How foreclosure works in Texas

Checked against the sources at the bottom on Oct 11, 2026.

Most Texas foreclosures never go to court. The loan papers give a trustee the power to sell the house at auction if the loan goes unpaid, and state law sets the steps and the clock. Here's how it usually plays out, in order.

It starts with the deed of trust

When you buy a house with a loan in Texas, you sign a deed of trust along with the note. It names a trustee and gives that trustee a "power of sale": the right to sell the property if the loan isn't paid. That one clause is why a Texas lender can foreclose without filing a lawsuit.

A few kinds of debt work differently. Home equity loans, reverse mortgages and owners' association assessments need a court order before a sale, usually through a quicker court process called an expedited foreclosure. The rest of this page is about the ordinary kind.

Before anything is public

For most loans on someone's main home, federal rules keep the servicer from starting a foreclosure until the borrower is more than 120 days behind. So the first few months of trouble are private.

Next comes the notice of default. When the house is the borrower's home, Texas law says it has to go out by certified mail and give the borrower at least 20 days to catch up before a sale can be noticed. Catching up means paying what's past due, not the whole loan.

Lenders also accelerate the loan, which means calling the entire balance due. You'll often see a letter titled "notice of default and intent to accelerate," and later a separate "notice of acceleration."

The notice of sale: the first public record

This is where it becomes public. At least 21 days before the sale, the trustee has to:

• post a notice of sale at the courthouse door,
• file a copy with the county clerk, and
• send it by certified mail to each borrower on the loan.

The county then posts every filed notice on its website, free to view, no account needed. The same law requires it, and it's a big reason Texas is easier to follow than most states.

The notice is usually titled "Notice of Substitute Trustee's Sale." It describes the property, names the trustee with a street address, and gives the earliest time the sale will start.

Because sales happen on one day a month, a notice has to be on file at least 21 days before that month's sale day. Miss the cutoff and the sale waits for a later month.

Sale day: the first Tuesday

Texas foreclosure auctions happen on the first Tuesday of the month, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at the county courthouse (or a nearby public place the county has designated instead). If the first Tuesday is January 1 or July 4, the sales move to Wednesday.

Each sale has to start at the time on the notice or within three hours after it. It's a live auction. The trustee can set reasonable rules for bidders, and the price is due when the bid is accepted unless the trustee agrees to a short wait, so bidders come ready to pay.

Often nobody outbids the lender. The lender can bid the amount it's owed instead of cash, and if that's the top bid, the property goes back to the lender. At that point it's REO: bank-owned property the lender will try to sell later.

Plenty of posted sales never happen: the borrower catches up, sells, files for bankruptcy or works something out, and the sale is called off or reposted for a later month. A notice is a warning, not a done deal.

What "substitute trustee" means

The trustee named in the original deed of trust is often someone with no connection to the loan years later. Texas lets the lender, or its servicer, appoint a substitute trustee with a power of attorney or another written appointment, and a servicer can have its lawyer make the appointment. In practice, substitute trustees are often attorneys or staff tied to the lender's foreclosure firm.

Their names and a street address have to appear on the notice of sale, which makes them the people to call to check whether a sale is still on. By law, a trustee or substitute trustee isn't a debt collector.

After the sale

The buyer gets a deed from the trustee, and it's recorded with the county clerk. If the sale brings in more than what's owed, the extra goes first to other lienholders and then to the former owner. If it brings in less, the lender has two years from the sale to sue for the rest (a deficiency).

If anyone still lives in the house, the new owner can't just change the locks. They have to file an eviction case in the justice court for that precinct. Tenants get extra protection under federal law.

Can the owner buy it back?

Usually not. Texas has no general right to redeem a home after a mortgage foreclosure. The exceptions are narrow:

• Owners' association foreclosures. When an HOA forecloses for unpaid assessments, the owner can redeem until 180 days after the association mails notice of the sale. A lienholder can redeem too, starting 90 days after that notice, if the owner hasn't.
• Property tax sales. A homestead or land designated for agricultural use sold for back taxes can be redeemed for two years after the buyer's deed is recorded; other property, for 180 days. The buyer is paid back with a premium: 25% in the first year and 50% in the second for homesteads and farmland, and no more than 25% for other property.

Tax sales are their own track: a court judgment for back taxes, then an auction run by a county officer, often a constable.

Keeping up with Texas notices

Because every notice goes through the county clerk and onto the county's website, you can see nearly every Texas trustee's sale coming. The hard part is volume: 254 counties, each with its own format. Our guide to following a county covers how people keep up.

General information, not legal advice. For your own situation, talk to a lawyer.