What happens if you don't pay property taxes on vacant land in Texas

The short version

Here's the timeline Texas law sets for most vacant land. Each step is explained below.

• January 1: that year's tax lien attaches to the land.
• By October 1 (or soon after): the tax bill is mailed. It's due when you get it.
• January 31: the last day to pay without penalty.
• February 1: the tax is delinquent. Penalty and interest start.
• July 1: the penalty reaches 12%, and a collection penalty may be added.
• Any time after it's delinquent: the taxing unit can file a lawsuit (for long-abandoned land, a county may ask for a tax warrant instead).
• Judgment: the court rules on what's owed and can order the land sold.
• Tax sale: the land is auctioned by the sheriff or a constable.
• Redemption: usually 180 days for the former owner to buy it back.
• Excess proceeds: money left over after the sale can be claimed within two years.

January 1: the lien

On January 1 each year, a tax lien attaches to the land. A lien is a legal claim against property that secures a debt. This one secures that year's taxes, plus any penalty and interest added later. It stays with the land until the taxes are paid, even if the land changes hands.

October to January 31: the bill

The tax office mails bills by October 1, or as soon as it can after that. Taxes are due when you get the bill. If they're not paid before February 1, they're delinquent.

Some taxing units offer a split payment: pay half before December 1, and the other half before July 1 with no penalty. It only applies if your taxing unit has adopted it, so ask the tax office.

If the bill never reaches you, the taxes are still owed. If you've moved, give the appraisal district and the tax office your new mailing address.

February 1: penalty and interest begin

A delinquent tax picks up two charges. The penalty starts at 6% in February and goes up 1% a month until July 1, when it jumps to 12% and stops rising. Interest is 1% a month, and it keeps running every month until the tax is paid, even after a court judgment.

Added together, here's the share of the original tax you'd owe on top of it, by the month you pay. The Texas Comptroller publishes these same totals each year in a penalty and interest chart.

• February: 7%
• March: 9%
• April: 11%
• May: 13%
• June: 15%
• July: 18%, plus any collection penalty
• After July: 1% more each month

July 1: a collection penalty may be added

A taxing unit can hire a private attorney to collect delinquent taxes. If yours has, and it has adopted this penalty, taxes still unpaid on July 1 get an extra collection penalty. The penalty can't be more than the attorney's contract allows, and Texas law caps that contract at 20% of the tax, penalty and interest.

Before it applies, the tax office has to send you a notice of the delinquency and the penalty, 30 to 60 days before July 1. If you get one, call the number on it and ask exactly what you owe.

The lawsuit

Any time after the tax is delinquent, the taxing unit can sue. The suit asks the court to foreclose the tax lien, which means selling the land to pay the debt. It can also ask the court to hold the owner personally responsible for the tax.

The tax office must also send a notice of delinquency at least once a year. There's no fixed date for when a suit gets filed. That's up to each taxing unit and its attorney, so ask the tax office whether a suit has been filed on your land.

The judgment and the order of sale

If the taxing unit wins, the court enters a judgment for the taxes, penalty, interest and court costs. The judgment can order the land sold. Interest keeps adding up after the judgment until the debt is paid.

The officer in charge of the sale has to send written notice of the sale to each person who was sued in the case, or to their attorney.

Another route for long-abandoned land

There is one other path, and it skips the full lawsuit. A county can use it when land sits outside any city, has been abandoned for at least a year, and its taxes have gone unpaid for each of the past five years. The county tax assessor-collector also has to decide that a lawsuit would cost more than a sale would likely bring in.

Texas presumes land is abandoned if, for a year, nobody has used it and the owner hasn't done any upkeep, like mowing, clearing brush, removing debris, or fixing a fence. In that case the county can ask a district court for a tax warrant. The sheriff or a constable then seizes the land, and it goes to a tax sale. The owner still gets the right to buy it back described below.

The tax sale

The sale is a public auction run by the sheriff or a constable. In-person sales happen at the county courthouse (or a nearby spot the county picks) between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month. If that Tuesday is January 1 or July 4, the sale moves to Wednesday. A county can choose to hold its sales online instead, and an online auction has to end at 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday.

If nobody bids enough, the land can go to the taxing unit, which may resell it later. A sale also doesn't erase any part of the debt the sale money didn't cover. The former owner can still owe that.

Redemption: buying the land back

Texas gives the former owner a set time to buy the land back after a tax sale. This is called the right of redemption.

For most vacant land, you have 180 days after the buyer's deed (or the taxing unit's deed) is recorded. To redeem, you pay back what the buyer bid, the deed recording fee, and any taxes and costs the buyer paid on the land, plus a premium of up to 25%.

The window is two years if the land had an approved ag valuation when the lawsuit was filed, or if it was your homestead. Then the premium is 25% in the first year and 50% in the second.

During the redemption period you can't use the land, and you can't sell your right to redeem to someone else. If you're thinking about redeeming, talk to a real estate attorney early, because the clock starts when the deed is recorded.

Excess proceeds: money left over after a sale

Sometimes land sells for more than the taxes, penalties, interest and costs. The extra is called excess proceeds. The officer pays it to the clerk of the court that ordered the sale.

If the extra is more than $25, the clerk sends the former owner a notice within 30 days. To claim the money, you file a petition with that court before the second anniversary of the sale. After two years, unclaimed money goes to the taxing units.

Others can claim it too, and they come first. Taxes that came due after the judgment, other lienholders such as a mortgage lender, and any unpaid part of the judgment are paid before the former owner. Heirs of a former owner named in the judgment can claim as well.

Texas also protects owners from claim-chasers. An attorney can't charge more than 25% of the amount recovered or $1,000, whichever is less. Someone who isn't an attorney can't charge a fee to get the money for you. If a stranger calls offering to buy your claim, you can say no and file the claim yourself.

How long the county can wait

Texas gives taxing units 20 years to sue over unpaid taxes on land. Unpaid taxes don't go away after a year or two of silence. They keep growing with interest every month.

Your options

There's no single right answer. Here are the main choices. Whatever you choose, start by calling the county tax office and asking for the exact amount owed, which years it covers, and whether a lawsuit has been filed.

• Pay in full. This stops interest from growing. Ask the tax office for the amount good through the day you'll pay.
• Ask for an installment agreement. For land that isn't a homestead, the tax office may agree to one, but it doesn't have to. It must be in writing, paid monthly, and can last up to 36 months. Penalty and interest keep adding up on the unpaid balance. While you keep up with it and pay new taxes on time, the taxing unit can't sue or sell the land for those taxes.
• Talk to the tax office. Ask whether the collection penalty applies, and what happens if you pay part now. If a suit has been filed, ask for the name of the taxing unit's attorney.
• Sell the land. Land with unpaid taxes can still be sold. At closing, the title or closing company pays off the unpaid taxes, penalty, interest and any other liens out of the sale price, as with any sale. You get what's left.
• After a tax sale, ask about excess proceeds. Call the clerk of the court that handled the case and ask whether money is waiting, and how to file a claim before the two-year deadline.

Common questions

Keep reading

• Selling land in Texas
• How to sell your land

Last updated October 6, 2026