| The
following information could be useful for visitors who may be considering
purchasing a home. Each year tax sales and resales on properties result
in opportunities for purchase. Look over all of the information on
this page before preparing a bid for a foreclosure sale or a resale property.
Use the Bidder's Guide below to help prepare the bid.
SIGN UP
TO RECEIVE NOTICES OF FORECLOSURE SALES BY EMAIL HERE.
Tax Sales are the final remedy to collect delinquent taxes countywide.
View
a brief video about tax sales. Download a free
video player. Conducted by a deputy constable, tax sales are always
held on the first Tuesday of the month at 10:00 am on the west steps of
the Travis County Courthouse, 1000 Guadalupe St., in Austin, Texas. You
can subscribe to receive the tax sale notice by email here.
To participate in a tax sale, bring the Statement for Person Eligible to Purchase Real
Property to the tax sale with a valid picture ID and arrive before
10:00 am. You will be assigned a number in order to bid. Full payment
is due at the time of sale and can be made by credit card (add credit
card vendor fee of 3%), check, money order, cashiers check, or cash. PLEASE
NOTE: the law states that a tax sale bidder shall be listed as the GRANTEE
on the property deed and the name CANNOT be changed later. This
law does not apply to corporations, partnerships, charities or agencies.
Properties Available at Next Tax Sale:
Choose a property from this list to view more detailed information. Note:
new sale data is available online approximately 21 days before the sale
date. Sale dates are always the first Tuesday of the month.
Research
Previous Sale Information Here.
Buyer Beware
It is your responsibility to determine the liabilities that exist on
each property before and after the sale. You buy the property "as
is." If you have any questions, you may wish to consult legal
counsel of your choice.
Find Data
Tax sale postings appear in the classified sections of local newspapers
three weeks before the sale. At the same time, postings are available
online
or on a paper list available by calling (512) 854-9473. (Note: the previous
tax sale information remains on the web site until the release of new
sale data, approximately 21 days before the sale.)
A minimum bid is set for each property at the time
of posting. The bid consists of the amount of taxes and fees due. If
you purchase a property, you receive a receipt in the mail within a
few days. Deeds are mailed within four to five weeks.
Right of Redemption
All properties sold at a tax sale are subject to the previous owner's
right of redemption. Properties that do not have a homestead exemption
or agricultural land use designation may be redeemed by the previous owner
within six months of the date the deed was filed for all taxes, cost and
fees paid plus an additional 25% to the buyer. Properties with a homestead
exemption or special land use designation have a two-year redemption period
in which an additional 25% is paid to the buyer in the first year and
an additional 50% in the second. To learn more about owner's rights review
Sec 34.21 of the Texas Property Tax Code.
Resales
Properties that do not sell at a tax sale become part of the resale inventory
offered by the Travis County Tax Office and are for sale at any time.
Full instructions about the resale bid procedure are described in detail
below.
Disclaimer
Tax Sale and Resale Properties may have other liens against them. It
is the responsibility of the bidder or purchaser to determine the
liabilities that exist in each property before and after the sale.
There are no warranties, expressed or implied,
including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability
and fitness for a particular purpose. You buy the property "as
is." No ad valorem taxes with related penalties, interests,
costs, and expenses that have accrued subsequent to the judgment are
waived and may be currently due. If you have any questions, you need
to consult legal counsel of your choice.
Previous Sales Were Held:
In order to bid at a tax sale, an individual must first
obtain a Bidder's Statement from the tax assessor-collector indicating
they do not owe delinquent taxes in Travis County, or in a school district
or municipality having territory in Travis County. The request for statement
requires the individual to list all properties currently or previously
owned, and the names as listed on the deed to each property. Owners of
property with delinquent taxes due will not be permitted to bid at a tax
sale.
The fee is $10 and the qualified bidder will receive
three copies of the statement. This statement will be good for 90 days
from the date of issuance. This document is issued pursuant to the requirements
of Texas Property Tax Code (Sec 34.015) and Texas Civil Practices and Remedies
Code (Sec
34.0445) and is not a tax certificate issued per Texas Property Tax
Code (Sec 31.08).
Call or visit the Tax Office at least 5 business
days before the sale to request this statement. See the deadlines to
file an application in this chart:
| Apr. 6, 2010 |
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 |
| May 4, 2010 |
Tuesday, April 27, 2010 |
You must download a bidder's statement to participate
in bidding at a tax sale. This bidder's statement must be mailed or brought
in to the main tax office location at 5501 Airport Blvd. in order to be
processed no later than five business days before the sale. (This file
requires Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4.0 or higher to view or print.
The reader can be downloaded free from Adobe.)
The second part of the law states that the bidder at
a tax sale shall be listed as grantee of the tax deed. The name on the
deed cannot be changed later. This means a bidder may not bid on behalf
of another. However, the law does not apply to corporations, partnerships,
charities, or agencies.
PLEASE NOTE: The buyer at a tax foreclosure sale
on the courthouse steps receives a Constable's Deed. This is not a warranty
deed and only serves to convey to the purchaser the ownership held by
the tax lawsuit defendants (for better or worse). The deed also conveys
the property to the purchaser free of tax liens for tax years that were
included in the tax suit from which judgment was taken. Subsequent year's
taxes may be due. Processing of a Constable Deed after a public foreclosure
sale can take as much as a month.
A list of properties to be auctioned is made available
in the Austin Chronicle 21 days prior to the auction. Look for
the online posting of properties for sale approximately 21days before
the sale date. Auctions are held at 10:00 am on the west steps of the
county courthouse at 1000 Guadalupe St., Austin, Texas, on the first Tuesday
of the month. Acceptable methods of payment include cash, check, cashiers
check, money order and major credit card. Payment made with credit cards
will be subject to a service fee of 3%.
Bidder's Basic Guide
This is a worksheet designed to help you prepare a bid for either a property
available for auction at a tax sale or a property available for resale.
View
a brief video about the Bidder's Guide. Download a free
video player.
Review the most current list of properties available here.
If the upcoming list is available, you can review it in detail there at
any time. (Note: the list is updated approximately 21 days before the first
Tuesday of the month. Until release of updated sale data, only previous
tax sales are available for research.)
PLEASE
NOTE: FOR PROPERTIES AVAILABLE FOR RESALE YOU MUST SUBMIT A BID. PLEASE
FOLLOW RESALE PROCEDURES BELOW EXACTLY AS THEY ARE PROVIDED.
For Properties available for resale you may submit your
bid by mail or by personal hand delivery (walk in bid). IN EITHER CASE
THE BID MUST BE IN A SEALED ENVELOPE THAT DISPLAYS "TAX RESALE BID"
IN THE LOWER LEFT-HAND CORNER..
You must use this
form to submit a resale bid.
MAIL YOUR SEALED BID WITH PROPER PHOTO IDENTIFICATION (copy of driver’s
license or passport) TO:
Travis County Purchasing Office
ATTN: Cyd Grimes, CPM
P.O. Box 1748
Austin, TX 78767
WALK IN BIDS MUST BE HAND DELIVERED TO:
Travis County Purchasing Office
314 W. 11TH, (The Granger Building)
Fourth Floor, Room 400
Austin, TX 78701
DO NOT MAIL OR DELIVER BIDS TO THE TRAVIS COUNTY ATTORNEY’S OFFICE
AS SUCH BIDS WILL BE RETURNED TO SENDER UNPROCESSED.
Buyers are invited to submit sealed bids for tax resale properties to
the above addresses. The front of the sealed envelope containing the bid
must be prominently marked with the words “Tax Resale Bid”
in the lower left-hand corner. All properly marked envelopes will be stamped
with the date and time received by the Travis County Purchasing Agent.
Any envelopes not so marked which are later opened will be returned to
the bidder unprocessed.
Acceptable bids are those most approximating the minimum bid for the
property (or higher). The minimum bid is the lesser of two amounts: (1)
the total judgment amount against the property (taxes, penalties, interests,
and costs), or (2) the adjudged value of the property (usually the TCAD
fair market value).
Sealed bids will be accepted for a property until an acceptable bid is
received. Sealed bids will be opened on Mondays at 1:00 p.m. by a representative
of the Travis County Purchasing Office. Bids will be opened in public
and read aloud. The highest acceptable bid received for a property will
be recorded and processed for consideration by the Travis County Commissioner’s
Court in a regularly scheduled meeting (always on Tuesdays). Review Travis
County Resale Bid Acceptance Procedure .
Persons submitting bids will submit a cashier’s check or money
order for each property for which they are bidding. Make out the check
or money order to: “Travis County Tax Collector”. The Tax
Collector cannot accept cash and will no longer accept credit cards or
personal checks in payment for tax resale properties. All acceptable forms
of payment will be received, cashed, and deposited by the Tax Collector
into the County’s funds the day opened. A receipt for such payment
will be mailed to the bidder within about a week. Such receipt and acceptance
of payment by the Tax Collector is in no way approval of sale of the property
to the bidder. Such approval is only later, if at all, in the sole discretion
of the County Commissioner’s Court. Where a bid is later disapproved
by the County Commissioner’s Court, the bidder’s money will
be refunded.
Bidders submitting bids on more than one property must have a separate
(1) check or money order, (2) Bid Submission Form and (3) properly marked
envelope for each property. Any bid not so conforming will be returned
to the bidder unprocessed.
Bids being processed will be submitted at the earliest available County
Commissioner’s Court meeting date. Such dates are usually once a
month. If approved by the County Commissioner’s Court, the sale
is final and a successful bidder should receive the deed to the property
within 6 to 8 weeks. When a bid is disapproved by the Commissioner’s
Court the property involved may later be made available for tax resale.
At the time the Bid Submission Form is submitted to the Travis County
Purchasing Office the bidder must clearly indicate the grantee name which
is to appear on the tax resale deed. This grantee name cannot be later
changed so bidders are encouraged to resolve this issue prior to completing
the Bid Submission Form.
Prior to consideration by the Travis County Commissioner’s Court,
it is within the sole discretion of the Tax Collector at the advice of
the Travis County Attorney’s Office to resolve any issues relative
to a submitted bid being in conformity with the above procedures. Decisions
by the Tax Collector are final and nonconforming bids will be returned
to the bidder.
Questions? For information on tax amount due and assistance
in researching a property, contact the tax office at (512) 854-9473. If
you have submitted a bid for a resale property, or if your bid has been
accepted and is in the process of approval by Commissioners' Court, contact
the Travis County Attorney at (512) 854-9513.

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