Texas Tax Code 33.48 – Recovery of Costs and Expenses
(a) In addition to other costs authorized by law, a taxing unit is entitled to recover the following costs and expenses in a suit to collect a delinquent tax:
(1) all usual court costs, including the cost of serving process and electronic filing fees;
(2) costs of filing for record a notice of lis pendens against property;
(3) expenses of foreclosure sale;
(4) reasonable expenses that are incurred by the taxing unit in determining the name, identity, and location of necessary parties and in procuring necessary legal descriptions of the property on which a delinquent tax is due;
(5) attorney’s fees in the amount of 15 percent of the total amount of taxes, penalties, and interest due the unit; and
(6) reasonable attorney ad litem fees approved by the court that are incurred in a suit in which the court orders the appointment of an attorney to represent the interests of a defendant served with process by means of citation by publication or posting.
(b) Each item specified by Subsection (a) of this section is a charge against the property subject to foreclosure in the suit and shall be collected out of the proceeds of the sale of the property or, if the suit is for personal judgment, charged against the defendant.
Terms Used In Texas Tax Code 33.48
- Collector: means the officer or employee responsible for collecting property taxes for a taxing unit by whatever title he is designated. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
- 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
- Person: includes corporation, organization, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- 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) Fees collected for attorneys and other officials are fees of office, except that fees for contract attorneys representing a taxing unit that is joined or intervenes shall be applied toward the compensation due the attorney under the contract.
(d) A collector who accepts a payment of the court costs and other expenses described by this section shall disburse the amount of the payment as follows:
(1) amounts owing under Subsections (a)(1), (2), (3), and (6) are payable to the clerk of the court in which the suit is pending; and
(2) expenses described by Subsection (a)(4) are payable to the general fund of the taxing unit or to the person or entity who advanced the expense.