Sell your DeSoto house as-is

Selling a DeSoto rental: the city's registration rules

DeSoto had 56,711 residents in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimates. The city runs a rental registration and inspection program that covers single-family houses, duplexes, townhomes and manufactured homes used as rentals. Here is what it asks of owners:

• Fee: $10.00 per unit. Each side of a duplex counts as a separate unit.
• Inspection: every unit is inspected once a year. You schedule it, and the tenant, the owner or a representative has to be there the whole time.
• Registration: the city's FAQ says you do not have to register again each year if there has been no change in tenant or ownership.
• Questions: Code Enforcement takes rental registration calls at 469-658-3067.

A tenant still living in the house changes the timeline. Texas law sends an eviction suit to the justice court for the precinct where the property sits (Property Code sections 24.004 and 24.0041). Dallas County has ten justice of the peace courts, and its JP courts page links a district locator map. Enter the property address there instead of guessing which court covers your street.

Which Dallas County offices handle a DeSoto address

All of DeSoto lies in Dallas County, so one set of county offices handles every address in the city:

• Appraised value and exemptions: the Dallas Central Appraisal District (DCAD) sets the value. You file a protest with the Appraisal Review Board, which also hears it; the district offers an online filing system called uFILE.
• Tax bills: the Dallas County Tax Assessor's list of jurisdictions names the City of DeSoto and the DeSoto school district among the taxing units it collects for. Your own statement shows every unit that taxes your lot. The downtown office is in the Records Building, 500 Elm Street, Suite 3300, and notes that Spanish is spoken. If you are behind, ask for a payoff figure good through your planned closing date.
• Deeds and liens: the County Clerk's Recording Division, 500 Elm Street, Suite 2100, (214) 653-7099, records deeds, liens and releases of lien. It also offers a free property fraud alert.

DCAD's site says it is for informational purposes only and that title research should be done at the County Clerk's office. Pull your recorded deed first to confirm whose names are on title.

Keeping an empty DeSoto house within code

A house that sits empty while it is for sale still has to meet DeSoto's property standards. The city's code violations page lists the rules that most often trip up owners who live somewhere else:

• Grass and weeds must stay under 12 inches. The owner or occupant keeps up everything from the street in front to the middle of the alley in back, including the strip between the sidewalk and the curb.
• A fence may not lean or have missing, loose or broken slats or panels. Building or altering one can require a permit from Building Inspection at 972-230-9610.

If an officer has already opened a case on the house, ask Code Enforcement what is still open before you set a closing date, and tell your title company about it.

Closing out the water account

The city's Utility Billing department handles water and sewer accounts from City Hall, 211 E. Pleasant Run Road. Its Utility Billing page lists disconnecting the meter for a final bill among its services. Call 972-230-9627, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to set the date.

Moving to another home inside DeSoto? The Water Service page says the account holder calls with the current address, the disconnect date, a phone number, and the new address and connection date. Service can stay on at both addresses for up to 10 calendar days.

Inherited houses and foreclosure notices

When the owner has died. Texas Estates Code section 33.001 places probate in the county where the person who died lived, not where the house is (Estates Code ch. 33). If your parent was living in their DeSoto house, that points to Dallas County. Its three probate courts, The Probate Court, Probate Court No. 2 and Probate Court No. 3, are on the 7th floor of the George Allen Courts Building, 600 Commerce Street (Dallas County probate courts). If they lived in another county, the case is filed there even though the house is in DeSoto. A Texas probate attorney can tell you what the estate needs before the house can be sold.

When the mortgage is behind. Under Property Code section 51.002, a Texas foreclosure sale takes place on the first Tuesday of the month, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., after notice is posted at least 21 days ahead. In Dallas County the sales are held on the north side of the George Allen Courts Building, facing Commerce Street under the overhang, or where the county commissioners designate. The County Clerk's foreclosure notices page sorts notices by city and month, with separate DeSoto files. Clerk staff do not run the sales, so questions about a posting go to your lender. For free foreclosure counseling in English or Spanish, Dallas County's Home Loan Counseling Center, a HUD-approved agency, answers at (214) 819-6060.

Selling your DeSoto house to Cash Home Advisors

If you would rather not fix up the house first, you can sell it to Cash Home Advisors as-is, without making repairs. We pay all closing costs and can close in 7–14 days. Se habla español.

To get started, fill out the short form or read how it works. For more on the situations above, see the risks of leaving a rental empty, selling an inherited house in Texas and selling before a foreclosure sale.

Local offices for this area

• Dallas Central Appraisal District
• Dallas County Tax Office: Jurisdictions Collected
• Dallas County Clerk, Recording Division
• City of DeSoto Rental Registration & Inspection Program
• City of DeSoto Water Service (Utility Billing)
• Dallas County Home Loan Counseling Center (HUD-approved)

ZIP codes we buy in: 75115