Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Texas

The lender can begin foreclosure proceedings if you breached (failed to live up to) a covenant contained in the security instrument (typically, a note and deed of trust). You should contact the lender to find out which covenant it claims you breached. Perhaps the lender inspected the property after the drive-by shooting you mention and found that you have failed to repair. The standard Texas deed of trust contains covenants requiring the borrower to "promptly repair the property if damaged to avoid further deterioration or damage."

Whichever turns out to be the covenant the lender claims you breached, you as the borrower normally have the right to reinstate after accelaration (acceleration occurs when the lender declares a breach and calls all sums due and payable, effectively starting the foreclosure). You can find the specific details of this right, including time limits, delineated in your deed of trust under a section entitled "Borrower's Right to Reinstate." Thus, if for example the lender claims you failed to repair after the drive-by shooting, then you should promptly complete the needed repairs and inform your lender before the time alloted under the pertinent deed of trust provision expires.