In Texas, a property tax lien outranks every other claim on your home, which means the priority order between a property tax lien, a mortgage, and an HOA assessment lien runs tax authority first, mortgage lender second, and homeowners association third. That order is set by statute for the tax lien and by the recorded documents themselves for the mortgage and HOA. All three can force the sale of a homestead, but only one of them can wipe out the others.
The Priority Order and Why It Looks That Way
Texas Tax Code Section 32.05 gives a local property tax lien absolute priority over every competing claim on the property, regardless of when any other debt, lien, or encumbrance came into existence.1State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 32.05 – Priority of Tax Liens Over Other Property Interests A new tax lien attaches to every taxable property on January 1 of each year and secures all taxes that will be assessed for that year.2State of Texas. Texas Tax Code Chapter 32 – Tax Liens and Personal Liability A tax lien recorded today therefore beats a mortgage recorded twenty years ago, and when a taxing unit forces a sale, proceeds pay the government in full before anything flows to private lienholders.
The mortgage sits second not because the law puts it there, but because the HOA voluntarily puts itself third. Nearly every Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions recorded for a Texas subdivision contains a subordination clause pushing the association’s assessment lien behind any first mortgage or deed of trust. Lenders require that language before they will fund a loan. The result is a contractual pecking order baked into the property records.
Technically, Texas uses a race-notice recording system, and because the CC&Rs were recorded before any individual buyer closed on a mortgage, the HOA’s lien right predates the lender’s interest. The subordination clause is what flips that order in practice.
What the HOA Lien Actually Covers
When you buy a home in a subdivision governed by recorded CC&Rs, you agree to pay regular assessments as a condition of ownership. The legal framework for these associations is set out in Chapter 209 of the Texas Property Code, the Texas Residential Property Owners Protection Act.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0062 – Alternative Payment Schedule for Certain Assessments If you stop paying, the association can record a lien that typically covers unpaid dues, late fees, interest, special assessments, and the attorney fees the association runs up chasing the debt. All of those charges cloud your title and have to be cleared before you can sell or refinance.
If the mortgage lender forecloses first, the HOA’s junior lien is usually wiped out by the sale. You still owe the back assessments as a personal debt, but the association loses its security interest in the home.
What Delinquent Property Taxes Cost
Property taxes become delinquent on February 1 if the bill was mailed on time.4Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. Property Tax Law Deadlines Penalties and interest start piling on immediately under Texas Tax Code Section 33.01:5State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 33.01 – Penalties and Interest
- February: 6% penalty on the unpaid tax plus 1% interest.
- March through June: an additional 1% penalty and 1% interest for each month the balance stays unpaid.
- July 1 and after: the penalty jumps to a flat 12% of the tax, a collection fee of up to 20% may be added once the account is referred to an attorney, and 1% monthly interest keeps running indefinitely.
Texas homeowners pay effective property tax rates that average roughly 1.4% of home value statewide, with combined rates in many metro areas running higher.6Tax Foundation. Property Taxes by State and County, 2026 A midsize tax bill left alone for six months is already carrying double-digit penalties plus collection fees on top. A taxing unit can file a foreclosure lawsuit any time after the taxes go delinquent, though most wait until a property is multiple years behind.
Does Homestead Protection Stop Any of This?
No. Article XVI, Section 50 of the Texas Constitution shields your homestead from forced sale by most creditors, but it carves out specific exceptions.7Justia. Texas Constitution Art 16 – Sec 50 Property taxes, purchase money mortgages, home equity loans, qualifying home improvement debts, and owelty of partition can all force a sale of a homestead.
HOA assessment liens are not on that constitutional list, but Texas courts and the legislature allow HOA foreclosure on homesteads anyway, under a different theory: because the CC&Rs were recorded before you bought the property, the obligation runs with the land and your lien right predates the homestead claim. The association’s foreclosure power survives homestead designation.
How an HOA Forecloses in Texas
An HOA cannot schedule a sale on its own. Texas law requires a court order through an expedited foreclosure process under Property Code Section 209.0092, modeled on the home equity foreclosure procedure. You can waive that process only in writing at the time foreclosure is sought, and the association cannot make waiver a condition of selling you the property.
Before filing, the association must send written notice of the delinquent amount to any junior lienholder shown in the deed records, typically your mortgage servicer. That lienholder gets at least 60 days to cure the delinquency before the HOA can proceed.8State of Texas. Texas Property Code 209.0091 – Prerequisites to Foreclosure Notice and Opportunity to Cure for Certain Other Lienholders Mortgage servicers often pay off a modest HOA delinquency themselves rather than risk their security interest in a foreclosure sale. The association can also skip the expedited track and file a traditional judicial foreclosure. Either way, the homeowner gets more procedural protection than a standard nonjudicial mortgage foreclosure provides.
If You Lose the Home at a Tax Sale: Redemption
A tax sale is not necessarily the end. If the property was your homestead or designated agricultural land when the foreclosure suit was filed, you have two years from the date the purchaser’s deed is recorded to redeem it. Redemption means paying the buyer the full purchase price, recording fees, any taxes, penalties, and interest they paid after the sale, and a redemption premium of 25% of the total if you redeem in the first year or 50% in the second.
For non-homestead property, the redemption window shrinks to 180 days, with the same premium structure. The premium is deliberately steep to compensate the buyer for the chance of losing the property, so redeeming late is dramatically more expensive than catching up before the sale.
After a tax sale, surplus proceeds beyond what the government is owed are distributed to junior lienholders and then to the former owner, who has two years from the sale date to claim any excess.
The Deferral Option for Seniors and Disabled Homeowners
If you are 65 or older or disabled, Texas Tax Code Section 33.06 lets you file an affidavit with your county’s chief appraiser to defer collection of delinquent property taxes for as long as you own and live in the home.9State of Texas. Texas Tax Code 33.06 – Deferred Collection of Taxes on Residence Homesteads of Elderly or Disabled Persons Once that affidavit is on file, the taxing unit cannot sue for the delinquent taxes or sell the property at a tax sale. The lien stays in place, interest keeps accruing but at 5% per year rather than 1% per month, and no penalties accumulate. The deferred balance comes due 180 days after you move out or pass away. It is one of the most powerful and underused protections available to older Texas homeowners.
Where Federal Tax Liens Fit
IRS liens arise automatically against all of a taxpayer’s property once the IRS demands payment and the debt goes unpaid.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6321 – Lien for Taxes Unlike a Texas property tax lien, a federal tax lien does not have automatic super-priority. Until the IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien with the county clerk, it loses to a previously recorded mortgage, a judgment lien creditor, or a buyer without notice.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6323 – Validity and Priority Against Certain Persons
Even after the IRS records its notice, local Texas property tax liens still come first. Federal law gives way to state and local property tax liens that are entitled to priority over pre-existing security interests under state law, and Texas is one of those states.
Bankruptcy as a Pause and a Repayment Vehicle
Filing bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay that halts most collection activity, including foreclosure proceedings by both tax authorities and HOAs.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay The stay can be lifted if the court finds you have no equity in the property or it is not needed for a viable reorganization.
Chapter 13 is the practical option when the goal is keeping the home. It lets you spread delinquent property tax arrears over a three-to-five-year repayment plan, and property taxes are classified as priority claims that must be paid in full through the plan.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 507 – Priorities You also have to stay current on taxes coming due during the plan. HOA arrears get similar treatment: a Chapter 13 plan has to pay them in full as a secured claim if you intend to keep the home. Bankruptcy can discharge personal liability for pre-filing HOA debt, but the lien itself survives if it is not paid off, and it follows the property to any future owner.