On June 3, 2008, the Hood County Sheriff’s office will conduct a tax sale on behalf of the taxing entities in Hood County in accordance with state law.  These properties will be sold for non-payment of property taxes. 

The minimum bid for each property, established by state law, “shall be the lower of the adjudged value or the total amount of delinquent taxes and cost associated with bringing the property to sale”. The representative conducting the sale cannot accept a bid lower than the state mandated minimum bid. 

When a property is sold at a tax sale, the purchaser should understand that the property owner losing the property at the tax sale may have the right to redeem the property. If the property is agricultural land or their resident homestead, the redeeming party has two years in which to redeem the property. If the property is of any other type, the redemption period is six months. 

If a property owner chooses to redeem their property, they are required to pay the purchaser only the amount the purchaser paid at the auction plus a premium. The premium is either 25% of the sale price, if redeemed in the first year, or 50% of the sale price if redeemed in the second year. The sale price is the amount paid at the auction. 

If the purchaser at auction makes certain improvements (adds on to the property, builds something new on the property or makes some other type of capital investment), he or she cannot recover those costs through the redemption process. It is recommended that no investment, other than necessary maintenance, be made until the redemption period has passed. It is also recommended that no significant investment be made in the property until the title is insured by a reputable title company.

For more information and a list of properties to be included in the next tax sale click here.

The information presented here is to help investors become more informed about the tax sale procedure. While specific statements may be made regarding the property tax code, those statements should not be considered direct interpretations of the law. Any dispute over a tax sale or redemption will be determined using the Texas Property Tax Code and the courts and not the statements made on this website.