Land · Texas tax sale guide

Smith County tax sales

Verified

Smith County (county seat Tyler) sells tax foreclosed property online only. Smith County tax foreclosure sales are conducted by the sheriff, and a sheriff deed is issued at the time of sale or shortly after it. The county names Linebarger Goggan Blair and Sampson, LLP as the tax attorney for Smith County and for all but one of its jurisdictions, and Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins and Mott only for the Tyler Independent School District.

Venue or platform: Smith County Official Tax Foreclosure Sales, the county auction site at smith.texas.sheriffsaleauctions.com, which the county Delinquent Tax Sales page gives as the sale location. The county page publishes no courthouse room or steps venue for bidding.

Next sale: Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at 10 AM, under the county standing first Tuesday rule.. The county Delinquent Tax Sales page publishes the standing first Tuesday rule and does not publish a separate dated December 1, 2026 notice or a December parcel count, so December 1, 2026 is verified as the next rule date and not as a dated list. The following first Tuesday is Tuesday, January 5, 2027, if a sale is ordered for that month. Confirm the December list on the county auction site and in the newspaper notice before bidding, because parcels can be paid and removed before sale day.

No official upcoming parcel count is published on the county Delinquent Tax Sales page. No secondary tracker count for a December Smith County sale is included in this record, because no tracker page for Smith County was read for this check.

Dates and deadlines

Next sale	Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at 10 AM, under the county standing first Tuesday rule.
Sale pattern	The county publishes one standing rule: the first Tuesday of every month at 10 AM. Texas Tax Code Section 34.01 requires tax sales on the first Tuesday between 10 AM and 4 PM, and Smith County states its sale time as 10 AM on that day each month.
Format	Online only
Venue or platform	Smith County Official Tax Foreclosure Sales, the county auction site at smith.texas.sheriffsaleauctions.com, which the county Delinquent Tax Sales page gives as the sale location. The county page publishes no courthouse room or steps venue for bidding.
Who conducts	Smith County tax foreclosure sales are conducted by the sheriff, and a sheriff deed is issued at the time of sale or shortly after it. The county names Linebarger Goggan Blair and Sampson, LLP as the tax attorney for Smith County and for all but one of its jurisdictions, and Perdue, Brandon, Fielder, Collins and Mott only for the Tyler Independent School District.
The list	A tax sale list is published in the Tyler Morning Telegraph on three occasions during the two weeks before the sale, and notices are also posted at the Smith County Courthouse. The county page also links bidders to Linebarger for post tax sale property listings in Smith County jurisdictions and to Perdue Brandon for Tyler Independent School District matters. The minimum bid follows Section 34.01(j), the lesser of the judgment amount due or the adjudged value.

Sources: Delinquent Tax Sales, Smith County, TX. Property Taxes, Smith County, TX. Texas Tax Code, Chapter 34 (official text). 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 Smith 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 Smith 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 Smith County

Get the Section 34.015 written statement before the sale. Complete the county Request for Written Statement form, list every property you own in Smith County or in any city or school district located at least in part in Smith County, include your email address on the mailing address line, have the form notarized, and submit the notarized form with 10 dollars to the Smith County Tax Office. By statute the statement costs no more than 10 dollars and stays valid for 90 days, and no deed may be delivered without an unexpired statement.

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, Smith County	Payment in full is required from the winning bidder on the day of the sale. Payment must be by cashier check or money order, and credit cards are not accepted. The buyer also pays any unpaid fees and other costs of the sale at the time of sale, and taxes for post judgment years may also be due from the buyer.
Deposit, Smith County	No deposit is published on the Smith County Delinquent Tax Sales page. The only bidder money the county page publishes in advance is the 10 dollar fee for the Section 34.015 written statement.
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 Smith 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. Property with no sufficient bid is struck off to the taxing unit under Section 34.01 and may be resold by that taxing unit under Section 34.05 by public or private sale. The county page points buyers looking for property after a sale to Linebarger, which it describes as carrying post tax sale property listings in various Smith County jurisdictions, and no separate county struck off list or resale calendar was published on the county page for this check.

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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