Yes, you can protest your Texas appraisal, and in Tarrant County you file with the Tarrant Appraisal Review Board through the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD). The usual deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the appraisal district's notice of appraised value is delivered, whichever is later, and TAD prints your deadline on the notice itself. A protest is about the value the appraisal district put on your home for property tax purposes. It isn't the lender's appraisal, it doesn't change your purchase price, and your mortgage servicer won't file it for you.
Two different groups are involved, and mixing them up is where most frustration starts.
Your tax bill is roughly your taxable value after exemptions times each unit's rate. A protest works on the value side of that math. For the full picture of how the pieces fit, see how Texas property taxes work.
Under Tax Code Section 25.19, if the district appraises your property higher than the year before, it has to send a notice of appraised value by May 1, or by April 1 for a residence homestead, or as soon as practical after that. The notice explains how to protest and that you can ask for an informal conference with the district before a formal hearing.
The filing deadline in Tax Code Section 41.44(a)(1) is May 15 or the 30th day after the notice was delivered, whichever is later. The Comptroller's guidance notes that for a mailed notice, the 30 days run from the date the district mails it. For 2026, TAD's own announcement gave May 15, 2026, or 30 days after delivery of the notice, and said each owner's deadline is marked on the notice. Check your notice every spring rather than relying on a date you remember from a prior year.
Missing the deadline isn't always the end. The ARB can hear a late protest if you show good cause and file before it approves the appraisal records, which Section 41.12 generally requires by July 20 (larger counties can push that date later by resolution). There are also specific late-filing rights for owners who never received a required notice, for certain offshore workers, and for service members on full-time active duty outside the United States. Without one of those, a late protest usually loses the right to a hearing for that year.
Tax Code Section 41.412 lets a person who buys property after January 1, and before the protest deadline, protest the same way the January 1 owner could. If ownership changes while a protest is pending, the new owner can ask the ARB to continue it. That matters for Fort Worth buyers closing in spring: the notice may go to the seller, so ask your agent or the title company to watch for it, and look up the property on TAD's site after closing.
Section 41.41 lists the actions an owner can protest. The ones homeowners use most:
The appraisal district or ARB can't charge you a fee to protest (Section 41.41(d)).
The ARB can't raise your value above what the district submitted unless you request and agree to it (Section 41.47(c-2)). In a market value or unequal appraisal protest, the district generally carries the burden of proving its value (Section 41.43(a)).
The Comptroller is blunt about this: you can't just say the district is wrong. Bring evidence of what the home was worth on January 1.
Section 41.43(a-1) gives extra weight to an appraisal by a Texas-certified appraiser for homes valued at $1 million or less, if it meets that subsection's requirements: performed within 180 days before the hearing, sworn, stating the value as of January 1, and delivered at least 14 days before the hearing. A lender's purchase appraisal usually isn't written that way, so it's ordinary evidence rather than the special kind. Arguments about your personal budget or the tax rate won't move the board, because neither is something it decides.
These are three different numbers that do three different jobs. The lender's appraisal supports the loan as of the inspection date. The district's value supports the tax roll as of January 1. Your contract price is what you agreed to pay. None of them is binding on the others, which is why your tax value can be well above or below what you paid. See how appraisal, inspection, and tax value differ.
If your taxes are escrowed, your servicer pays the bill from your escrow account. It doesn't protest for you, and it usually doesn't learn about a lower value until the new bill arrives. Your monthly escrow amount is reset at the annual escrow analysis. Under federal escrow rules in 12 CFR 1024.17, if that analysis shows a surplus of $50 or more and you're current on the loan, the servicer must refund it within 30 days of the analysis. So a successful protest shows up later, either as a refund or a lower escrow amount going forward. See the annual escrow analysis for how that works.
Once you have a homestead exemption, the homestead appraisal cap also limits how fast the taxable value can rise year to year, though the market value on the notice can still jump. See the homestead appraisal cap.
The Comptroller explains that you can appeal an ARB order to the state district court in the county where the property is located, and depending on the facts and property type, you may be able to use regular binding arbitration or the State Office of Administrative Hearings instead. These routes have their own short deadlines and requirements, which are printed on the ARB's order. Many homeowners stop at the ARB; if you're considering an appeal, read the order carefully and consider talking with a property tax attorney or a registered property tax consultant.
This example is made up to show the timeline.
Dana closes on a home in Benbrook in March. In April, the notice of appraised value goes to the seller, who forwards it to the title company, and Dana's agent sends her a copy. The notice shows a value well above Dana's purchase price and gives a protest deadline in May. Dana files online before the deadline, requests the district's evidence, and gathers her closing statement, three nearby January sales, and a roofer's estimate for hail damage the inspection found. She tries TAD's online negotiation first, doesn't accept the offer, and goes to a hearing by video. The ARB lowers the value. Her servicer pays that fall's bill, and her next escrow analysis reflects the lower tax. The year after, she has her homestead exemption in place and checks her new notice the day it arrives.
Buying in Tarrant County and wondering how next year's tax value could change your payment? I can walk you through how your taxes and escrow are estimated on your loan. Schedule a call, or when you're ready, start an application.
Links checked Oct 21, 2026.
About the author: McKade Lively, NMLS 2704474, American Pacific Mortgage Corporation dba True North Home Loans, NMLS 1850.
Equal Housing Opportunity.
Last reviewed: Oct 2026