Texas Tax Code 34.0101 – Sale of Certain Property to Owner of Abutting Property
(a) In this section:
(1) “Flood insurance rate map” means the most recent flood hazard map published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 4001 et seq.).
(2) “Floodway” means an area that is identified on the flood insurance rate map as a regulatory floodway, including the channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved for the discharge of a base flood, also referred to as a 100-year flood, without cumulatively increasing the water surface elevation more than a designated height.
(b) This section applies to real property:
(1) that is:
(A) seized under a tax warrant issued under Subchapter E, Chapter 33; or
(B) ordered sold pursuant to foreclosure of a tax lien; and
(2) that is:
(A) a narrow strip of land or other parcel of land that because of its shape or small area cannot be used independently under its current zoning classification or under applicable subdivision or other development ordinances;
(B) landlocked without direct access to a public road; or
(C) located in:
(i) an area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. § 4001 et seq.) as having a two-tenths of one percent or greater annual chance of flooding; or
(ii) a floodway.
Terms Used In Texas Tax Code 34.0101
- Foreclosure: A legal process in which property that is collateral or security for a loan may be sold to help repay the loan when the loan is in default. Source: OCC
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Market value: means the price at which a property would transfer for cash or its equivalent under prevailing market conditions if:
(A) exposed for sale in the open market with a reasonable time for the seller to find a purchaser;
(B) both the seller and the purchaser know of all the uses and purposes to which the property is adapted and for which it is capable of being used and of the enforceable restrictions on its use; and
(C) both the seller and purchaser seek to maximize their gains and neither is in a position to take advantage of the exigencies of the other. See Texas Tax Code 1.04 - Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Real property: means :
(A) land;
(B) an improvement;
(C) a mine or quarry;
(D) a mineral in place;
(E) standing timber; or
(F) an estate or interest, other than a mortgage or deed of trust creating a lien on property or an interest securing payment or performance of an obligation, in a property enumerated in Paragraphs (A) through (E) of this subdivision. See Texas Tax Code 1.04 - Taxing unit: means a county, an incorporated city or town (including a home-rule city), a school district, a special district or authority (including a junior college district, a hospital district, a district created by or pursuant to the Water Code, a mosquito control district, a fire prevention district, or a noxious weed control district), or any other political unit of this state, whether created by or pursuant to the constitution or a local, special, or general law, that is authorized to impose and is imposing ad valorem taxes on property even if the governing body of another political unit determines the tax rate for the unit or otherwise governs its affairs. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
(c) Sections 34.01(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i), (m), (n), (q), and (s), 34.02, 34.03, 34.04, and 34.21 apply to a sale of real property under this section.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, including Sections 263.001 and 272.001, Local Government Code, and subject to Subsection (e) of this section, a taxing unit that requested a tax warrant or order of sale for real property subject to this section may direct the officer charged with selling the property to sell the property to an owner of abutting property at a private sale.
(e) A taxing unit may not direct the sale of real property at a private sale under this section unless:
(1) the property is offered for sale at a public auction; and
(2) a bid sufficient to pay the amount specified by Subsection (h) is not received.
(f) A taxing unit that directs the private sale under this section of real property that abuts two or more adjacent parcels of real property having different owners must give notice of the sale to each abutting owner. The notice must state that the taxing unit will:
(1) offer the property for sale;
(2) accept sealed bids for the property; and
(3) sell the property to the highest bidder.
(g) A purchaser of property under this section must meet the requirements of § 34.015.
(h) A taxing unit that directs the sale of real property under this section may not sell the property for an amount that is less than the lesser of:
(1) the property’s market value, as specified in the warrant or the judgment, as applicable; or
(2) the following amount, as applicable:
(A) the amount provided by § 34.01(p), in the case of property described by Subsection (b)(1)(A) of this section; or
(B) the amount provided by § 34.01(b), in the case of property described by Subsection (b)(1)(B) of this section.
(i) A taxing unit that requested a tax warrant or order of sale for real property subject to this section may sell the property under this section without the consent of any taxing unit entitled to receive proceeds of the sale.