If the appraisal notice that landed in your mailbox last month is still sitting on the counter, this is the week to deal with it. For most Dallas County homeowners the deadline to protest is Friday, May 15, and the difference between a protest that gets a real reduction and one that gets a polite no usually comes down to one thing: whether you brought sales evidence.
Here is how the deadline works, why comparable sales are the evidence that appraisal review boards actually weigh, and how to file yours before Friday without leaving the house.
The deadline is Friday, with one exception
Under state law, the protest deadline is May 15, or 30 days after the appraisal district mailed your notice, whichever is later, per the Texas Comptroller’s protest guidance. Most Dallas Central Appraisal District notices went out in April, so for most people the later date is this Friday. If your notice is dated less than 30 days ago, count forward from the mailing date on the notice; you may have a little more runway than your neighbors.
You do not need a lawyer or a tax agent to protest, and you do not even need the official form. The Comptroller says any written notice that identifies you, your property and what you disagree with is enough, though Form 50-132 keeps it tidy. In Dallas County, the fastest route is DCAD’s uFile system, more on that below. If you mail a paper protest instead, DCAD says it must go to the Dallas County ARB, P.O. Box 560348, Dallas, TX 75356-0348, postmarked on or before May 15.
Why comparable sales carry the day
An appraisal review board is not allowed to lower your value because taxes hurt or because the increase feels steep. The Comptroller’s guidance is blunt about it: you cannot show up and simply say the district is wrong. The board certifies value based on what the market shows, so the winning move is to show the market.
That means recent sales of homes genuinely similar to yours that sold for less than the number on your notice. DCAD’s own evidence guidance spells out what it wants to see with each comparable sale: the property address, the sale date and price, the parties to the sale, and photos where you can get them. Three strong comps beat ten weak ones. Similar square footage, similar age, same neighborhood or one that tracks with yours, and sales as recent as possible, since the district is appraising your home as of January 1.
If your own house just sold or you just bought it, that is the best evidence there is. DCAD asks for a signed, dated closing statement showing what you actually paid.
The other evidence that moves the needle
Comps are the headline, but the Comptroller’s hearing-preparation list includes several supporting players worth gathering this week: photographs of your property and of the comparables, written repair estimates from contractors for foundation, roof or plumbing problems, engineering reports, and surveys. A cracked slab or a 20-year-old roof is real money, but only if it is documented. A contractor’s estimate for $28,000 in foundation work says more than any speech you could give.
There is also a second legal argument that does not depend on what your house would sell for: equal and uniform appraisal. If your home is appraised at a higher ratio than the median of a reasonable sample of comparable properties, the law entitles you to a reduction to the median, even in a rising market. DCAD’s evidence instructions describe exactly this comparison. It takes more homework, since you are pulling the appraised values of similar homes rather than sales, but it is the argument that works when everything around you is selling high and your complaint is really that you were appraised higher than the house next door.
File it through uFile, and attach evidence when you file
DCAD’s uFile online protest system is the district’s preferred filing route and the only way to protest electronically; the district does not accept protests by email or fax. You will need the PIN printed on the top left of your appraisal notice, or you can request one by email through the system.
Here is the detail that catches people every year: the settlement offer. DCAD’s uFile instructions say that to be considered for an online settlement you must enter your own opinion of your home’s value and attach documentation supporting it at the time you file. Do both and the district may review your evidence and email you an offer without any hearing at all. Skip either one and no offer can be made. And if you decline the offer you get, uFile makes no second offer, so treat it seriously and compare it honestly against what your comps support.
If you file first and gather evidence later, all is not lost. DCAD accepts follow-up evidence by email to [email protected], by mail, or in the 24-hour drop box at 2949 N. Stemmons Freeway, but it asks for a week’s lead time before your hearing if you mail it.
If it goes to a hearing
Protests that do not settle get a hearing before the Appraisal Review Board, which DCAD schedules by telephone. You will get notice of the date and time at least 15 days ahead, and at least 14 days before the hearing the district must tell you how to get copies of the evidence it plans to use against your case. Ask for it. Knowing the district’s comps lets you explain why yours are better.
At the hearing, keep it short and factual: here is my house, here are three sales, here is the adjustment that follows. The Comptroller’s guidance notes you can choose whether to present before or after the district’s appraiser. The board’s decision binds only this tax year, so whatever happens, the envelope comes again next April. This time, save your comps folder.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. Figures are linked to their primary sources; where a claim could not be verified from the public record, we say so.
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