Facing Foreclosure in Texas?

Texas uses non-judicial foreclosure. In Texas, foreclosures that finished in the second quarter of 2026 took an average of 155 days from the start of the foreclosure process to completion, according to ATTOM. Sales are held on the first Tuesday of the month, or the first Wednesday when that Tuesday is January 1 or July 4 (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(a), (a-1)), so the date also depends on that calendar and the lender's schedule. When 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41 applies to a principal-residence mortgage, the rule generally bars a servicer in an ordinary delinquency-based foreclosure from making the first notice or filing until the loan is more than 120 days delinquent. Limited exceptions apply to due-on-sale violations and joining a superior or subordinate lienholder's foreclosure. Some state notices that are only mailed to you can come during that wait. Texas law sets these steps, each with its own minimum: Notice to cure: at least 20 days to catch up before the notice of sale can go out (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(d)). Notice of sale: at least 21 days before the sale (Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(b)).

Often there are still ways to try, though none is guaranteed: (1) Reinstatement — paying what you're behind, plus fees, to bring the loan current, where state law or your mortgage allows it (Texas's rule is under "When is it too late?" above). (2) Loan modification — if 12 C.F.R. § 1024.41 applies to a mortgage secured by your principal residence and no § 1024.30 exemption applies, including exemptions for small servicers, reverse-mortgage transactions, and qualified lenders, a complete application received more than 37 days before a scheduled sale generally requires evaluation for available options and a written decision; the rule does not require a particular modification. (3) Forbearance — a temporary pause on payments, if your servicer agrees. (4) Bankruptcy — filing generally creates an automatic stay that can stop a foreclosure sale while it lasts, though the stay has exceptions and can last only a short time in some cases. (5) Short sale — selling the home for less than you owe, if your lender approves.

Texas limits deficiency judgments: whether the lender can collect the rest depends on the loan, the kind of sale and the rules below. Texas allows deficiency judgments after foreclosure, but with a key protection: you can ask the court to determine the property's fair market value. If the FMV is higher than what the property sold for at auction, the court credits you the difference — reducing or eliminating the deficiency. After a trustee's (non-judicial) sale, the lender must sue within 2 years. Exception: home equity loans are constitutionally non-recourse — no deficiency judgment is permitted unless the owner or spouse obtained the loan by actual fraud.

Yes. HUD-approved housing counseling agencies give foreclosure-prevention counseling for free, and a counselor can help you talk to your servicer. HUD lists 50 approved counseling agencies in Texas; its referral line is 1-800-569-4287.

As Texas law sets it: UNLIMITED dollar amount. Texas caps only acreage: 10 acres in a city, 200 acres for a rural family, 100 acres for a rural single adult. The exemption does not protect against liens the law allows on a homestead, such as a purchase-money mortgage or property taxes. Whatever the amount, the exemption does not protect your home from mortgage foreclosure. It protects equity from other creditors.

Government-backed loans have their own rules on top of Texas law. FHA requires a meeting or reasonable efforts to arrange one in covered defaults. Current rules allow approved remote methods; exceptions and timing requirements apply. VA and USDA set their own help options for the loans they back; the forbearance guide and loan modification guide explain each program's options, with the rule behind each one.

Under Property Code 24.005, if the property was purchased at foreclosure sale and a residential tenant timely pays rent and is not in default, the purchaser must give at least 30 days' written notice to vacate. Federal PTFA also requires at least 90 days' notice for bona fide tenants and generally lets a bona fide tenant with a lease stay until the lease ends, unless the home is sold to a buyer who will live there (then 90 days' notice). Section 8 voucher holders retain lease rights under federal law. 3 days written notice to vacate for former owner/borrower. 30 days written notice to vacate for bona fide tenants who timely pay rent and are not otherwise in default after foreclosure, if the purchaser chooses not to continue the lease. Federal Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (12 U.S.C. 5220 note) also applies: bona fide tenants get at least 90 days' notice, and a bona fide tenant with a lease can generally stay until the lease ends (the lease can be ended on 90 days' notice if the home is sold to a buyer who will live there). Self-help eviction (changing locks, removing belongings without court order) is prohibited. The purchaser must file a forcible detainer action in Justice of the Peace court.

Possibly. If a foreclosure sale brings in more than is owed, the extra is called surplus. The costs of the sale, the debt being foreclosed and other liens on the home, such as a second mortgage, are generally paid first, and in some states a court decides who gets what is left. In Texas: After the trustee sale, the trustee disburses proceeds in order: costs of sale, secured debt, junior lienholders by priority, then the former owner. For tax sales, the officer conducting the sale pays excess proceeds to the clerk of the court that issued the order of sale; if the excess is more than $25, the clerk must send the former owner written notice of it before the 31st day after receiving it, and claimants file petitions in the court that ordered the sale (Tax Code 34.02-34.04). For tax sale surplus, claims must be filed before the second anniversary of the sale date (Tax Code 34.04). The court, county clerk or trustee who handled the sale can tell you whether any surplus is being held.

Generally, no. HAF programs, including the Texas Homeowner Assistance Fund (TX HAF), can't commit new money after September 30, 2026 (Treasury). If the program approved you before then, ask it about payments still being processed.

Possibly. A short sale lets you sell your home for less than you owe, if your lender approves it. A short sale does not by itself release the remaining debt in Texas, except on a home equity loan, which the Constitution requires to be without recourse for personal liability unless the owner got it by actual fraud (art. XVI, § 50(a)(6)(C)). The two-year deadline and fair-market-value credit in Property Code § 51.003 are written for foreclosure sales, not short sales, so any other release of the remaining balance has to be in the short sale agreement.