Note: BCP Real Estate is not a law firm and its employees/owners are not acting as your attorneys. The information contained on this website is provided for educational and informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.
A “constable sale” or “sheriff sale” is a public auction of property carried out by a law enforcement officer to satisfy a court judgment. In the property tax context, it’s the mechanism by which a property is actually sold after a tax suit reaches the point of a forced sale.
The reason an officer conducts it goes back to the court process. Once a judgment authorizes a property to be sold, the court issues an order directing an officer, typically a constable or a sheriff’s deputy, to carry out the sale. That officer is acting on the court’s authority, not on their own. They handle the public posting and advertising required beforehand, then conduct the auction, usually on a designated sale day at a public location such as the courthouse steps.
At the sale, the property is auctioned, and the proceeds are applied to the judgment amount, the taxes, penalties, interest, and costs, with any remaining funds distributed in the order the law sets. The winning bidder receives a deed reflecting the sale, subject to conditions such as the former owner’s right of redemption where it applies. It’s a formal, public process governed by specific rules, not an informal transaction.
For heirs, the constable or sheriff sale is the concrete event at the end of an unresolved tax problem, the moment the property changes hands against the owner’s wishes. Seeing how it works reinforces a recurring theme: these sales are the endpoint, and they’re avoidable at earlier stages. Up until the sale occurs, there’s often still room to resolve the taxes or sell a share and capture value, rather than letting an officer’s auction determine the outcome.
A couple of quick questions:
Why does a constable or sheriff run the sale? Because the court orders an officer to carry it out under the court’s authority after a judgment. They handle the required posting and conduct the public auction; they aren’t acting on their own.
Is this the same as a tax sale? In a tax case, yes, the constable or sheriff sale is how the tax sale is physically conducted. The terms describe the same forced, court-authorized auction from the angle of who runs it.
If you’re looking to remove yourself from a lawsuit and get paid for your interest, no cost to you, call or text us at (469) 708-8003 for an offer today.
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