TARRANT COUNTY FILES PETITIONS WITH THE TARRANT APPRAISAL DISTRICT (“TAD”) APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD

TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS — Tarrant County has taken the first step in combatting travelling Housing Finance Corporations (HFCs) that purchase properties in the County and unlawfully claim an indefinite tax exemption, qualifying each property as “public property.”

These travelling HFCs, typically from cities or counties hundreds of miles away, generate income by leasing the property to Tarrant County citizens and then send these earnings back to their home government. This scheme funnels money away from Tarrant County that would otherwise support local schools, roads, and other governmental operations.

On May 28, 2025, Tarrant County filed petitions with the Tarrant Appraisal District (TAD) Appraisal Review Board challenging the exclusion of 28 properties from TAD’s appraisal records, owned by travelling HFCs and for which a “public property” exclusion was unlawfully claimed.

For 2025, these properties have a total appraised value of $974 million, representing unrealized tax revenue in the tens of millions of dollars. These challenge petitions seek not only to remove the “public property” exemption for this year but also for any of the past five years for which an exemption may have been incorrectly granted.

If Tarrant County successfully challenges these exemptions, incorrectly exempted past tax bills will come due this year for the travelling HFCs. Local governments with jurisdiction over properties owned by travelling HFCs for which a challenge petition has been filed will receive notice from TAD of their ability to appear at a future hearing on Tarrant County’s challenge.