Rains County, TX tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Rains County, TX tax sale, one of 2,553 counties in 30 states. Texas sells redeemable deeds carrying a 25% penalty in the first year. Sale office, calendar and list locations read from state rules plus what the county publishes on Jul 27, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Rains County, seat of Emory: sale calendar, auction platform, over-the-counter lists, and the offices that run each sale.
New to tax sales? Read how Texas tax sales work or look terms up in the glossary.
- Next sale
- First Tuesday of the month.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- No online bidder registration is published by Rains County.
- County office
- 903-473-5018
On this page
How Rains County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Rains County Sheriff's Office (Texas Tax Code 34.01 tax sales are conducted by the sheriff or a constable)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- First Tuesday of the month.
- Registration
- No online bidder registration is published by Rains County.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
No online bidder registration is published by Rains County. Texas Tax Code 34.015 requires a bidder to present a written statement from the county tax assessor-collector showing no delinquent property taxes are owed. Request that statement from the Rains County Tax Assessor-Collector at 903-473-5018 before the sale, and confirm sale-day procedure with the Sheriff's Office at 903-473-3181.
Sale format and venue
Rains County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Rains County tax sale 2026 searches, use the county-run sources below rather than a copied parcel list, and confirm the parcel, registration cutoff, deposit, and payment deadline against the county before you bid. If the parcels on this list are vacant land rather than houses, what buying land at a tax sale hands you is the place to start.
Get the advertised list
Rains County publishes no tax sale list online. The Rains County Sheriff's Office (Texas Tax Code 34.01 tax sales are conducted by the sheriff or a constable) advertises the parcels ahead of the sale rather than posting them, so the list reaches bidders through the county legal newspaper and the office itself. Call 903-473-5018 to ask for the current advertisement.Register to bid
Sale day
First Tuesday of the month. The sale is live and in person; there is no online bidding platform. Confirm the venue and hour with the county office before you go.Confirm with the office
If the list, platform, and notice disagree, use Rains County Sheriff's Office (Texas Tax Code 34.01 tax sales are conducted by the sheriff or a constable) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Rains County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
There is no online list to price against. Rains County advertises the parcels before the sale rather than posting them, so get the advertisement from the office on 903-473-5018 and price from the parcel numbers it carries.Confirm registration and deposit
No online bidder registration is published by Rains County. Texas Tax Code 34.015 requires a bidder to present a written statement from the county tax assessor-collector showing no delinquent property taxes are owed. Request that statement from the Rains County Tax Assessor-Collector at 903-473-5018 before the sale, and confirm sale-day procedure with the Sheriff's Office at 903-473-3181.
Check the state rules that change the bid
Read the Texas due-diligence checklist before bidding. Redemption, liens that survive a tax deed, title cleanup, and payment deadlines can change what a parcel is worth. Which liens survive is state law, so read what survives a tax deed in Texas before you price the title work.Set a walk-away number
Work out what the parcel is actually worth with the rural land value estimator, then turn it into a ceiling with the tax deed max-bid calculator.
Over-the-counter (leftover) purchases
unsold properties
Texas has no over-the-counter certificate list. Parcels that draw no sufficient bid are struck off to the taxing unit that requested the order of sale, and that unit may resell them at any time by public or private sale. A public resale requested through the sheriff or constable may be sold for any amount. A private sale generally may not go below the lesser of the market value stated in the judgment or the total judgments against the property, unless every taxing unit entitled to proceeds consents. Ask the county or its delinquent-tax law firm for the current struck-off inventory.
New to this path? Read how over-the-counter purchases work. Every state has its own name for what goes unsold, so check what Texas calls its leftover tax-sale inventory.
Use the arrow keys to switch between these sections.
County offices
Tax sale office
County notes
- County seat is Emory. The county website footer lists the Rains County Courthouse Annex at 220 W. Quitman St. Suite B, Emory, TX 75440, main line (903) 473-5000.
- Tax Assessor-Collector: Nicole York. The office page is titled "Tax Assessor Collector (Dept. of Motor Vehicles)" and lists hours of Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed for lunch from 12 to 1. Fax 214-292-8452. Tax deputy Ashley Simmons, 903-473-5010.
- Property tax appraisal and collection are handled by the Rains County Appraisal District, 145 Doris Briggs Parkway (Box 70), Emory, TX 75440, phone 903-473-2391, fax 903-473-4040. Property search and payment portal: http://esearch.rainscad.org/. The district publishes no tax sale, struck-off, or resale listings.
- Sheriff Michael Hopkins, Rains County Sheriff's Office and Jail, 313 E. North Street, Emory, TX 75440, phone 903-473-3181, fax 903-473-5071. The sheriff page carries no sale notices.
- Constable Allen Davis, 239 N. Texas Street (P.O. Box 231), Emory, TX 75440, phone 903-473-5000 ext. 161. The constable page carries no sale notices.
- County Clerk Mandy Sawyer, 220 W. Quitman St. Suite B, Emory, TX 75440, phone 903-473-5000 ext. 103, posts sale notices at https://www.co.rains.tx.us/page/rains.Foreclosure. Those postings are private trustee and deed-of-trust sales, not Tax Code 34.01 tax sales, so this is not a delinquent tax sale list.
- A substitute-trustee notice posted for the August 2026 sale designates "the east most side of the County Commissioners Annex located at 167 East Quitman Street" as the public sale area, which indicates where public auctions are held at the courthouse complex. Confirm the tax sale location separately with the Sheriff's Office.
- Checked and ruled out for Rains County: McCreary Veselka Bragg & Allen upcoming tax sales list (counties shown for August 4 and September 1, 2026 do not include Rains), GovEase auction listings, and Bid4Assets (returned 403). No official page ties Rains County to an online auction platform.
- Web search quota for the session was exhausted before research began, so this county was covered by direct fetches of official county, appraisal district, and law firm URLs only. A follow-up search pass could still surface a delinquent tax law firm contracted by Rains County taxing units.
Texas rules
- Redemption
- The redemption clock runs from the date the purchaser's deed is filed for record, not from the sale date. Property that was the owner's residence homestead or was land designated for agricultural use when the suit or the warrant application was filed, and any mineral interest, may be redeemed on or before the second anniversary of that filing. Every other property may be redeemed only through the 180th day after the deed is filed. When a parcel is struck off to a taxing unit instead, the period runs from the date the taxing unit's deed is filed for record. The former owner has no right to use, possess, or collect rent from the property while the redemption right runs, and the right of redemption cannot be sold or transferred: any instrument purporting to transfer it is void.
- Deed deposit
- The Tax Code sets no statewide deposit and no buyer premium. Section 34.01 directs the officer to conduct the sale the way similar property is sold under execution, so payment terms are set locally by the officer who runs the sale. Most Texas counties collect the full bid in cash or by cashier's check on the day of the sale. Confirm the terms with the county before you bid.
- Homestead deeds
- Texas sets no separate opening bid for a homestead. What changes on a homestead parcel is the exit: a residence homestead, land designated for agricultural use when the suit or warrant application was filed, and a mineral interest all carry a two-year redemption right instead of 180 days, and the premium the owner pays can reach 50 percent in the second year. Price a homestead parcel for that longer clock.
- Surplus proceeds
- The officer pays any excess proceeds to the clerk of the court that issued the order of sale. The clerk holds the excess for two years after the sale and notifies the former owner when the amount exceeds $25. A claim must be filed before the second anniversary of the sale. The court pays established claims in statutory priority: a purchaser at a sale later adjudged void, taxing units for post-judgment or omitted taxes, other lienholders, taxing units for unsatisfied judgment amounts, and then the former owner. Anything unclaimed is distributed to the taxing units.
A tax deed does not convey marketable title. Most buyers file a quiet title action before they can resell or insure the property. See the due diligence guide.
Frequently asked questions
Does Rains County, Texas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Rains County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Verified Jul 27, 2026 against official county and state sources.
Tax Sale Atlas publishes educational information about public tax sale processes. This is not legal, financial, or investment advice. Rules, dates, and fees change; confirm with the county office before you bid.
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