Please read this first. Educational site only. Not a law firm, not a HUD counselor, not a servicer. This page is not legal advice.
Updated September 2026. Educational only — not legal advice.
A notice of trustee’s sale (often “notice of substitute trustee’s sale”) is the paper that sets a Texas auction date. It is not a court judgment. It is also not a suggestion. Once it is posted, filed, and mailed, the first-Tuesday clock is running.
What Texas law requires
Property Code §51.002 generally requires, at least 21 days before the sale:
- Posting at the courthouse (or the county’s designated posting place)
- Filing with the county clerk
- Mailing to you at the address in the servicer’s records (certified mail is typical)
Before that, Texas usually requires a written default / intent-to-accelerate notice with at least 20 days to cure. Federal rules generally bar the first foreclosure filing on most mortgages until you are more than 120 days delinquent. Those federal days do not add 120 days after a sale is already posted. See missed payments.
What to copy off the notice the day it arrives
- Sale date (first Tuesday, or first Wednesday if January 1 or July 4)
- Earliest time and the three-hour window
- Place — street address, ballroom, atrium, or courthouse steps. County pages: Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Waller
- Substitute trustee name and phone
- Loan number, legal description, property address
- Whether it is a mortgage trustee sale or a tax / constable / HOA sale — different files
Keep the envelope. Postmarks and tracking numbers matter if a counselor or attorney later asks when you were notified.
What the notice does not do
It does not transfer title by itself. Title usually moves if the sale is cried and a trustee’s deed is recorded. Until then, reinstatement, a complete loss-mitigation application, a closing, a court order, or a bankruptcy filing may still change the date. None of those is automatic. Map: how to try to keep the house.
Military members
Notices include a Servicemembers Civil Relief Act warning. If you or your spouse are on active duty, send written notice as the paper instructs and call a counselor or JAG / legal aid the same day.
What to do today
- Open every page. Write the date and place on a calendar.
- Call the trustee for a reinstatement figure. Call loss mitigation and ask if a complete application is in.
- Call a HUD counselor — Who to call.
- Ignore anyone who wants a deed or a large fee this week. Scams.
This site does not take cases.
Frequently asked questions
I never got the letter. Can they still sell?
Texas looks at mailing to the records address and posting/filing, not at whether you opened the envelope. If you moved and did not update the servicer, call a counselor and consider an attorney.
Does a complete application freeze the sale?
A complete loss-mitigation application more than 37 days before the scheduled sale generally requires the servicer to evaluate it before going to sale on that application (CFPB Regulation X). Incomplete packets do not. Get “complete” in writing.
Related: Texas process · Who to call