§ 17.091.Substituted Service in Delinquent Tax Cases

A detailed provision for one recurring situation: the owner of Texas land who owes taxes on it and lives elsewhere.

In a suit by the state or a political subdivision to collect delinquent property taxes, the secretary of state is an agent for service on a nonresident defendant who owns, has, or claims an interest in or a lien against property in this state that is the subject of the suit. The section applies regardless of whether the defendant has resided in this state.

The procedure is exact. Duplicate copies of the process must be served on the secretary not later than the 20th day before the date of return. The process must include the name and address of the nonresident's home or home office, and the address may be a post office box — a small allowance that matters, since a tax roll often carries only a box number.

Immediately after being served, the secretary mails a copy to the nonresident at that address by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, and shall certify to the court that it has complied. The certification is mandatory here rather than available on request.

Service under this section is in addition to Rule 117a — the rule governing citation in tax suits — and has the same effect as personal service.

Subsection (e) requires a fee under Section 405.031(a) of the Government Code for the secretary's maintenance of the record of service.

Subsection (f) defines "nonresident" far more fully than the long-arm subchapter does, listing a foreign corporation, unincorporated association, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, professional association, business trust, cooperative, or real estate investment trust not required to appoint a registered agent under the Business Organizations Code — the modern entity forms, named explicitly.