Stephens County, TX tax sales
Tax Sale Atlas maps the Stephens 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 the county’s own official pages on Jul 27, 2026.
How tax deed sales work in Stephens County, seat of Breckenridge: 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
- Held on a first Tuesday at the courthouse, on no fixed monthly cycle.
- Format
- In person
- Registration
- Register in person before bidding starts.
- County office
- 254-559-2732
On this page
How Stephens County sells delinquent taxes
Tax deed sale
- Run by
- Stephens County Sheriff (tax foreclosure sale held at the Stephens County Courthouse; the notice and bid sheet are prepared by the taxing units' delinquent-tax firm, McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, P.C., Eastland office)
- Frequency
- annual
- Typical timing
- Held on a first Tuesday at the courthouse, on no fixed monthly cycle.
- Registration
- Register in person before bidding starts.
When it runs
Registration and deposit
Register in person before bidding starts. The notice states: "Prior to the beginning of the tax sale, a person intending to bid is required to register with the person conducting the sale and present a valid driver's license or identification card issued by a state agency or the United States government." A bidder acknowledgement form is attached to the bid sheet, marked "COMPLETE THIS FORM PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL AT THE SALE", capturing the bidder registration number, the exact grantee name as it will appear on the deed, the grantee address, and the bidder's driver license number. Anyone bidding for a corporation or entity must show documentation of authority. Under Texas Tax Code 34.015 a purchaser "MUST present to the officer conducting the tax sale a written statement from the Stephens County Tax Office that the purchaser does not owe any delinquent taxes to the County or any school district or city in the County", and no deed issues until that statement is presented. Property sells at public auction to the highest bidder on oral bids; winners pay the same day in "cash or a cashier's check payable to Stephens County Tax Office", and a defaulting bidder is liable for 20 percent of the property value plus costs under Rule 652, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
Sale format and venue
Stephens County tax sale list and auction calendar
For Stephens 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
Use Delinquent Tax Sale notice and bid sheet (PDF) for the current advertised parcels, then recheck it before the auction.Register to bid
Sale day
Held on a first Tuesday at the courthouse, on no fixed monthly cycle. 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 Stephens County Sheriff (tax foreclosure sale held at the Stephens County Courthouse; the notice and bid sheet are prepared by the taxing units' delinquent-tax firm, McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, P.C., Eastland office) as the source to confirm which parcels are actually offered.
Before you bid in Stephens County
4 checks
Start with the live sale list
Pull the current advertised parcels from Delinquent Tax Sale notice and bid sheet (PDF). Lists can change before the sale, so recheck the county source before you price a parcel.Confirm registration and deposit
Register in person before bidding starts. The notice states: "Prior to the beginning of the tax sale, a person intending to bid is required to register with the person conducting the sale and present a valid driver's license or identification card issued by a state agency or the United States government." A bidder acknowledgement form is attached to the bid sheet, marked "COMPLETE THIS FORM PRIOR TO YOUR ARRIVAL AT THE SALE", capturing the bidder registration number, the exact grantee name as it will appear on the deed, the grantee address, and the bidder's driver license number. Anyone bidding for a corporation or entity must show documentation of authority. Under Texas Tax Code 34.015 a purchaser "MUST present to the officer conducting the tax sale a written statement from the Stephens County Tax Office that the purchaser does not owe any delinquent taxes to the County or any school district or city in the County", and no deed issues until that statement is presented. Property sells at public auction to the highest bidder on oral bids; winners pay the same day in "cash or a cashier's check payable to Stephens County Tax Office", and a defaulting bidder is liable for 20 percent of the property value plus costs under Rule 652, Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
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
Stephens County Tax Assessor-Collector (Crystal Shook)
Stephens County Courthouse, 200 West Walker, Ste. 100, Breckenridge, TX 76424
Official websiteCounty notes
- The Tax Assessor-Collector office lists fax 254-559-2960 and email c.shook@stephenscountytx.gov. Its page carries the Delinquent Tax Sale link but no sale calendar, so the bid sheet PDF is the only county-published sale detail.
- Sheriff Kevin Roach, Stephens County Law Enforcement Center, 210 East Dyer, Breckenridge, TX 76424, phone 254-559-2481. The sheriff page itself publishes no tax sale information.
- Constable Justin Shockley is also based at the courthouse, 200 West Walker, Breckenridge, TX 76424. Texas Tax Code 34.01 lets either the sheriff or a constable conduct the sale; the county notice promises a Sheriff's Deed.
- The delinquent-tax law firm is McCreary, Veselka, Bragg & Allen, P.C. (MVBA Law), Eastland office, 100 W Main Street #302, Eastland, TX 76448, (254) 629-3538. MVBA posts bid sheets and mails them to local realtors and subscribers.
- The county's separate Foreclosure Notices page is an archive of individual notice PDFs by year and holds no tax sale procedure or schedule; the county lists Clerk phone 254-559-3700 for those records.
- The July 7, 2026 sheet offered 42 tracts, mostly Breckenridge city lots plus rural acreage and fractional mineral or surface interests, with minimum bids running from about $1,300 to $80,800.
- Property tax payments run through certifiedpayments.net using Bureau Code 9583001 per the county home page.
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 Stephens County, Texas sell tax liens or tax deeds?
How often does Stephens County hold tax deed sales?
I own a property in this sale. Can I stop it?
Where can I find the Stephens County tax sale list?
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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