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Rental Property and Homestead Exemption


sowanome

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I'm moving out of Texas and I plan to lease out my place. I know that the homestead exemption specifically applies to a homeowners primary residence in Texas. B/C i'm not buying another place in texas or anywhere else, will I still be able to claim this exemption while leasing out this property? What can I do to keep the exemption?

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I'm moving out of Texas and I plan to lease out my place. I know that the homestead exemption specifically applies to a homeowners primary residence in Texas. B/C i'm not buying another place in texas or anywhere else, will I still be able to claim this exemption while leasing out this property? What can I do to keep the exemption?

No, if it's not your primary homestead then you can't get the exemption period. I wouldn't recommend it, but you could try keeping it since you won't be buying a new house to raise obvious flags, but if you get caught you will have to pay all the back taxes you owe and they do have people at HCAD that investigate exemptions. So you definitely don't want to end up in that situation of owing so much money all at once. Also, nosey neighbors have been known to turn in neighboring properties since they are not paying "their full share." How long to do you plan on holding onto to the property before selling? Also where would you have the tax bill sent, if not the homestead residence address then you will be caught instantly?

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Also where would you have the tax bill sent, if not the homestead residence address then you will be caught instantly?
i don't have my home address on mine either and they mentioned it this yr for the first time during the protest. the Hcad person mentioned that a PO box is most common.
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i don't have my home address on mine either and they mentioned it this yr for the first time during the protest. the Hcad person mentioned that a PO box is most common.

They're usually fairly decent about catching that inconsistency, but like your case, if you have a good reason then it doesn't matter just a quick check they do for fraud.

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They're usually fairly decent about catching that inconsistency, but like your case, if you have a good reason then it doesn't matter just a quick check they do for fraud.

i've had it that way since 2001 but like i said, this was the first yr it was mentioned.

Edited by musicman
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I don't know, maybe statically the odds would be on your side that you could slip by with the exemption but "if" you get caught it would be a pain in butt and you would be liable for paying all of the back taxes. Not really worth it in my opinion but I don't know any numbers on just how likely it would be for you get "found out."

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