Texas eviction law

Before filing an eviction suit for unpaid rent, give the tenant at least three days' written notice to vacate, unless the written lease sets a shorter or longer period. If the tenant was not late or delinquent before the month of the notice, the notice must be a notice to pay rent or vacate; for a tenant who was late before, either form may be used.

Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0042

• Deliver the notice by mail (first class, registered, certified or a delivery service), inside the unit in a conspicuous place, by hand to a tenant 16 or older, or electronically if the parties agreed in writing; any method works if the tenant actually receives it. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(f-3), (f-4)
• Count from the day after delivery, weekends and holidays included; if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or state or federal holiday, the period runs to the next day that is not. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0042
• If federal law requires a longer notice, you may still file after the Texas notice, but the writ of possession cannot be served until the federal period has run. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(c-1)
• A response period that the lease or a state or federal rule requires may run at the same time as the notice. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(e)

For violations other than unpaid rent, chapters 24 and 92 give no general right to cure before the landlord gives a notice to vacate. The landlord gives the same written notice to vacate, at least three days unless the written lease sets another period, before filing an eviction suit.

Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.332

• The exceptions are narrow: a landlord that interrupted submetered electricity for an unpaid electric bill may not evict for that bill unless it stays unpaid after service has been off at least two days, not counting weekends or state or federal holidays, and a tenant who disabled a smoke alarm gets seven days to fix it before the landlord's court remedies. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.008 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.2611
• Evicting or ending the lease for a material breach, such as violating written lease rules against serious misconduct or criminal acts, is not retaliation. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.332(b)(3)
• Delivery methods and day counting are the same as for unpaid rent. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(f-3) Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0042

After the notice to vacate, an eviction starts with a sworn petition in the justice court of the precinct where the property is located. The court decides the right to possession and may award unpaid rent within a $20,000 limit that includes attorney fees but excludes statutory interest and court costs; it does not decide title, and counterclaims are not allowed. The citation sets trial 10 to 21 days after the petition is filed. Since January 1, 2026, a landlord whose sworn petition alleges a forcible entry and detainer may include a sworn motion for summary disposition, asking for judgment without trial; in the usual case against a tenant who stays after the right to possession ends, either side may instead move for summary disposition under the general justice court rule. A writ of possession cannot issue before the sixth day after the judgment is signed or the day after the appeal deadline, whichever is later, except under the possession-bond procedure.

Tex. Prop. Code § 24.00505 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.004 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0041 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0051 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005106 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005107 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0053 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.006 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0043 Tex. Prop. Code § 1.004 Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.1(a) Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.8(b)(10) Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.10

• The sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve within five business days after filing. If service has not occurred, the landlord may request an alias citation for another appropriately trained law enforcement officer; the landlord remains responsible for that officer's fee. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0051(f) Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.8(d)
• The court issues a citation immediately for each defendant. For a written residential lease, name and serve every resident lease tenant sought to be evicted. Ordinary service delivers the citation and petition to the defendant or leaves them at the usual residence with someone over 16 other than the plaintiff; service must be at least four days before trial and cannot occur on Sunday. Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.6(d), 510.8(a), (d)
• Delivery to the premises requires the judge's authorization after the officer's sworn account of at least two diligent attempts at all known in-county addresses. The authorized officer delivers at the premises and mails a copy by first-class mail at least four days before trial. The return of service must be filed at least one day before trial. This is court service, separate from the landlord's pre-suit notice. Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.8(e), (f)
• Trial may not be earlier than the fourth day after service and may be postponed more than seven days only by written agreement. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0051(g) Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.15(b)
• In a suit alleging a forcible entry and detainer, a summary disposition motion can bring judgment without trial unless the tenant files a response by the fourth day after service showing a genuinely disputed fact; the court may still consider a later response filed before judgment. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005106(a), (b) Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.10(a)
• The petition must include the contents the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure require, and local court rules may not demand more or require mediation or another proceeding before trial. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.00505 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.00506(b)
• In an ordinary forcible detainer suit, either party may file a sworn summary disposition motion stating supporting facts and attaching the documents relied on. Rule 503.2 permits a sworn written response; the court cannot consider the motion until it has been on file for at least 14 days. The judge may consider evidence at a hearing, or decide the motion and response without a hearing if both parties agree. The separate four-day response procedure for forcible entry and detainer does not replace this process. Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.10(b), 503.2
• The tenant does not have to file a written answer, and an answer that simply denies the petition still lets the tenant raise any defense at trial. Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.11(a), (c)
• Court deadlines in an eviction case count every day; one that ends on a Saturday, Sunday or state or federal holiday moves to the next day that is not one, and a filing deadline on a day the court is closed moves to its next business day. Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.4(a)
• Either side may appeal within five days after the judgment is signed. An appealing tenant must affirm a good-faith meritorious defense and pay one rent period into the court registry within five days after filing the appeal, then at the start of each rent period; if the tenant misses a payment after the court's written notice, the court on request issues a writ without a hearing. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005107 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0053 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0054
• The officer must serve the writ within five business days after issuance and post a warning giving at least 24 hours before execution. If it remains unserved, the landlord may request a replacement writ for another appropriately trained law enforcement officer. Ordinarily issuance must occur within 60 days after the signed judgment, extendable to 90 days for good cause; execution cannot occur after day 90. A properly perfected appeal with required registry rent prevents issuance. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061 Tex. R. Civ. P. 510.18(g)
• A landlord can recover attorney's fees only under a written lease clause, or after a demand to vacate sent by registered or certified mail at least 10 days before filing that warns of fees if the tenant does not leave before the 11th day after receiving it. The same clause or demand lets a prevailing tenant recover fees from the landlord, and the prevailing party recovers court costs. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.006
• Parties may appear for themselves or through non-lawyer agents in justice court. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011
• Only the Legislature may modify or suspend these procedures, except that a Texas Supreme Court disaster order may apply to eviction suits under the conditions the statute sets; cities and counties may not regulate evictions. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0043 Tex. Prop. Code § 1.004

A landlord may not keep a tenant out of the unit without a court order, except for bona fide repairs, construction or an emergency, removing the contents of an abandoned unit, or a lock change for delinquent rent that follows 92.0081 exactly. A landlord also may not interrupt utilities, whether the tenant pays the utility company or the landlord supplies the service, except for bona fide repairs, construction or an emergency.

Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.008 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.009 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0091 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.301

• A lock change for unpaid rent needs a lease clause giving that right, plus advance written notice (mailed locally at least five days before, or hand-delivered or posted inside the main door at least three days before) stating the earliest date, the amount due and where to pay, and, in underlined or bold print, the tenant's right to a new key at any hour. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081(d)
• After the change, post a notice on the front door and provide a new key at any hour whether or not rent is paid; never change locks while anyone is inside, more than once per rent period, on a day (or the day before a day) when no one is available to take payment, or on common areas. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081
• Violations let the tenant retake possession or end the lease and recover one month's rent plus $1,000, actual damages, court costs and fees; a justice court can order reentry or restored service. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081(h) Tex. Prop. Code § 92.009 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.008(f) Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0091
• A landlord that submeters or allocates electricity may interrupt electric service for an unpaid electric bill only with a lease right and under the notice, weather and medical limits of 92.008(h) to (r). Tex. Prop. Code § 92.008(h)
• If you agreed to pay for utilities and the utility company cuts or threatens to cut service because you did not pay, the tenant may pay it and deduct the payment from rent, or end the lease. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.301
• If you are the utility customer for a master-metered, not submetered, property of at least 10 dwellings, give each tenant written notice in English and Spanish within five days after receiving a disconnection notice, including the tenant's remedies, and notify the city by certified mail. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.302

If a tenant has abandoned the unit, the landlord may remove its contents. Seizing a tenant's property for unpaid rent is lawful only under a written lease clause that authorizes it and is underlined or in conspicuous bold print, without a breach of the peace, and never for exempt items; selling it requires lease authorization and at least 30 days' notice by both first-class and certified mail. No statute Rentari reviewed sets a general storage period for property left in an abandoned unit.

Tex. Prop. Code § 54.043 Tex. Prop. Code § 54.044 Tex. Prop. Code § 54.045 Tex. Prop. Code § 54.042 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.014 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0062

• The residential landlord's lien secures rent that is due and reaches only nonexempt property; exempt items include clothing, tools of a trade, beds and bedding, kitchen furniture, food, medicine, one car and one truck, and children's toys. Tex. Prop. Code § 54.041 Tex. Prop. Code § 54.042
• After a seizure, leave written notice with an itemized list, the amount owed and a contact; the tenant may redeem the property before a sale. Tex. Prop. Code § 54.044(b) Tex. Prop. Code § 54.045(e)
• A willful violation costs actual damages, return of the property or proceeds, one month's rent plus $1,000, and attorney's fees. Tex. Prop. Code § 54.046
• If a sole occupant dies, you may remove and store the property, must release it to the person the tenant named or anyone lawfully entitled who asks first, and may discard it only after a certified-mail request to the named person, 30 days without removal, and no contact from anyone claiming it, unless the lease sets another procedure. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.014
• After an eviction judgment, the officer executing the writ has belongings placed outside the unit or stored by a bonded or insured warehouse; the tenant can redeem listed essentials within 30 days by paying the charges attributable to them. Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061(d), (e) Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0062

For six months after a tenant in good faith uses a legal right or remedy, gives a repair notice, complains to a code agency, utility or civic group about a code violation or utility problem, or joins a tenant organization, a landlord may not retaliate. Barred retaliation includes filing an eviction, depriving the tenant of the unit, cutting services, raising the rent, ending the lease, or a bad-faith course of conduct that materially interferes with the lease.

Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.332 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.333 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.335 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.015

• Not retaliation: evicting or ending the lease of a tenant who was behind on rent when you gave notice or filed, whose household or guests intentionally damaged property or threatened someone's safety, who materially breached the lease, or who held over in the situations 92.332 lists. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.332
• A landlord is not liable if it proves the action was not taken to retaliate. Rent increases under a written escalation clause for utilities, taxes or insurance, and rent increases or service reductions across a whole project, are not retaliation unless they violate a prior repair order under 92.0563. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.332(a)
• A retaliating landlord owes a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs and attorney's fees, less rent owed; a tenant who sues in bad faith faces the same civil penalty. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.333 Tex. Prop. Code § 92.334
• Retaliation is a defense in an eviction suit. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.335
• A landlord may not bar or penalize a tenant for calling police or emergency help based on a reasonable belief that someone needs it. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.015