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IN BEXAR COUNTY, TEXAS

RULES GOVERNING BEXAR COUNTY AUCTIONS

Public Tax Sales and Deed of Trust Sales are held on the first Tuesday of each month on the North or South steps of the Bexar County Courthouse in San Antonio, Texas for all properties that lie within the County. The specific time and location at the courthouse may vary but generally between 10AM and 4PM. It is recommended that all potential bidders arrive early in order to situate themselves in a position to hear the auctioners clearly. The trustees who call out the Deed of Trust Auctions usually do not have a speaker or microphone and can be hard to hear with other auctions going on around them. The Tax Lien auctioner/officer usually does have a microphone which can be heard at a distance. When bidding, it is essential that you position yourself with a clear line of site to the auctioneer so that he can see you clearly. These auctions complete quickly and a bidder must be prepared to bid or may lose the opportunity.

The "minimum bid"or higher "winning bid" must be paid which includes all Bexar County Taxes due up to the date of Judgement and other related fees generally as soon as the end of the auction on each property or within the designated time period set by the Trustee/Officer holding the auction. The winning bidder must pay by cash or cashier's check .If the cashier's check is for more than the amount of the bid, the Lender (Foreclosures) or The Sheriff's Office (Tax Sale)will refund the difference usually within 6 weeks of the auction date.We suggest that you bring a cashier's check made out to yourself for the amount of the minimum bid and additonal cash/cashier's check in the amount you are willing to pay as the bidding goes higher than the minimum bid. Each bidder must be aware that the properties are sold "AS IS" without warranties of any kind.

There is no formal bidding process. Oral bids are made consecutively by whomever can raise the last bid made, the same as in auctions generally. All sales will be to the highest bidder. For Deed of Trust (Foreclosure) Sales, The trustee begins by announcing the sale by reading the foreclosure document recorded in Bexar County Deeds & Records and then asks for bidders. If there are no opening bids the trustee will open the bidding by announcing the "Lender Bid"or "Lender Minimum Bid" which is usually what is owed to them. Bidders can then raise the bid as low as $1.00 above the "Lender bid", then others, including the lender, may raise the bid in any increment above that. Then, you can decide whether you want to continue bidding against them by offering a higher bid(s). Most bidders will have a "high" bid limit based on their estimated value of the property. If there are no bids other than the lender bid, the property is returned to the lender to be sold as an "REO" property. The defaulted owner loses all interest in the property at that time.

For Tax Lien Auctions, all bidders must register prior to the beginning of the auction. This must be done at the Sheriff's Office at 123 Altgelt Ave., San Antonio, Texas prior to the morning of the auction. Read the NEW LAWS governing bidding certification here.The Auctioneer's table is placed on the top steps of the North Entrance to the Bexar County Courthouse. The officer will announce the property up for bid by reading the document filed in public record at the Bexar County Deeds & Records and declare the "minimum bid". Bidders can then bid any amount higher (usually in $100 increments) until there are no other bids made. The winning bidder must then pay in full (as outlined above). The successful bidder on a property will then be issued a Constable's Deed or Sheriff's Deed within 4-6 weeks after the auction date. It is provided by § 34.01(n) of the Texas Property Tax Code that: "The deed vests good and perfect title in the purchaser or the purchaser's assigns to the interest owned by the defendant in the property subject to the foreclosure, including the defendant's right to the use and possession of the property, subject only to the defendant's right of redemption, the terms of a recorded restrictive covenant running with the land that was recorded before January 1 of the year in which the tax lien on the property arose, a recorded lien that arose under that restrictive covenant that was not extinguished in the judgment foreclosing the tax lien, and each valid easement of record as of the date of the sale that was recorded before January 1 of the year the tax lien arose. The deed may be impeached only for fraud."

It is highly recommended that all interested investors completely review each potential offering (Deed of Trust or Tax Lien) to indentify any liens, judgements, penalties or other encumberances prior to bidding. The information above is intended only as a review of possible Auction Scenarios and should not be used as a sole source in exploring potential investment opportunities or the auction process. Since these types of investments are highly speculative, it is highly recommended that all investors seek legal counsel prior to making investments in tax lien or deed of trust sales in Bexar County.