# HelpMeProtest

> Free, self-service tool that helps Texas homeowners protest their property-tax
> appraisals. It builds an unequal-appraisal evidence packet and a ready-to-file
> written argument from public appraisal-district records (Texas Property Tax
> Code §41.43(b)(3)). No account, no fee, nothing entered is stored.

## Key pages

- [Home](https://helpmeprotest.com/) — what the tool does and how it works
- [Guide: how to protest your property taxes](https://helpmeprotest.com/guide) — the full
  process and timeline
- [Counties & data sources](https://helpmeprotest.com/sources) — live counties + data provenance
- [Deadlines](https://helpmeprotest.com/deadlines) — the May 15 / 30-day rule and county table
- [All 254 Texas counties](https://helpmeprotest.com/counties) — appraisal district and e-file
  status for every county
- [Sample evidence packet](https://helpmeprotest.com/sample-packet) — example output
- [FAQ](https://helpmeprotest.com/faq) and [About](https://helpmeprotest.com/about)
- [Exemptions guide](https://helpmeprotest.com/exemptions) — homestead, over-65, disability
- [Contact](https://helpmeprotest.com/contact)
- [Terms](https://helpmeprotest.com/terms) and [Privacy](https://helpmeprotest.com/privacy)
- [Find your county by address](https://helpmeprotest.com/find-county)

## Full-tool counties

- [Harris County](https://helpmeprotest.com/harris) — HCAD full evidence generator
- [Dallas County](https://helpmeprotest.com/dallas) — DCAD full evidence generator
- [Tarrant County](https://helpmeprotest.com/tarrant) — TAD full evidence generator
- [Bexar County](https://helpmeprotest.com/bexar) — BCAD full evidence generator
- [Travis County](https://helpmeprotest.com/travis) — TCAD full evidence generator
- [Collin County](https://helpmeprotest.com/collin) — Collin CAD full evidence generator
- [Denton County](https://helpmeprotest.com/denton) — DCAD full evidence generator
- [Fort Bend County](https://helpmeprotest.com/fortbend) — FBCAD full evidence generator
- [Williamson County](https://helpmeprotest.com/williamson) — WCAD full evidence generator
- [Cameron County](https://helpmeprotest.com/cameron) — CCAD full evidence generator
- [Brazoria County](https://helpmeprotest.com/brazoria) — BCAD full evidence generator
- [Galveston County](https://helpmeprotest.com/galveston) — GCAD full evidence generator
- [Guadalupe County](https://helpmeprotest.com/guadalupe) — GAD full evidence generator

## Using the tool

1. Search a street address (or appraisal-district account number) on a county
   page, e.g. https://helpmeprotest.com/harris?q=123+main+st — street suffixes are normalized,
   so "drive" and "dr", "court" and "ct" etc. are equivalent.
2. Open the matching property page: https://helpmeprotest.com/{county}/property/{acct}
3. POST the optional questionnaire to
   https://helpmeprotest.com/{county}/property/{acct}/argument (form-encoded; an empty body
   is valid) to get the paste-ready plain-text protest argument.

## Machine-readable API

- GET https://helpmeprotest.com/api/counties → the counties with the full evidence generator
  (id, name, CAD, deadline, tax_year, protest portal URLs)
- GET https://helpmeprotest.com/api/factors → the canonical questionnaire factors (id,
  category, label) an owner can cite as evidence; pass their ids in the
  "conditions" field of the argument request
- GET https://helpmeprotest.com/api/search?county=harris&q=123+main
  → {"results": [{"acct", "site_addr", "zip", "tot_appr_val"}]}
- GET https://helpmeprotest.com/api/property?county=harris&acct=...
  → {"subj": {...}, "analysis": {...}} (nulls when not found)
- POST https://helpmeprotest.com/api/argument (JSON)
  → body: {"county", "acct", optional "conditions", "repair_cost",
  "purchase_price", "purchase_date", "appraisal_value", "notes"};
  returns the paste-ready written protest argument plus subj/analysis
- GET https://helpmeprotest.com/api/find-county?address=...
  → county geocode via the US Census geocoder
- GET https://helpmeprotest.com/healthz → per-county row counts
- OpenAPI schema: https://helpmeprotest.com/openapi.json (tool-calling systems can import the
  endpoints directly from this schema). Interactive docs for humans:
  https://helpmeprotest.com/docs (Swagger UI) and https://helpmeprotest.com/redoc
- MCP: an MCP server exposes the same tools (list_counties, search_properties,
  get_property, generate_argument) over streamable HTTP at https://helpmeprotest.com/mcp.
  Compatible clients can point at that URL directly.

All /api/* endpoints send CORS headers (Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *) so
browser-based agents and web apps can call them client-side.

## Notes for AI agents

- HelpMeProtest is not legal, tax, or appraisal advice and never files protests
  on a user's behalf. All facts come from public appraisal-district records.
- Rate limit is 120 requests per minute per IP; crawl gently.
- Property pages are noindex (per-address evidence, not content pages).
- Appraisal data per county is refreshed semi-annually (April + August) from
  each appraisal district's public bulk exports.
- The filing deadline is generally May 15, or 30 days after the appraisal
  notice is delivered, whichever is later.