Polk County, Texas

Redeemable Deed54,258 residentsLive auctions →

County research last verified 2026-07. Office holders, platforms, and deposit rules change — re-confirm anything time-sensitive.

Sale typestate default

Redeemable Deed

Redemption periodstate default

2 years for homestead/ag/mineral properties; 6 months for all other property

Investor returnstate default

25% penalty in year one, 50% in year two (homestead/ag); 25% flat for the 6-month category

Governing statutestate default

Texas Tax Code Title 1, Subtitle E, Ch. 34

Notes

Texas redeemable tax-deed county. Polk County Sheriff/tax foreclosure and trustee sales are held first Tuesday of the month, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., at Dunbar Gym, 1103 Dunbar St, Livingston (location designated effective Aug 10, 2022). Notices posted 21 days prior on courthouse board and polkcountyapps.net/easydocs/foreclosure/. Judicial tax sales after judgment also appear via Linebarger (taxsales.lgbs.com) and occasional Bid4Assets listings. Tax Assessor-Collector / CAD for bidder no-delinquent-tax statements. Livingston / Lake Livingston East Texas market.

Auction logistics

Format

In-person (Sheriff/tax sale at Dunbar Gym)

Frequency

First Tuesday of the month (or first Wednesday if Jan 1 / July 4) when parcels are posted — verify current notices

Platform

Polk County Sheriff / Clerk — Foreclosure & Tax Sales (Dunbar Gym, Livingston) ↗

Deposit rules

No typical advance online deposit for in-person TX tax sales. Highest bidders generally pay cash, cashier's check, money order, or other accepted forms per notice (Clerk accepts cashier's checks, money orders, checks, credit cards, cash for certain postings — confirm tax-sale payee). Must present Tax Assessor-Collector statement that purchaser owes no delinquent taxes (Tex. Tax Code §34.015). AS IS sheriff's deed without warranty.

Title risk

Liens that survive the sale

HOA/POA and some municipal liens can survive if not properly joined. Federal tax liens survive. Statutory redemption: 2 years homestead/ag/mineral; 180 days other property from deed recording. Full title search mandatory.

Quiet title

Not legally mandatory, but title companies generally require quiet title before insuring a Texas tax-sale deed for resale/refinance.

Deal maths for Texas

Assessment ratio: 1× of market value
Typical quiet title: $1,800–$5,000 · 5 mo
Recording and transfer: $400

Texas requires appraisal at 100% of market value as of Jan 1 (Tex. Tax Code § 23.01).

Offices and records

Tax collector

Polk County Tax Assessor-Collector ↗

936-327-6801

Clerk of court

Polk County Clerk (foreclosure postings; deed records) ↗

Property appraiser

Polk Central Appraisal District ↗

936-327-2174

GIS / parcel map

Polk CAD map search / GIS ↗

Areas trending up

Directional read from dated market analysis — not a guarantee, and not a substitute for your own comps.

Livingston / US-59 county-seat core

Government services and highway retail with the steadiest local SF demand

Lake Livingston / Onalaska recreation fringe

Second-home and retirement demand supporting lake-adjacent inventory

Corrigan / north timber corridor

Relative-value workforce housing with forest-products employment adjacency