Right to 20 days to catch up before a sale notice
Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(d)
In plain words
If your home is your residence, the mortgage servicer must first send you a notice of default by certified mail. It must give you at least 20 days to cure (pay what is past due) before it can post your home for sale. The day the notice is sent counts as day one.
Who is protected
A borrower in default on a deed of trust on the home they live in.
When it applies
- Only in Texas.
- Only while you are behind but have no foreclosure notice yet or after a notice of default.
- Only if the home is your primary residence.
- Most Texas deeds of trust also require a 30-day breach letter; the 20-day statutory notice can be combined with it.
What you can do
Put the deadline on your calendar
Enter the date on your notice so Techoclaro can count the days and remind you.
Open the toolAsk for the exact amount to cure
Write to the servicer asking for a reinstatement quote and proof of the notice date.
Deadline: Within the 20-day cure period
Open the toolRead your state guide and find free help
Open the state page for the process, deadlines and legal-aid contacts in your state.
Open the tool
Honest limits
- The 20 days is a minimum, not a guarantee the lender will accept partial payments.
- Missing or late notice can support a defense or claim, but a court usually also looks at whether you were harmed.
- This is general education, not legal advice. Laws change and details matter — check the current official text or talk to a legal aid lawyer or HUD-approved housing counselor.
The law
- State lawNotice of default and 20 days to cure
Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(d)
What it says: The servicer must mail a notice of default giving at least 20 days to cure before notice of sale can be given.
Read the official texthttps://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.51.htm#51.002
Court cases
- Partial winCited for this rightShumway v. Horizon Credit Corp.
Shumway v. Horizon Credit Corp., 801 S.W.2d 890 (Tex. 1991)
a borrower waives notice of intent to accelerate only by clear and unequivocal language, and a general waiver of "notice" is not enough
- Homeowner wonCited for this rightOgden v. Gibraltar Savings Ass'n
Ogden v. Gibraltar Sav. Ass'n, 640 S.W.2d 232 (Tex. 1982)
when a note holder has the option to accelerate on default, equity demands notice of the intent to exercise that option before foreclosing, and a homeowner sold out without it may recover damages
- Homeowner lostCited for this rightStanley v. CitiFinancial Mortgage Co.
Stanley v. CitiFinancial Mortg. Co., 121 S.W.3d 811 (Tex. App.—Beaumont 2003)
notice under Property Code § 51.002(e) is complete when sent by certified mail to the debtor's last known address, and actual receipt is not required
- Homeowner wonSame topicSauceda v. GMAC Mortgage Corp.
Sauceda v. GMAC Mortg. Corp., 268 S.W.3d 135 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi–Edinburg 2008)
a wrongful-foreclosure claim requires a defect in the sale proceedings, a grossly inadequate selling price, and a causal connection between them, and that homeowners who offer evidence of each are entitled to a trial
- Homeowner wonSame topicHoly Cross Church of God in Christ v. Wolf
Holy Cross Church of God in Christ v. Wolf, 44 S.W.3d 562 (Tex. 2001)
effective acceleration requires notice of intent to accelerate and notice of acceleration, and once the note is accelerated the four-year Texas limitations period to foreclose begins to run
- Homeowner lostSame topicBoren v. U.S. National Bank Ass'n
Boren v. U.S. Nat'l Bank Ass'n, 807 F.3d 99 (5th Cir. 2015)
a lender may abandon a prior acceleration by giving notice that it seeks less than the full accelerated balance, which restarts the four-year limitations period
- Homeowner lostSame topicMartins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P.
Martins v. BAC Home Loans Servicing, L.P., 722 F.3d 249 (5th Cir. 2013)
a mortgage servicer acting for a properly assigned mortgagee may foreclose in Texas without possessing the original note, and an oral promise to modify a large loan is not enforceable
- Homeowner lostSame topicUniversity Savings Ass'n v. Springwoods Shopping Center
Univ. Sav. Ass'n v. Springwoods Shopping Ctr., 644 S.W.2d 705 (Tex. 1982)
failing to record an otherwise valid appointment of a substitute trustee does not by itself make the trustee's sale unlawful or unfair to the mortgagor
- Homeowner wonSame topicWood v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A.
Wood v. HSBC Bank USA, N.A., 505 S.W.3d 542 (Tex. 2016)
a home-equity lien that does not comply with Article XVI, section 50 of the Texas Constitution is invalid until cured, and no statute of limitations bars the homeowner's action to quiet title
Related rights
Right to 21 days’ notice before a foreclosure sale
Tex. Prop. Code § 51.002(b)
The notice of sale must be given at least 21 days before the sale. It is posted at the courthouse door, filed with the county clerk (and posted on the county website), and sent to you by certified mail. Sales happen on the first Tuesday of the month between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Read this rightRight to go to court to stop a wrongful sale
Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 65.011
Most Texas foreclosures happen without a court, but you can file your own lawsuit and ask a judge for an injunction (a court order stopping the sale). For home-equity, HOA and tax-lien foreclosures that need a Rule 736 order, filing a separate lawsuit before 5 p.m. on the Monday before the sale automatically stops that process.
Read this rightThe right to be heard in court, and to speak for yourself
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1Due Process Clause
Due process means that before the government, through a court, takes your property, you must get a meaningful chance to be heard. In federal court, you have a legal right to present your own case without a lawyer. Most state courts also let people represent themselves, under state rules.
Read this rightThe right to real notice before the government takes or sells your home
U.S. Const. amend. XIV, § 1Due Process Clause
Before a state or county sells your property — for example at a tax sale, or through a court foreclosure — the Constitution requires notice that is reasonably likely to actually reach you. If the government knows your address, publishing a notice in the newspaper is not enough. If a mailed notice comes back unclaimed, the government must take extra reasonable steps to reach you, if it practicably can.
Read this rightThe automatic stay: filing bankruptcy pauses most collection
11 U.S.C. § 362(a)
When a bankruptcy case is filed, an "automatic stay" goes into effect right away. It generally stops lawsuits, foreclosure steps, and other collection against you and your property, without anyone needing to ask a judge. Creditors who knowingly violate it can owe damages.
Read this rightChapter 13: catch up on missed mortgage payments over time
11 U.S.C. § 1322(b)(5)
In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, a plan can let you catch up on missed mortgage payments over a reasonable time (often 3 to 5 years) while you keep paying the regular monthly payment. For your main home, you can use this cure until the home is sold at a foreclosure sale held under state law.
Read this right