We prepare the same statutory forms a paid firm would file — Form 50-132, Form 50-114, Form 50-135, and the notarized Form 37A phone-hearing affidavit — so you can sign and file them yourself, keep 100% of the savings, and pay nothing at all for exemptions.
Check your home FREE →Last updated: July 26, 2026 · Operated by MB Lonestar LLC · Harris County, Texas.
We check your home's HCAD-appraised value against comparable properties pulled from HCAD's own public appraisal records, build a written case under the equal-and-uniform standard, and prepare the paperwork that argument requires:
We also publish free, statute-cited guides on filing a protest, preparing for an ARB hearing, filing exemptions, and disaster-damage relief — the same information a paid firm relies on, written for the homeowner doing it directly.
Texas does not make home sale prices public record. A tool that estimates your home's market value from recent sales is guessing at numbers HCAD is not legally required to accept. The stronger argument — the one Chapter 41 of the Tax Code is actually built around — is equal-and-uniform: comparing HCAD's own appraised value of your home against the appraised values of similar homes nearby. Under §41.43(b)(3), once you show your value is above the adjusted median of a reasonable number of comparable properties, the burden shifts to HCAD to justify the difference. That is the evidence we build.
| Product | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| DIY protest kit | $39, one time | Form 50-132 filled out, plus comparable-property evidence built from HCAD's own records — ready to sign and file. |
| Exemption forms (homestead, over-65, disability, veteran, disaster) | Free, always | Forms filled out, ready to sign and file — no charge, no upsell. |
| Full-service contingency firm (for comparison, not our pricing) | 25%–50% of your first-year savings, repeating every year represented | Ownwell's own published 2026 industry cost breakdown of Texas protest firms, including one high-volume Houston-area firm charging a flat 50%. |
We do not take a percentage of anything, and nothing recurs. You review every number, sign every form, and file it yourself — the deadline, the mailing, and the hearing all remain yours to control.
Sometimes the honest answer is that a protest will not help this year — your value is already at or below what comparable HCAD records support, the deadline has passed with no exception that applies, or a different tool fits the situation better: an exemption you have not yet filed, a disaster-damage claim, or a late-filing provision. We say so plainly. Our guides on missed deadlines and disaster exemptions exist precisely because the right next step for a given homeowner is not always "protest."
We also never promise an outcome. Every protest, every exemption application, and every hearing is decided by HCAD and the Appraisal Review Board — not by us. What we provide is the strongest paperwork we can build from HCAD's own records; the decision belongs to them.
Harris County has large Vietnamese-, English-, and Spanish-speaking homeowner populations, so this operation runs as three sibling sites — one per language — instead of a single English page with a translate button: vnpropertytax.com (Vietnamese), lonestarpropertytaxhelp.com (English), and estrellapropertytaxhelp.com (Spanish). Same statutes, same forms, the same $39-or-free pricing on every site. It is a service decision, not a novelty: a homeowner should be able to read and sign their own paperwork in a language they use fluently, not just the language HCAD prints its forms in.
| What you need | Where |
|---|---|
| Your property's value or an exemption | HCAD — (713) 957-7800 · 13013 Northwest Freeway, Houston, TX 77040-6305 |
| Your tax bill or payment | Harris County Tax Office — (713) 274-8000 |
| Read the full protest process first | Our free protest guide |
| Understand your right to do this without a lawyer | Protest without a lawyer |
No. We are not a law firm and not a registered property tax consultant under Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1152. We prepare the forms and evidence; you sign and file them yourself, under your own right to protest under §41.41(a).
No. The kit is a flat $39, charged once. Full-service contingency firms typically charge 25%-50% of your first-year savings, repeating every year, per Ownwell's own 2026 cost breakdown. You keep 100% of what you save.
No. We prepare the paperwork; you sign and file it yourself — online, by mail, or in person. We never appear at a hearing or file anything using our own name.
HCAD's exemption forms already cost nothing to file, so charging for one would mean charging you for a free government form. The $39 kit is a separate, optional product for the value protest, which takes more work to build.
We say so. If your value is already at or below what comparable HCAD records support, or the deadline has passed with no exception, a protest is not the right tool — our guides point you to what is.
Last updated: July 26, 2026. Sources: Texas Tax Code §41.43(b)(3) (equal-and-uniform protest ground) and §41.41(a) (right of protest); Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax Forms (50-132, 50-114, 50-135); Texas property tax protest industry cost analysis, Ownwell, "Texas Property Tax Protest Companies: A Cost Breakdown for 2026" (published 04/29/2026, accessed July 26, 2026 — figures from an industry competitor, presented with its own methodology). This page is general information, not legal or tax advice, and does not constitute representation of any property owner.