Texas Tax Code 33.51 – Writ of Possession
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(a) If the court orders the foreclosure of a tax lien and the sale of real property, the judgment shall provide for the issuance by the clerk of said court of a writ of possession to the purchaser at the sale or to the purchaser’s assigns no sooner than 20 days following the date on which the purchaser’s deed from the sheriff or constable is filed of record.
(b) The officer charged with executing the writ shall place the purchaser or the purchaser’s assigns in possession of the property described in the purchaser’s deed without further order from any court and in the manner provided by the writ, subject to any notice to vacate that may be required to be given to a tenant under § 24.005(b), Property Code.
Terms Used In Texas Tax Code 33.51
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
- 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.
- 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
- Personal property: All property that is not real property.
- Personal property: means property that is not real property. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
- 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
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
- Written: includes any representation of words, letters, symbols, or figures. See Texas Government Code 311.005
(c) The writ of possession shall order the officer executing the writ to:
(1) post a written warning that is at least 8-1/2 by 11 inches on the exterior of the front door of the premises notifying the occupant that the writ has been issued and that the writ will be executed on or after a specific date and time stated in the warning that is not sooner than the 10th day after the date the warning is posted; and
(2) on execution of the writ:
(A) deliver possession of the premises to the purchaser or the purchaser’s assigns;
(B) instruct the occupants to immediately leave the premises and, if the occupants fail or refuse to comply, physically remove them from the premises;
(C) instruct the occupants to remove, or to allow the purchaser or purchaser’s assigns, representatives, or other persons acting under the officer’s supervision to remove, all personal property from the premises; and
(D) place, or have an authorized person place, the removed personal property outside the premises at a nearby location, but not so as to block a public sidewalk, passageway, or street and not while it is raining, sleeting, or snowing.
(d) The writ of possession shall authorize the officer, at the officer’s discretion, to engage the services of a bonded or insured warehouseman to remove and store, subject to applicable law, all or part of the personal property at no cost to the purchaser, the purchaser’s assigns, or the officer executing the writ. The officer may not require the purchaser or the purchaser’s assigns to store the personal property.
(e) The writ of possession shall contain notice to the officer that under § 7.003, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, the officer is not liable for damages resulting from the execution of the writ if the officer executes the writ in good faith and with reasonable diligence.
(f) The warehouseman’s lien on stored property, the officer’s duties, and the occupants’ rights of redemption as provided by § 24.0062, Property Code, are all applicable with respect to any personal property that is removed under Subsection (d).
(g) A sheriff or constable may use reasonable force in executing a writ under this section.
(h) If a taxing unit is a purchaser and is entitled to a writ of possession in the taxing unit’s name:
(1) a bond may not be required of the taxing unit for issuance or delivery of a writ of possession; and
(2) a fee or court cost may not be charged for issuance or delivery of a writ of possession.
(i) In this section:
(1) “Premises” means all of the property described in the purchaser’s deed, including the buildings, dwellings, or other structures located on the property.
(2) “Purchaser” includes a taxing unit to which property is bid off under § 34.01(j).