Navigating the Texas foreclosure process can feel frustrating when you're stressed over losing your home. But lenders need to follow federal and Texas foreclosure laws, and these laws include essential foreclosure notification requirements developed to give you fair 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 happens if you fall behind on your mortgage payments, you must learn about your rights and the steps you can take to stop a foreclosure.
This guide breaks down what takes place during the Texas foreclosure process, explains what each notification suggests, and describes your choices to avoid foreclosure. With this understanding, you can make smart, positive choices for your home and your household. You'll also have the ability to make the most of your scenario and, ideally, work out a method to save your home or a minimum of get through the process with as little stress and anxiety as possible.
What Are My Rights During Foreclosure in Texas?
When Can a Foreclosure Start in Texas?
What Types 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 until you're more than 120 days overdue on payments.
Before the foreclosure crisis, federal and state laws managing mortgage servicers and foreclosure treatments were relatively limited and tended to prefer foreclosing lenders. However, federal and state laws now heavily manage loan maintenance and foreclosure processes. The majority of the laws give defenses to borrowers. Servicers generally need to offer borrowers with loss mitigation opportunities, account for each foreclosure action, and strictly adhere to foreclosure laws.
Also, the majority of people who take out a loan to buy a home in Texas sign a promissory note and a deed of trust. These files offer house owners legal rights, such as the right to a preforeclosure notification called a "breach letter."
In a Texas foreclosure, you likewise can get specific foreclosure notices throughout the process, get existing on the loan to stop the foreclosure sale, get unique protections if you're in the military, and get any excess money after a foreclosure sale, to name a few things.
When Can a Foreclosure Start in Texas?
Under federal law, the servicer normally can't officially start a foreclosure till you're more than 120 days unpaid on payments, subject to a few exceptions. (12 C.F.R. § 1024.41 (2025 ).) This 120-day preforeclosure duration provides most house owners plenty of time to request 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 using a judicial or nonjudicial method.
How Judicial Foreclosures Work
A judicial foreclosure starts when the lending institution files a suit asking a court for an order permitting a foreclosure sale. If you do not react with a composed answer, the loan provider will instantly win the case. But if you choose to protect the foreclosure suit, the court will examine the proof and figure out the winner. If the lending institution wins, the judge will get in a judgment and buy your home cost auction.
How Nonjudicial Foreclosures Work
If the lending institution picks a nonjudicial foreclosure, it must finish the out-of-court treatments explained in the state statutes. After doing so, the loan provider can sell the home at a foreclosure sale.
Most loan providers select the nonjudicial procedure since it's quicker and more affordable than prosecuting the matter in court.
For How Long Does Foreclosure Take in Texas?
The nonjudicial foreclosure process, from the Notice of Default and Intent to Accelerate (see below) to the foreclosure auction, can take just 41 to around 90 days. However, consisting of the 120-day preforeclosure delinquency period, the entire process might take around 6 or 7 months in total, though it can be shorter sometimes.
Texas Foreclosure Timeline and Steps
Again, most property foreclosures in Texas are nonjudicial. Here's how the process works.
Notice of Default and Intent to Accelerate in a Texas Foreclosure
Texas law needs the servicer to send you (the borrower) a notice of default and intent to accelerate by qualified mail that supplies at least 20 days to cure the default before a notification of sale can be offered. The 30-day breach letter sent pursuant to the terms of the deed of trust can satisfy this requirement. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (d)
( 2025).) The notice is sent to the customer's last recognized address and need to consist of the amount due and the date it has actually to be paid.
Under Texas law, the statute of limitations for a judicial or nonjudicial foreclosure is 4 years, starting the day after the cause of 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 limitations begins at the time of acceleration. (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 lending institution must offer the customer clear notices of the intent to accelerate and the real acceleration. (See Ogden v. Gibralter Sav. Ass' n, 640 S.W. 2d 232 (1982 ).) The four-year statute of limitations starts when these notices are sent.
Notice of Sale in a Texas Foreclosure
After the remedy period has actually ended and at least 21 days before the foreclosure sale, the servicer sends a notification of sale by means of qualified mail to each borrower obligated to pay the financial obligation. The notification of sale will likewise be:
- published at the court house door in the county where the residential or commercial property lies
- filed with the county clerk in the county where the residential or commercial property is located, and
- published online. (The county must also publish the date, time, and place of the sale on the exact same site page on which the notice is posted.) (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (b ),(
f-1)(2025).)The notice of sale need to include the date, time, and location of the sale, along with a disclosure tailored towards military servicemembers that they should notify the sender of the notice about their military status. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (i) (2025).)The federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act supplies legal securities to military workers who may lose their home to foreclosure.
Foreclosure sales are normally held on the first Tuesday of monthly in between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. at the county courthouse. The sale should start at the time mentioned in the notification of sale but no behind 3 hours after the time scheduled on the notice of sale. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (a)
( 2025 ).)A couple of prospective methods to stop a foreclosure consist of restoring the loan, exercising a loss mitigation option, redeeming the residential or commercial property before the sale, or filing for personal bankruptcy.
At the sale, the lender typically makes a credit quote. The lending institution can bid approximately the overall amount owed, consisting of fees and costs, or it might bid less. In some states, including Texas, when the loan provider is the high bidder at the sale but quotes less than the overall financial obligation, it can get a deficiency judgment (see listed below) versus the debtor. If the lender is the greatest bidder, the residential or commercial property becomes "genuine estate owned" (REO).
But if a bidder, state a 3rd party, is the greatest bidder and provides more than you owe, and the sale results in excess proceeds-that is, cash over and above what's needed to pay off all the liens on your property-you're entitled to that surplus money.
Eviction
If you remain 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 eviction case. In Texas, this kind of case is referred to as a "forcible detainer" action.
In this article, you'll discover details on foreclosure laws in Texas, with citations to statutes so you can find out more. Statutes change, so inspecting them is constantly a good concept. How courts and firms translate and use laws can alter. And some rules can even differ within a state. These are just a few of the factors to consider speaking with an attorney if you're dealing with a foreclosure.
How to Stop Foreclosure in Texas
A few potential ways to stop a foreclosure and keep your home include reinstating the loan, working out a loss mitigation alternative (such as a loan modification), redeeming the residential or commercial property before the sale, or declare personal bankruptcy. Alternatively, you might be able to exercise a brief sale or deed in lieu of foreclosure and prevent a foreclosure. But you'll need to offer up your home with either of these choices.
Reinstating the Loan
Texas law allows the debtor to block a nonjudicial foreclosure sale by "restoring" the loan (paying the overdue amount) within 20 days after the lender serves the notification of default by mail. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(d) (2025 ).)
Also, most deeds of trust offer additional time to reinstate. Check your loan files to learn if you have more time to complete a reinstatement.
Filing for Bankruptcy
If you're dealing with a foreclosure, applying for bankruptcy might help. If a foreclosure sale is scheduled to take place in the next day or so, the very best method to stop the sale immediately is by declaring insolvency. Once you file for personal bankruptcy, something called an "automated stay" goes into impact. The stay operates as an injunction, forbiding the lender from foreclosing on your home or trying to gather its debt, a minimum of temporarily.
In many cases, declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy can postpone the foreclosure by a matter of months. Or, if you desire to save your home, declaring Chapter 13 personal bankruptcy might be the response. To discover the alternatives 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 should pay off the complete loan amount before the foreclosure sale. To do this, you 'd need to get your hands on a lot of cash relatively quickly. So, very few house owners are able to complete a redemption before losing their home in a foreclosure sale.
Some states also provide foreclosed debtors a redemption period after the foreclosure sale, throughout which they can buy back the home. However, Texas law does not give debtors a statutory right of redemption after a foreclosure. Once your Texas home has actually been foreclosed, you can't redeem it to get it back.
Are Deficiency Judgments Allowed in Texas?
In a foreclosure, the debtor's overall mortgage debt frequently exceeds the foreclosure list price. The difference between the total financial obligation and the price is called a "deficiency." For example, state the total financial obligation owed is $300,000, however the home sells for $250,000 at the foreclosure sale. The deficiency is $50,000.
In some states, the loan provider can look for an individual judgment versus the debtor to recuperate the shortage. Generally, once the loan provider gets a deficiency judgment, the lender 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 lender might acquire a shortage judgment after a nonjudicial foreclosure. The lending institution should file a suit for a deficiency judgment within two years after the foreclosure sale. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.003
( a) ). However, Texas state law permits the customer to get credit for the residential or commercial property's reasonable market price. So, the borrower is entitled to an offset in the shortage amount if the residential or commercial property's reasonable market price is higher 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 kind of mortgage that's being foreclosed. While there are numerous different kinds of loans, the most typical are:
- purchase money loans (a "purchase money loan" is a loan gotten to purchase the residential or commercial property).
- purchase money second loans, and.
equity loans, like home equity loans and home equity lines of credit.
Again, most foreclosures in Texas including purchase cash loans are nonjudicial. But equity loan foreclosures are a little different. Under Texas law, the lending institution must use a quasi-judicial procedure to foreclose this kind of loan.
In this procedure, the loan provider should get a court order approving the foreclosure before carrying out a nonjudicial foreclosure. Also, Texas law does not allow deficiency judgments following the foreclosure of a home equity loan.
Home Equity Loan Foreclosures Involve an Additional Step: The Lender Must Litigate
Foreclosing an equity loan includes another action that falls in between sending a breach letter and notice of sale: The lending institution needs to file an application in court requesting for an order enabling the foreclosure. (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 735, 736; Texas Constitution, Article XVI, § 50 [a] [6] [D] (2025 ).)
Responding to the foreclosure. The application has to be served to you by mail, and you get 38 days from the date of mailing to file an action. If you decide to respond, your response needs to remain in the correct format and may remain in the form of a basic rejection, but need to agreeably plead:
- why you believe you didn't sign the defined loan agreement file.
- why you're not bound to make payments.
- that the variety of months of the alleged default (that is, the number of months the lending institution states you're behind in payments) is incorrect, or that the reinstatement or pay off amounts the loan provider supplied are materially incorrect.
- that any file connected to the application is not a real and correct copy of the initial, or.
- that you made the payments (and you'll have to offer proof). (Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 736.5 (2025 ).)
You can't raise any independent claims for relief. To combat the foreclosure on other grounds, you'll need to file your own lawsuit.
What happens if you file a response. If you submit a response to the application, the court sets a hearing that, like the reaction, is limited in scope. The only concern in this sort of case is whether the lending institution can get an order enabling it to continue with foreclosure under the law and the terms of the loan agreement. (See In re One West Bank, FSB, 430 S.W. 3d 573 (Tex.App. 2014)).
If the court grants the loan provider's application at the hearing, the foreclosure will proceed. The lender will then send you a foreclosure sale notice.
Foreclosure Sale
Again, foreclosure sales are normally 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 begin at the time mentioned in the notice of sale, but no behind three hours after the time scheduled on the notification of sale. (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002 (2025 ).)
Deficiency Judgment Following the Home Equity Loan Foreclosure
Texas law does not enable the lender to get a shortage judgment versus you after foreclosing an equity loan. (Texas Constitution, Article XVI, § 50 [a] [6] [C] (2025 ).)
Get More Foreclosure Help and Information
For additional information on federal mortgage maintenance laws and foreclosure relief choices, go to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) website. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs also provides info about foreclosures, including foreclosure FAQs, for Texas homeowners. In addition, the Texas State Law Library has helpful details about the Texas foreclosure procedure.
If you have concerns about Texas's foreclosure process or wish to learn more about prospective defenses to a foreclosure and potentially combat the foreclosure in court, consider speaking with a foreclosure lawyer. It's also an excellent idea to talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor about various loss mitigation options.
