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Houston and Harris County property tax protest

Harris County is our home market and our busiest. We protest HCAD values for homeowners and commercial owners across Houston and the surrounding cities, and every Harris County case we took to a formal ARB hearing in 2026 was won.

Start my protest97.1% success rate. 25% of savings, $0 if we don't win.
Appraisal district
Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD)
Official website
hcad.org
Protest deadline
May 15, or 30 days after your notice is delivered, whichever is later
How protests are filed
Online through HCAD's iFile system, by mail, or in person
Before the hearing
HCAD reviews the evidence and can make a settlement offer before a hearing through its online system
If it isn't resolved
A formal hearing before the Harris County Appraisal Review Board. We attend; you don't.

How property tax protests work in Harris County

Harris County is the largest appraisal district in Texas. HCAD values well over a million accounts every year, and it has to lean on mass-appraisal models to do it. Those models are good at averages and bad at individual properties, which is where a protest wins.

HCAD runs protests through its iFile system, and its iSettle program can produce a settlement offer before any hearing. That offer is built from HCAD's own comparables. If the number isn't right, the case goes to a formal hearing before the Harris County Appraisal Review Board, which decides on the evidence in front of it and is not bound by the district's offer. Your value cannot be raised above the notice as a result of the protest, so the only question at that point is how much comes off.

Many Houston-area homes also carry local optional homestead exemptions from the county or city, which change how much a given reduction actually saves you. We factor that in when we tell you what a protest is worth.

How we handle your Harris County protest

Step 1

Sign up

Two minutes and two signatures. We file the state's agent appointment form with HCAD.

Step 2

We build the case

When your notice arrives, we file on market value and unequal appraisal and request HCAD's evidence.

Step 3

We negotiate and attend

We work the informal stage with HCAD, then the Harris County ARB if the offer isn't right.

Step 4

You save

Once values are final, we invoice 25% of that year's tax savings. No reduction, no invoice.

Cities we serve in Harris County

HoustonKatyCypressSpringHumbleKingwoodTomballPasadenaBaytownBellaireWest University PlaceJersey Village

Harris County protest questions

Do I need my HCAD iFile number or PIN?
No. Once you sign, TruRate files as your agent of record with HCAD. You don't need to log in, upload evidence, or track settlement offers yourself.
Should I take HCAD's first settlement offer?
Not automatically. The first offer is built from HCAD's own comparables. We check it against our evidence and accept only when it's the right number. Otherwise we take the case to the review board.
When is the Harris County protest deadline?
May 15, or 30 days after your notice of appraised value is delivered, whichever is later. Sign up any time before then and we file for you.

New to protests? Read our step-by-step Texas protest guide, or see how a TruRate case gets built.

Other Texas counties we serve

Fort Bend CountyMontgomery CountyTravis CountyWilliamson CountyDallas CountyTarrant CountyCollin CountyAll areas →

Overpaying in Harris County?

Sign up in under two minutes. We handle everything from filing to the hearing.

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