First Tuesday: How Texas Still Sells Foreclosed Homes at the Courthouse
A Monthly Tradition on the Courthouse Steps
In most of the country, a foreclosure sale happens in a courtroom or on a website. In Texas, it still happens outdoors, on the first Tuesday of every month, at the county courthouse. A trustee reads the property out loud, bidders call out numbers, and the home goes to the highest bidder in a matter of minutes.
State law sets the schedule. Sales must take place between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, in the county where the property sits. There is exactly one exception: when the first Tuesday lands on New Year’s Day or the Fourth of July, the sale moves to Wednesday. Every other holiday, rain or shine, the sale goes on.
It sounds like a bargain hunter’s dream. Sometimes it is. More often, it is a place where people who know exactly what they are doing buy homes they have never been inside, with cash, and take on risks most buyers never see coming. Here is how it works.
How a Home Ends Up on the Courthouse Steps
Most Texas mortgages include a power of sale in the deed of trust. That clause lets the lender foreclose without going to court, which is why Texas foreclosures move faster than in many states.
The process still has guardrails:
- Federal rules generally keep a lender from starting foreclosure until a loan is more than 120 days behind.
- The owner then gets a written notice of default and at least 20 days to catch up.
- If the default isn’t cured, the notice of sale must go out at least 21 days before the sale. It is mailed to the owner, filed with the county clerk, and posted at the courthouse.
Mortgage sales aren’t the only ones held that day. Counties also auction homes for unpaid property taxes on the first Tuesday, usually through the sheriff or a constable, and homeowners associations can foreclose for unpaid assessments. Those sales follow different rules, which matter a great deal after the auction.
Where the Sales Happen Around DFW
Each county’s commissioners court decides exactly where at or near the courthouse the sales take place, and the start time for each property is printed on its notice. A few local examples:
| County | Where the sale is held |
|---|---|
| Tarrant | At the base of the courthouse steps on the west side of the courthouse, 100 W. Weatherford St., Fort Worth |
| Johnson | On the exterior steps outside the west doors of the Johnson County Historic Courthouse, facing Main Street, 2 N. Main St., Cleburne. The constable’s tax sale runs at the same time, outside the constable’s office. |
| Dallas | On the north side of the George Allen Courts Building, facing 600 Commerce St., Dallas, or as designated by the commissioners court. Sales start at 10 a.m. and run up to three hours. |
Locations can change, so always go by the notice for the property you are interested in.
What Buying at the Auction Really Means
Anyone can bid, including the lender. The lender can bid using the debt it is owed, and when no one bids higher, it takes the home back. When an outside bidder does win, the purchase looks nothing like a normal home sale.
- You pay on the spot. The trustee sets the terms, which typically means cash or cashier’s checks at or shortly after the sale. There is no loan approval period. Ask the trustee named in the notice what they require before you go.
- You don’t get to see inside. There is no showing, no inspection, no option period, and no seller’s disclosure. Many of these homes are still occupied, and the occupants have every right to keep you off the property. You are pricing a house from the street and the public record.
- It’s truly as is. The trustee’s deed comes with no warranties. You get whatever interest the foreclosed lien had, nothing more.
- Some debts come with the house. A foreclosure wipes out liens that were junior to the one being foreclosed, but anything senior stays. Property taxes generally survive a mortgage foreclosure. And if the lien being foreclosed is a second mortgage, the first mortgage is still there.
That last point catches people. The winning bid is not always the whole price.
After the Bidding Stops
The people inside don’t have to leave that day. Winning the auction doesn’t give you the keys. If the former owner or a tenant is still living there, you can’t change the locks or move their things out yourself. You give written notice to vacate and, if they stay, file an eviction case in justice court. Tenants with a lease generally get more notice than a former owner does, so plan for weeks, not days.
Some sales can be undone. After an ordinary mortgage foreclosure, Texas generally gives the former owner no right to buy the home back. The other first-Tuesday sales are different:
| Type of sale | Former owner’s right to redeem |
|---|---|
| Mortgage (trustee’s sale) | Generally none |
| HOA assessment foreclosure | 180 days after notice of the sale |
| Property tax sale, homestead or agricultural land | 2 years after the buyer’s deed is recorded |
| Property tax sale, other property | 180 days after the buyer’s deed is recorded |
During that window, money you put into repairs may not come back to you in full. Before bidding on a tax or HOA sale, read the statute yourself and talk with a real estate attorney or title company.
How to Look Up the Notices Yourself
You don’t need a paid subscription to see what’s scheduled. Texas law requires a county with a website to post each filed notice of sale online, free, with no registration. Notices go up about three weeks before each first Tuesday.
- Tarrant County: Notices are searchable on the county clerk’s official records search, and on public computers in the clerk’s office at the courthouse. The clerk doesn’t publish a list, and each month’s notices are discarded the day after the sale.
- Dallas County: The county clerk’s foreclosure page posts notices sorted by city and month.
- Johnson County: Notices are online at johnson.tx.publicsearch.us and on the bulletin board outside the county clerk’s office in the Historic Courthouse.
- Tax sales: Check the county tax office or constable’s office website for the delinquent property tax auction list.
The clerk’s staff can’t answer questions about a sale or give advice. Each notice names a trustee, and the trustee is the person to call about payment terms and the property.
The Easier Path: Buying After the Auction
When no one outbids the lender, the home becomes bank-owned, often called REO. Most of those homes are cleaned out, listed with a real estate agent, and sold through the MLS like any other house.
That changes almost everything. You can walk through the home, hire an inspector, use a mortgage, and negotiate a contract with an option period. Banks still sell as is and add their own paperwork, so read every addendum, but you are no longer bidding blind with a cashier’s check in your pocket.
The courthouse steps are a fascinating piece of Texas tradition, and worth a visit on a first Tuesday just to watch. For most people looking for a home, though, the better buy comes a few weeks later, after the lender takes it back.
If you’re interested in a bank-owned home anywhere in the Metroplex, I’m happy to help.
Sources
- Texas Property Code, Chapter 51 (foreclosure sales)
- Texas State Law Library: Foreclosure, The Sale
- Tarrant County Clerk: Foreclosures
- Dallas County Clerk: Foreclosures
- Johnson County Clerk: Foreclosure Sales
- Texas Tax Code, Chapter 34 (tax sales and redemption)
- Texas Property Code, Chapter 209 (HOA foreclosures)
About the Author
Christina Kang is a broker associate with CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company, serving buyers and sellers across the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, from Denton County to Johnson County. A former state certified residential appraiser, she holds the GRI, MCNE, and CLHMS designations and brings a hands-on understanding of how homes are built, updated, and valued. She lives in Grand Prairie, where she has renovated much of her own home.