.01(c)). Both keep accruing after a judgment is rendered.
Collection attorney penalty
Optional and local, with a statutory ceiling rather than a statewide figure. A taxing unit that has contracted with a collection attorney under Tex. Tax Code 6.30 may impose an additional penalty to defray collection costs, which may not exceed the compensation in that contract (Tex. Tax Code 33.07(a), 33.08(b)), and that compensation may not exceed 20 percent of the delinquent tax, penalty and interest collected (Tex. Tax Code 6.30(c)). Each taxing unit fixes its own figure inside the ceiling, so check the one billing you.
Time before sale
No waiting period. A taxing unit may file suit at any time after its tax on the property becomes delinquent (Tex. Tax Code 33.41(a)), so the pace is set by the litigation and the first Tuesday calendar. The outer limit runs the other way: no suit may be filed on a tax on real property delinquent more than 20 years, and such a tax is presumed paid unless a suit is already pending (Tex. Tax Code 33.05(a), (b)).
Redemption period and clock
Two clocks, both starting when a deed is filed for record rather than at the sale. A residence homestead, land designated for agricultural use when the suit or warrant application was filed, or a mineral interest may be redeemed on or before the second anniversary of the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)). All other real property runs to the 180th day following that filing (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(e)(1)). Where the property was bid off to a taxing unit, the window runs from the filing of that unit's deed (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(b), 34.05(a)).
Redeemer's charge
A flat penalty percentage with no time component, taken on an aggregate total rather than on the taxes or on the bid alone. The owner pays the purchaser the bid, the deed recording fee, and the taxes, penalties, interest and costs the purchaser paid, plus a redemption premium of 25 percent of that aggregate total if redeemed during the first year of the redemption period or 50 percent if during the second (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)). It does not prorate, so day two of a year costs what day 300 of that year costs. In the 180 day class the premium may not exceed 25 percent (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(e)(2)). Where the property was bid off to a taxing unit and not resold there is no premium: the owner pays the lesser of the judgment amount or the market value specified in that judgment, plus the deed filing fee and the unit's costs (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(b)(1)).
Other redemption costs
Costs is defined widely and feeds the premium base: amounts reasonably spent by the purchaser maintaining, preserving and safekeeping the property, including property insurance, repairs or improvements required by a local ordinance or building code or by a lease in effect at the sale, discharging a municipal lien for remedying a health or safety hazard, property owners association maintenance dues under a recorded covenant, and impact or standby fees paid to a political subdivision (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(g)(2)). The owner may demand a written itemization, due not later than the 10th day after the request is received, and only itemized amounts may be allowed as costs (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(i)).
Notice to the owner
A notice of delinquency at least once each year to each person on the current delinquent tax roll, carrying a capital-letters statement about the homestead installment right (Tex. Tax Code 33.04(a), (b)); a notice of the additional collection penalty 30 to 60 days before July 1 where that penalty is adopted (Tex. Tax Code 33.07(d)); service in the foreclosure suit; and written notice of the sale under Rule 21a to each defendant to the judgment (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(c)). Posting at the courthouse door and two other public places at least 20 days out substitutes where no newspaper will publish at the statutory rate (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(h)). Failure to send or receive the sale notice does not by itself invalidate the sale or the title (Tex. Tax Code 34.01(d)).
Where to redeem
Before a sale, the collector for the taxing unit, usually the county tax assessor-collector's office, which is also where an installment agreement is signed (Tex. Tax Code 33.02(a)). After a sale, the purchaser directly (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(a)), or the taxing unit if the property was bid off to it (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(b)), or the resale buyer (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(c)). If the purchaser cannot be found, is not a county resident, will not agree on the amount, or refuses a quitclaim deed, the owner may pay the county assessor-collector on an affidavit, and that office must accept the affidavit's assertions and pay the purchaser on demand (Tex. Tax Code 34.21(f), (f-1)).
Surplus proceeds
Claimable in the same court, with a two year cut-off. The officer pays any excess over the amounts in Tex. Tax Code 34.02(b) to the clerk of the court (Tex. Tax Code 34.02(d)), who must notify the former owner before the 31st day after receipt where the excess tops 25 dollars and hold it two years after the date of the sale (Tex. Tax Code 34.03(a)). A claim is a petition in the court that ordered the sale, filed before the second anniversary of the date of the sale (Tex. Tax Code 34.04(a)). Former owners rank behind taxing units and lienholders, an attorney's fee for the claim is capped at 25 percent or 1,000 dollars whichever is less, and a non-attorney may not charge a fee at all (Tex. Tax Code 34.04(c), (i)).
Payment plan
Three separate rights. The collector shall enter into an installment agreement on request by a person delinquent on a residence homestead with a section 11.13 exemption who has not had one with that collector in the preceding 24 months; it is monthly, at least 12 months and no more than 36 (Tex. Tax Code 33.02(a), (a-1)), the section 33.01(a) penalty does not accrue on the balance while it is performed (Tex. Tax Code 33.02(b-1)), and no seizure, sale or suit may proceed unless the owner defaults (Tex. Tax Code 33.02(d)). An owner who is disabled or 65 or older, or a disabled veteran or unmarried surviving spouse, may instead pay in four equal installments without penalty or interest (Tex. Tax Code 31.031(a), (a-1)). An owner 65 or older, disabled, or qualified under section 11.22 may defer collection entirely, with interest at five percent a year and no penalty (Tex. Tax Code 33.06(a), (d)).
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