Property Tax Deferral in Texas: What Del Rio Homeowners 65 and Older Need to Know

If you own and live in a house in Del Rio and you are 65 or older or disabled, property tax deferral in Texas can stop the county from suing you or selling your house for back taxes. It does not make the taxes go away. This post walks through how the deferral works under Texas Tax Code section 33.06, what it costs you in interest, and what happens to the unpaid taxes when the house is sold or the owner dies.

A quick disclosure: the author works with Del Rio house buyers at House Buyers Texas, a company that buys houses for cash in Texas. This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Talk to your appraisal district or a Texas attorney about your own situation.

Who qualifies for a property tax deferral in Texas?

You qualify if the house is your residence homestead and you meet one of three tests. Section 33.06(a) says the individual must be 65 or older, be disabled as defined by Tax Code section 11.13(m), or qualify for an exemption under section 11.22 (the disabled veteran exemption). The tax also has to be "imposed against property that the individual owns and occupies as a residence homestead."

Both parts matter. You have to own the house and live in it. A rental, a second home or a house you moved out of does not qualify.

If your property is heir property and you qualify it as your homestead under Chapter 11 of the Tax Code, section 33.06(h) treats you as the sole owner for purposes of the deferral. That helps families in Del Rio who inherited a house with several relatives on the deed.

How do you file for the deferral?

You file a sworn affidavit with the chief appraiser of the appraisal district where the house sits. For a Del Rio address, that is the district that covers Val Verde County. The affidavit states the facts above: your age or disability, and that you own and occupy the home as your residence homestead.

Once the affidavit is filed, the chief appraiser notifies each taxing unit in the district. From that point, section 33.06(b) says a taxing unit may not file suit to collect the delinquent taxes and the property may not be sold at a tax foreclosure sale. The protection lasts until the 181st day after the collector delivers a notice of delinquency following the date you no longer own and occupy the house as your homestead.

The deferral also reaches problems that have already started. If a tax suit is pending, section 33.06(c) lets you file the same kind of affidavit in that court to abate (pause) the suit. If a tax sale is already scheduled, section 33.06(c-1) says you must deliver the affidavit at least five days before the sale date.

Tax bills are supposed to point you to this option. Section 33.045 requires a tax bill, and any collection letter that threatens a lawsuit, to tell homeowners who are 65 or older or disabled to contact the appraisal district about postponing payment.

Do interest and penalties keep adding up during a deferral?

Interest does, but at a lower rate. Section 33.06(d) says a tax lien remains on the property and interest continues to accrue while collection is deferred. The annual interest rate during the deferral is five percent instead of the standard delinquency rate. As plain arithmetic, five percent a year on $1,000 of deferred tax is $50 a year, and it keeps running for as long as the deferral lasts.

Three other points from that same subsection:

First, interest and penalties that were already charged before you filed the affidavit are preserved. Filing does not erase them.

Second, the regular delinquency penalty under section 33.01 is not charged during the deferral period.

Third, the extra collection-cost penalty under section 33.07 can only be imposed if the deferred taxes are still delinquent on or after the 181st day after the deferral ends.

The statute also says that arguments such as limitation or laches (the taxing unit waited too long) do not apply because of the deferral.

Do not confuse this with the appreciating homestead deferral in section 33.065. That one covers only the part of your tax bill caused by a jump in appraised value above 105 percent of last year's value, it carries eight percent interest, and its penalty window is 91 days instead of 181.

What happens to the deferred taxes when the house sells?

The deferral is tied to you owning and living in the house. When you sell, you no longer own it, so the 181-day countdown under section 33.06(b) starts once the collector delivers a delinquency notice after that date. The tax lien stays on the property, as section 33.06(d) states. In practice, a buyer or title company will expect the deferred taxes and accrued interest to be cleared at closing, usually out of your sale proceeds. Ask the tax office for a payoff figure early so there are no surprises at the closing table.

Moving into assisted living or a family member's home has the same effect if you stop occupying the house as your homestead. The same countdown applies, so do not assume you have unlimited time.

If your house needs work and you are weighing a traditional listing against a direct sale, add the payoff to your math. The deferred balance comes off the top either way, and a cash sale can close on a schedule that fits the 181-day window.

What happens to deferred taxes when the owner dies?

The statute gives one explicit protection. Under section 33.06(f), if a qualifying owner dies, the deferral continues for a surviving spouse who was 55 or older when the owner died, as long as the house was the homestead of both spouses at that time. It lasts until the 181st day after a delinquency notice following the date the surviving spouse no longer owns and occupies the property as a homestead.

The text I read does not give that same carry-over to other heirs, such as adult children who inherit the house and do not live there. The deferral is built around an individual who owns and occupies the property, so heirs should assume the taxes and interest are owed and the lien is still attached. The one heir-related provision, section 33.06(h), helps an heir who qualifies the property as their own residence homestead.

If you inherited a Del Rio house with deferred taxes on it, get the payoff amount from the tax office and talk to a Texas probate or real estate attorney about how the estate should handle it before you list the house or accept an offer.

What if you cannot pay the taxes and do not want a deferral?

You have other tools. Section 33.02 requires the tax collector, on request, to enter an installment agreement for a residence homestead that has the homestead exemption, as long as you have not made one in the previous 24 months. The agreement must be in writing, run in monthly payments, and last at least 12 months and no more than 36. A penalty does not accrue on the unpaid balance during the agreement for a homestead, though interest does.

Compare the options on cost. A deferral at five percent is cheap borrowing, but it keeps a lien on your house and the whole balance comes due when you leave. An installment plan clears the debt but requires monthly cash.

You can read the full text yourself in Texas Tax Code Chapter 33. Sections 33.06 and 33.065 are the deferral rules, and section 33.02 covers installment agreements.

The next step is simple: call your appraisal district, ask for the deferral affidavit form, and ask what the tax collector shows you owe today.