Texas foreclosure,
in plain English.

Texas law requires the lender to file and post a Notice of Sale at least 21 days before the foreclosure auction. The notice goes to you by certified mail, gets filed with the county clerk, and gets physically posted at the county courthouse.

Foreclosure sales in Texas almost always happen on the first Tuesday of the month, somewhere between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., at the courthouse for the county where the property sits.

You can still stop the sale during this window - through reinstatement, loan modification, a short sale, selling to a buyer (including us), or filing for bankruptcy. But every day matters.

Reinstatement means paying everything that's past-due (principal, interest, late fees, attorney fees) in one shot, which legally cures the default and stops the sale.

Texas Property Code section 51.002 gives you this right up to the day before the sale, but the lender must accept the full delinquent amount - it's not negotiable down at this stage.

Some loans, however, are accelerated - meaning the lender has formally demanded the entire balance, not just the missed payments. If yours has been accelerated, reinstatement may not be available. The only way to know for sure is to have your servicer's payoff and reinstatement quotes pulled.

A loan modification rewrites the terms of your loan: the missed payments get rolled to the back, the term gets extended, and your monthly payment becomes manageable again.

Forbearance is similar but temporary - the lender pauses or reduces payments for a set period while you get back on your feet.

Both options require the lender's approval, and not every homeowner qualifies. Interest rates on modifications often go up, and over the life of the loan you can pay tens of thousands more. But for many families, keeping the home is worth that trade.

If keeping the home isn't realistic, selling before the auction is usually the next-best outcome. You preserve any equity you have, you avoid the credit damage of a completed foreclosure, and you control your move-out timing instead of being told.

Two main paths: a traditional sale with a real estate agent (better if you have time and the home is market-ready), or a direct sale to a buyer like us (better if time is short or the home needs work).

Either way, the timeline is the constraint. A traditional listing can take 30 to 60 days to close. A direct cash sale can close in days. We'll tell you honestly which path makes sense given your auction date.

Filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy triggers what's called an automatic stay, which legally pauses the foreclosure sale - even if it's scheduled for the next morning.

Chapter 13 in particular can let you restructure debts (including mortgage arrears) over 3-5 years and stay in the home, if you have steady income.

Bankruptcy stays on your credit for 7-10 years and isn't right for everyone. We're not bankruptcy attorneys, but we'll tell you honestly when it's worth at least talking to one, and we'll refer you to attorneys we've worked alongside.

Once the gavel falls at the courthouse, the deed transfers to the highest bidder (or back to the lender if no one outbids them). In Texas, unlike some states, there's no general right of redemption for residential foreclosures - you can't buy the home back after the sale.

The new owner can then file an eviction (forcible detainer) action. In Texas, the timeline from the sale to physical move-out is typically a few weeks to a couple of months.

If you stay through the sale, the best thing you can do is communicate with the new owner about a reasonable move-out date. Many lender-buyers offer 'cash for keys' relocation assistance.