Navigating the Texas foreclosure procedure can feel overwhelming when you're stressed about losing your home. But lenders have to follow federal and Texas foreclosure laws, and these laws include important foreclosure notice requirements designed to offer you reasonable warning before they take any action or sell your home at a foreclosure sale. If you've gotten a foreclosure notification or are simply concerned about what occurs if you fall back on your mortgage payments, you should find out about your rights and the steps you can take to stop a foreclosure.

This guide breaks down what occurs throughout the Texas foreclosure process, discusses what each notice implies, and details your alternatives to avoid foreclosure. With this understanding, you can make smart, confident decisions for your home and your household. You'll also have the ability to make the most of your circumstance and, ideally, exercise a method to save your home or at least survive the procedure with as little stress and anxiety as possible.

What Are My Rights During Foreclosure in Texas?

When Can a Foreclosure Start in Texas?

What Kinds of Foreclosure Are Available in Texas?

The Length Of Time Does Foreclosure Take in Texas?

Texas Foreclosure Timeline and Steps

How to Stop Foreclosure in Texas

Can I Get My House Back After a Texas Foreclosure?

Are Deficiency Judgments Allowed in Texas?

Texas Foreclosure Process for Home Equity Loans Is Different

Get More Foreclosure Help and Information


What Are My Rights During Foreclosure in Texas?

Under federal law, the servicer usually can't formally start a foreclosure till you're more than 120 days past due on payments.

Before the foreclosure crisis, federal and state laws controling mortgage servicers and foreclosure procedures were fairly restricted and tended to favor foreclosing loan providers. However, federal and state laws now heavily manage loan maintenance and foreclosure procedures. The majority of the laws provide securities to borrowers. Servicers normally need to provide borrowers with loss mitigation opportunities, account for each foreclosure step, and strictly comply with foreclosure laws.

Also, the majority of people who secure a loan to purchase a domestic home in Texas sign a promissory note and a deed of trust. These files give homeowners contractual rights, such as the right to a preforeclosure notification called a "breach letter."

In a Texas foreclosure, you also have the right to get specific foreclosure notices during the process, get existing on the loan to stop the foreclosure sale, receive special protections if you're in the military, and get any excess money after a foreclosure sale, amongst other things.

When Can a Foreclosure Start in Texas?

Under federal law, the servicer normally can't officially start a foreclosure until you're more than 120 days overdue on payments, subject to a couple of exceptions. (12 C.F.R. § 1024.41 (2025 ).) This 120-day preforeclosure duration offers most property owners lots of time to make an application for loss mitigation with their loan servicer.

What Kinds of Foreclosure Are Available in Texas?

If you default on your mortgage payments in Texas, the lender might foreclose utilizing a judicial or nonjudicial approach.

How Judicial Foreclosures Work

A judicial foreclosure starts when the lender files a lawsuit asking a court for an order permitting a foreclosure sale. If you don't respond with a written response, the loan provider will immediately win the case. But if you choose to protect the foreclosure lawsuit, the court will evaluate the evidence and identify the winner. If the lending institution wins, the judge will enter a judgment and buy your home cost auction.

How Nonjudicial Foreclosures Work

If the lending institution chooses a nonjudicial foreclosure, it should complete the out-of-court treatments explained in the state statutes. After doing so, the loan provider can offer the home at a foreclosure sale.

Most lending institutions go with the nonjudicial procedure due to the fact that it's quicker and more affordable than litigating the matter in court.

For How Long Does Foreclosure Take in Texas?

The nonjudicial foreclosure procedure, from the Notice of Default and Intent to Accelerate (see below) to the foreclosure auction, can take as low as 41 to around 90 days. However, including the 120-day preforeclosure delinquency duration, the entire process may take around six or 7 months in overall, though it can be shorter sometimes.

Texas Foreclosure Timeline and Steps

Again, most residential foreclosures in Texas are nonjudicial. Here's how the process works.

Notice of Default and Intent to Accelerate in a Texas Foreclosure

Texas law requires the servicer to send you (the borrower) a notice of default and intent to speed up by licensed mail that provides at least 20 days to cure the default before a notification of sale can be given. The 30-day breach letter sent out pursuant to the terms of the deed of trust can please this requirement. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (d)

( 2025).) The notification is sent to the debtor's last known address and need to consist of the amount due and the date it has to be paid.

Under Texas law, the statute of limitations for a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure is 4 years, starting the day after the reason for action accumulates. (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.035 (a), (b),( d)( 2025 ).) Generally, the accrual date is the loan's maturity date. But if the mortgage loan includes an acceleration provision, the statute of constraints starts at the time of velocity. (Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 16.035 (e )( 2025 ); Holy Cross Church of God in Christ v. Wolf, 44 S.W. 3d 562, 566, Tex. 2001). To speed up a mortgage loan, the loan provider should offer the borrower clear notices of the intent to speed up and the real acceleration. (See Ogden v. Gibralter Sav. Ass' n, 640 S.W. 2d 232 (1982 ).) The four-year statute of constraints begins when these notifications are sent out.

Notice of Sale in a Texas Foreclosure

After the remedy duration has ended and at least 21 days before the foreclosure sale, the servicer sends out a notification of sale via certified mail to each debtor obliged to pay the financial obligation. The notification of sale will likewise be:

- posted at the court house door in the county where the residential or commercial property is located
- submitted with the county clerk in the county where the residential or commercial property lies, and
- posted online. (The county needs to likewise post the date, time, and area of the sale on the same website page on which the notification is posted.) (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (b ),(

f-1)(2025).)The notice of sale must consist of the date, time, and location of the sale, in addition to a disclosure geared toward military servicemembers that they must inform the sender of the notice about their military status. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (i) (2025).)The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act offers legal securities to military workers who may lose their home to foreclosure.

Foreclosure sales are typically held on the first Tuesday of each month in between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the county court house. The sale must begin at the time specified in the notice of sale however no behind 3 hours after the time set up on the notice of sale. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (a)

( 2025 ).)A couple of potential methods to stop a foreclosure include restoring the loan, working out a loss mitigation choice, redeeming the residential or commercial property before the sale, or declare bankruptcy.

At the sale, the lender generally makes a credit bid. The lender can bid as much as the total amount owed, consisting of charges and expenses, or it might bid less. In some states, including Texas, when the lending institution is the high bidder at the sale but bids less than the total debt, it can get a shortage judgment (see below) against the customer. If the loan provider is the highest bidder, the residential or commercial property becomes "property owned" (REO).

But if a bidder, state a third celebration, is the highest bidder and provides more than you owe, and the sale results in excess proceeds-that is, money over and above what's required to settle all the liens on your property-you're entitled to that surplus money.

Eviction

If you stay in the home after a foreclosure sale, the buyer of the residential or commercial property is needed to supply you with a "notice to vacate" before filing an expulsion case. In Texas, this kind of case is referred to as a "forcible detainer" action.

In this short article, you'll find details on foreclosure laws in Texas, with citations to statutes so you can discover more. Statutes change, so inspecting them is always a good idea. How courts and agencies interpret and use laws can change. And some guidelines can even differ within a state. These are just some of the factors to consider consulting a lawyer if you're facing a foreclosure.

How to Stop Foreclosure in Texas

A couple of prospective ways to stop a foreclosure and keep your home consist of restoring the loan, exercising a loss mitigation option (such as a loan modification), redeeming the residential or commercial property before the sale, or filing for personal bankruptcy. Alternatively, you may be able to work out a short sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure and avoid a foreclosure. But you'll have to offer up your home with either of these choices.

Reinstating the Loan

Texas law allows the debtor to obstruct a nonjudicial foreclosure sale by "reinstating" the loan (paying the past due quantity) within 20 days after the loan provider serves the notification of default by mail. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(d) (2025 ).)

Also, most deeds of trust offer additional time to restore. Check your loan files to find out if you have more time to complete a reinstatement.

Declare Bankruptcy

If you're dealing with a foreclosure, declaring bankruptcy may help. If a foreclosure sale is scheduled to happen in the next day or two, the very best method to stop the sale instantly is by declaring bankruptcy. Once you declare bankruptcy, something called an "automated stay" enters into impact. The stay functions as an injunction, forbiding the loan provider from foreclosing on your home or attempting to collect its financial obligation, a minimum of momentarily.

Oftentimes, applying for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy can postpone the foreclosure by a matter of months. Or, if you wish to save your home, declaring Chapter 13 insolvency might be the answer. To discover out about the alternatives readily available, consult with a local personal bankruptcy attorney.

Can I Get My House Back After a Texas Foreclosure?

One method to stop a foreclosure is by "redeeming" the residential or commercial property. To redeem, you need to pay off the complete loan quantity before the foreclosure sale. To do this, you 'd need to get your hands on a lot of money relatively rapidly. So, few house owners have the ability to complete a redemption before losing their home in a foreclosure sale.

Some states likewise supply foreclosed customers a redemption duration after the foreclosure sale, throughout which they can redeem the home. However, Texas law does not offer debtors a statutory right of redemption after a foreclosure. Once your Texas home has been foreclosed, you can't redeem it to get it back.

Are Deficiency Judgments Allowed in Texas?

In a foreclosure, the customer's overall mortgage financial obligation regularly exceeds the foreclosure list price. The distinction in between the overall financial obligation and the list price is called a "shortage." For example, say the overall debt owed is $300,000, however the home offers for $250,000 at the foreclosure sale. The shortage is $50,000.

In some states, the loan provider can look for a personal judgment against the debtor to recuperate the deficiency. Generally, once the lender gets a shortage judgment, the loan provider may collect this amount-in our example, $50,000-from the debtor.

Texas foreclosure laws allow deficiency judgments.

Texas Deficiency Judgment Laws

In Texas, the lending institution may obtain a shortage judgment after a nonjudicial foreclosure. The lending institution needs to submit a claim for a shortage judgment within 2 years after the foreclosure sale. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.003

( a) ). However, Texas state law allows the customer to get credit for the residential or commercial property's reasonable market worth. So, the debtor is entitled to a balanced out in the deficiency quantity if the residential or commercial property's reasonable market price is greater than the foreclosure price. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.003( b), (c )( 2025)

.) Texas Foreclosure Process for Home Equity Loans Is Different

In Texas, how a foreclosure will work depends upon the type of mortgage that's being foreclosed. While there are numerous different kinds of loans, the most typical are:

- purchase cash loans (a "purchase cash loan" is a loan secured to purchase the residential or commercial property).
- purchase money 2nd loans, and.
equity loans, like home equity loans and home equity credit lines.

Again, most foreclosures in Texas including purchase money loans are nonjudicial. But equity loan foreclosures are a little various. Under Texas law, the lender must use a quasi-judicial procedure to foreclose this sort of loan.

In this procedure, the lending institution should get a court order authorizing the foreclosure before performing a nonjudicial foreclosure. Also, Texas law does not permit deficiency judgments following the foreclosure of a home equity loan.

Home Equity Loan Foreclosures Involve an Extra Step: The Lender Must Go to Court

Foreclosing an equity loan involves another action that falls in between sending a breach letter and notification of sale: The lender needs to file an application in court requesting for an order allowing the foreclosure. (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 735, 736; Texas Constitution, Article XVI, § 50 [a] [6] [D] (2025 ).)

Responding to the foreclosure. The application needs to be served to you by mail, and you get 38 days from the date of mailing to file a reaction. If you decide to respond, your reaction must remain in the appropriate format and may be in the kind of a basic rejection, however should agreeably plead:

- why you think you didn't sign the defined loan arrangement document.
- why you're not obligated to pay.
- that the number of months of the supposed default (that is, the number of months the lender states you're behind in payments) is inaccurate, or that the reinstatement or settle amounts the loan provider supplied are materially incorrect.
- that any file connected to the application is not a true and appropriate copy of the initial, or.
- that you made the payments (and you'll have to supply proof). (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 736.5 (2025 ).)

You can't raise any independent claims for relief. To combat the foreclosure on other premises, you'll have to file your own lawsuit.

What happens if you file an action. If you file an action to the application, the court sets a hearing that, like the reaction, is limited in scope. The only issue in this sort of case is whether the lender can get an order enabling it to proceed with foreclosure under the law and the regards to the loan arrangement. (See In re One West Bank, FSB, 430 S.W. 3d 573 (Tex.App. 2014)).

If the court grants the lender's application at the hearing, the foreclosure will continue. The loan provider will then send you a foreclosure sale notice.

Foreclosure Sale

Again, foreclosure sales are typically held the first Tuesday of monthly in between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the county courthouse. The sale needs to start at the time specified in the notice of sale, but no behind three hours after the time set up on the notice of sale. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (2025 ).)

Deficiency Judgment Following the Home Equity Loan Foreclosure

Texas law doesn't permit the lending institution to get a deficiency judgment against you after foreclosing an equity loan. (Texas Constitution, Article XVI, § 50 [a] [6] [C] (2025 ).)

Get More Foreclosure Help and Information

To learn more on federal mortgage servicing laws and foreclosure relief alternatives, go to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) site. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs likewise provides details about foreclosures, including foreclosure FAQs, for Texas homeowners. In addition, the Texas State Law Library has beneficial info about the Texas foreclosure process.

If you have questions about Texas's foreclosure process or wish to discover possible defenses to a foreclosure and possibly fight the foreclosure in court, think about talking to a foreclosure attorney. It's likewise a great concept to talk with a HUD-approved housing therapist about various loss mitigation options.