Land · Texas tax sale guide

Hardin County tax sales

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Hardin County (county seat Kountze) sells tax foreclosed property in person. Property may be sold only after a tax lien foreclosure lawsuit and a court judgment. Hardin County delinquent tax sales are published by McCreary, Veselka, Bragg and Allen (MVBA), which lists Hardin County among its December tax sales and publishes the sale bid sheet. Purchasers at the sale receive an ordinary Sheriff Deed, which is without warranty, express or implied. Questions about the sale go to the MVBA office in Kountze at (409) 246-3000. The bid sheet names no individual officer who conducts the sale.

Venue or platform: In person at the Courthouse Door of Hardin County, Texas. The December 1, 2026 sale begins at 10:00 AM. Property is sold at public auction to the highest bidder based on oral bids. MVBA lists Hardin County in its December sales with no online sale tag, and no online auction platform is published for this sale.

Next sale: December 1, 2026. MVBA lists Hardin County among its December Tax Sales for Tuesday, December 1, 2026, and publishes the Hardin County bid sheet for December 1, 2026 at 10:00 AM at the Courthouse Door of Hardin County, Texas, with 25 tracts offered. The deadline to register with the tax office for this sale is November 25, 2026.

25 tracts are listed for the December 1, 2026 sale in the MVBA bid sheet, plus 5 trust resale tracts offered in the Resales section of the same sheet, for 30 tracts in total.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	December 1, 2026
Sale pattern	No standing frequency statement is published. MVBA publishes a dated bid sheet for each Hardin County sale; the current published sale is Tuesday, December 1, 2026, and an earlier published Hardin County sale ran on June 3, 2025, also at 10:00 AM at the courthouse door.
Format	In person
Venue or platform	In person at the Courthouse Door of Hardin County, Texas. The December 1, 2026 sale begins at 10:00 AM. Property is sold at public auction to the highest bidder based on oral bids. MVBA lists Hardin County in its December sales with no online sale tag, and no online auction platform is published for this sale.
Who conducts	Property may be sold only after a tax lien foreclosure lawsuit and a court judgment. Hardin County delinquent tax sales are published by McCreary, Veselka, Bragg and Allen (MVBA), which lists Hardin County among its December tax sales and publishes the sale bid sheet. Purchasers at the sale receive an ordinary Sheriff Deed, which is without warranty, express or implied. Questions about the sale go to the MVBA office in Kountze at (409) 246-3000. The bid sheet names no individual officer who conducts the sale.
The list	The parcel list publishes in the MVBA bid sheet for the sale, by tract number, suit number, style, legal description, approximate address, account number, and minimum bid. The December 1, 2026 bid sheet lists tracts 1 through 25 for the sale, followed by a separate Resales section of trust property described in the struck off note.

Sources: MVBA, Texas Tax Sales Monthly Updates, December Tax Sales. MVBA, Delinquent Tax Sale, The County of Hardin, Texas, December 1, 2026 bid sheet. Hardin County Commissioners Court, Resolution 31-24 requesting a public sale of properties acquired at delinquent tax sales, November 12, 2024. Confirm with the conducting officer or the county tax office before relying on any date on this page: sales move, terms change, and properties are withdrawn when owners pay or courts stay the sale.

Research Hardin County parcels before you bid

A sale list gives you the parcels, the date, and the opening terms. It does not give you the owner, the value, or the rest of the picture: liens, foreclosure status, and parcel history. PropertyRadar is the data platform for that layer. It carries owner records, assessed and market values, foreclosure and tax data, and property history for parcels across Hardin County, searchable by address, owner, or county, including parcels that never reach a sale list.

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How Texas tax sales work

A taxing unit sues, and the court orders the sale. Delinquent taxes become a lien; a taxing unit (county, city, school district) sues to foreclose it, or the property is seized under a tax warrant. The sheriff or a constable conducts the sale.
The sale is the first Tuesday of the month. By statute (Tax Code Section 34.01), a sale runs between 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM on the first Tuesday, at the courthouse or the place the commissioners court has designated. If the first Tuesday is January 1 or July 4, it moves to the first Wednesday. A county authorized for online sales runs them on the same day, closing at 4:00 PM.
The minimum bid is set by the judgment. A property cannot sell for less than the lesser of the total amount due under the judgment (taxes, penalties, interest, other judgment amounts, court costs and the costs of sale) or the adjudged value the judgment states (Section 34.01(j)).
You prove you owe no delinquent taxes before you get a deed. The officer cannot deliver a deed until the buyer exhibits a written statement from the county tax assessor-collector showing no delinquent taxes owed to the county, or to the school districts and municipalities inside it (Section 34.015). The statement costs no more than $10 and expires after 90 days. Some counties run a registration system instead (Section 34.011), where bidders register with the assessor-collector before the sale begins; Harris County on this page set is one.
The deed vests the defendant's interest, with no warranty. The officer prepares the deed (Section 34.01(m)). It vests the interest the defendant owned, subject only to the redemption right below, certain restrictive covenants and liens recorded before January 1 of the lien year, and valid easements of record (Section 34.01(n)). The tax liens included in the judgment are extinguished by the sale.
Texas is a redeemable deed state. If the property was a residence homestead, land designated for agricultural use, or a mineral interest, the former owner has two years from the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record to redeem, paying the bid, the recording fee, and what the purchaser paid in taxes, penalties, interest and costs, plus a premium of 25 percent of that total in the first year or 50 percent in the second (Section 34.21). Every other property carries a 180 day redemption period with a premium of up to 25 percent. During the redemption period the buyer has no right to use the property or collect rents.
What does not sell is struck off, then resold. If no bid reaches the minimum, the officer bids the property off to the taxing unit that brought the suit, for itself and the other taxing units in it (Section 34.01(j)). That unit may resell at any time by public or private sale (Section 34.05): a public resale can go for any amount, and a private sale must meet a floor, the lesser of the judgment market value or the total judgments, unless every taxing unit entitled to proceeds consents to less.

How registration works in Hardin County

A person intending to bid must register with the tax office by November 25, 2026 for the December 1, 2026 sale. Before the sale, a bidder registers with the person conducting the sale and presents a valid driver license or identification card issued by a state agency or the United States government; a bidder for a corporation or entity must also present documentation showing authority to bid for that entity, and the grantee named in the deed must be the successful bidder. The bidder acknowledgement form is completed before arrival and presented to an MVBA representative at the sale with paperwork from the tax office showing the bidder is cleared to bid. A purchaser must present to the officer conducting the sale a written statement from the Hardin County Tax Office that the purchaser does not owe any delinquent taxes to the county or any school district or city in the county, under Section 34.015 of the Texas Tax Code, and no deed is delivered until the statement is presented.

The deed names the registered bidder. Register in the name that should hold title; an officer cannot deliver a deed to someone other than the successful bidder.
The statement expires. A Section 34.015 statement is good for 90 days from issuance. A monthly bidder keeps it current rather than re-requesting it in sale week.

Terms: what a bid actually costs

Payment, Hardin County	Successful bidders pay for their property with cash or a cashier check payable to Steve Smith, Hardin TAC. The minimum bid for each tract is set out on the bid sheet and includes taxes delinquent at the date of judgment; purchasers also pay all taxes that accrued after the date of judgment. A bidder who fails to make payment is liable for twenty percent of the value of the property plus costs under Rule 652 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and a person who registers to bid for a corporation, LLC, or other legal entity is personally liable for the bid amount if the entity does not pay on time. All sales are final and there are no refunds.
Deposit, Hardin County	NOT PUBLISHED. No bidder deposit is stated in the MVBA Hardin County bid sheet, and the Texas Tax Code sets no deposit.
Minimum bid (state law)	The property cannot be sold for less than the lesser of the total amount due under the judgment (taxes, penalties, interest, other judgment amounts, court costs and the costs of sale) or the adjudged value stated in the judgment (Tax Code Section 34.01(j)). A different floor can apply to a bidder who owns an interest in the property or was a party to the suit.
Redemption: homestead, agricultural, mineral	Two years from the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record. The former owner redeems by paying the bid amount, the deed recording fee, and the taxes, penalties, interest and costs the purchaser paid, plus a premium of 25 percent of that total in the first year or 50 percent in the second (Section 34.21). While the period runs, the buyer has no right to use the property or collect rents.
Redemption: all other property	180 days from the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record, on the same payment terms, with a premium of up to 25 percent (Section 34.21).
Deed and title	The officer prepares a deed to the purchaser (Section 34.01(m)). It vests the interest the defendant owned, subject only to the redemption right, certain restrictive covenants and liens recorded before January 1 of the lien year, and valid easements of record (Section 34.01(n)). It is not a warranty deed, and the tax liens included in the judgment are extinguished by the sale.
Excess proceeds	If a property sells for more than the judgment, the excess is distributed under Section 34.02 and paid into the court for the former owner to claim. It is not the buyer's money and it is not a discount on the bid.

Struck off and tax resales: the leftover list

When a Hardin County property draws no bid at or above the minimum, the officer bids it off to the taxing unit that brought the suit. That unit holds it in trust for the other taxing units and may resell it at any time, by public or private sale, under Tax Code Section 34.05. Public resales can go for any amount; a private sale must meet the statutory floor unless every taxing unit entitled to proceeds consents to less. Resale deeds remain subject to any redemption period still running, priced from the taxing unit's own deed date. The MVBA bid sheet carries a Resales section, under Section 34.05 of the Texas Property Tax Code, offering properties held in trust by the taxing units. The December 1, 2026 bid sheet lists 5 resale tracts, each marked Bid in Trust 6/2/2026, with its suit number, legal description, account, and bid amount. Hardin County commissioners court resolutions confirm the standing pattern: property struck off to the County of Hardin, Trustee, at a tax sale is resold when the county requests the Sheriff to conduct a public sale to the highest bidder for cash under Section 34.05.

Before you bid

Check the list in sale week and again on sale morning. Owners pay, courts stay sales, and officers withdraw properties right up to the start. A list you researched last week is not the list that sells.
Price the redemption period, not just the bid. On a homestead, agricultural or mineral parcel the former owner can redeem for two years from the deed recording date and you cannot use the property or collect rents meanwhile. The premium (25 percent in year one, 50 percent in year two) is the compensation if it happens. Bid like the wait is real.
The deed carries no warranty. What the defendant owned is what you get, subject to the recorded easements and covenants the statute preserves. Liens outside the judgment, access, zoning and condition are the buyer's homework, and buyers who need marketable title plan title work after the redemption period runs.
Set the maximum before the sale opens. The free Max-Bid Calculator below works backwards from your resale or hold value to the highest bid you can pay, with the costs shown.

Every Texas county in this set

One page per county, each verified against its own county or officer source. Texas has 254 counties and no single official sale list; this set covers 254 counties: the top 20 by population and recorded sale volume, plus the next tiers of high volume counties.

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