Sec. 33.50. ADJUDGED VALUE. (a) In a suit for foreclosure of a tax lien on property, the court shall determine the market value of the property on the date of trial. The appraised value of the property according to the most recent appraisal roll approved by the appraisal review board is presumed to be its market value on the date of trial, and the person being sued has the burden of establishing that the market value of the property differs from that appraised value. The court shall incorporate a finding of the market value of the property on the date of trial in the judgment.

(b) If the judgment in a suit to collect a delinquent tax is for the foreclosure of a tax lien on property, the order of sale shall specify that the property may be sold to a taxing unit that is a party to the suit or to any other person, other than a person owning an interest in the property or any party to the suit that is not a taxing unit, for the market value of the property stated in the judgment or the aggregate amount of the judgments against the property, whichever is less.

(c) The order of sale shall also specify that the property may not be sold to a person owning an interest in the property or to a person who is a party to the suit other than a taxing unit unless:

(1) that person is the highest bidder at the tax sale; and

(2) the amount bid by that person is equal to or greater than the aggregate amount of the judgments against the property, including all costs of suit and sale.

Acts 1979, 66th Leg., p. 2296, ch. 841, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1982. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 914, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1481, Sec. 21, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.