Payment plans and the tax deferral
Installment agreements with the tax office, and the deferral for owners 65+, disabled or disabled veterans.
General information, not legal advice. Techoclaro is not a law firm, not the tax office and not connected to any taxing unit. For your situation, talk to free legal aid or a lawyer.
Installment agreements
The tax collector may agree to monthly payments for delinquent taxes, penalties and interest. For a homestead with a homestead exemption, it must agree on request unless you had an agreement with that unit in the past 24 months. The plan is written, monthly, at least 12 months for a homestead, and never more than 36.
[Tex. Tax Code § 33.02(a), (a-1)]
What the plan protects
While you keep the plan, the taxing unit may not file a suit or sell the property, and for a homestead the penalty stops growing (interest continues). Signing admits you owe the amounts in it. If you miss a payment, you get a notice of default before collection resumes.
[Tex. Tax Code § 33.02(b-1), (c), (d), (f)]
The deferral (65+, disabled, disabled veterans)
An owner who is 65 or older, disabled, or qualifies for a disabled-veteran exemption can defer collection of taxes on the home they own and live in by filing an affidavit with the chief appraiser of the appraisal district — Comptroller Form 50-126, signed before a notary. It does not erase the tax: interest is 5% a year, earlier penalty and interest stay owed, and the amount comes due after the owner no longer owns and lives in the home.
[Tex. Tax Code § 33.06(a), (b), (d)]
Deferral during a lawsuit or before a sale
With a lawsuit pending, the affidavit is filed in that court to abate the suit. With a sale scheduled, it must be delivered to the chief appraiser, the tax collector or its attorney, and the officer conducting the sale no later than the fifth day before the sale.
[Tex. Tax Code § 33.06(c), (c-1)]
Tax-lien loans
Licensed property-tax lenders can pay your taxes and take over the tax lien, charging up to 18% a year. A homeowner 65 or older who can claim the over-65 exemption may not authorize such a transfer on that home.
[Tex. Tax Code § 32.06(a-3), (e)]