This legal research guide provides information about landlord and tenant law that is helpful to both the practitioner and the public looking for legal information.
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Eviction proceedings do not mean that a tenant will immediately be removed from their home. There are many steps in the eviction process that each take a certain amount of time. Until a writ of possession is issued, the tenant can remain in their home.
Note: The specific circumstances of your situation may result in a slightly varied timeline. This is a general example of how long it may take for an eviction suit to take from start to finish.
Before a landlord can start legal eviction proceedings, they must give the tenant proper notice in writing. A written notification that the landlord would like the tenant to move out because the tenant has broken the lease is called a "notice to vacate." Texas law is very specific about how the notice must be given to the tenant and what it must contain.
The notice must include:
The notice can be given to the tenant in one of the following ways:
If the notice is given in person or sent via the mail, the time given to move out before the landlord files an eviction suit starts running once it is delivered. If it is attached to the outside of the main entrance, the time starts running once the notice is affixed to the outside of the door, regardless of when the copy in the mail is delivered.
This section of the law describes the "notice to vacate" that must be given to a tenant before filing an eviction suit. It discusses how the notice must be given to the tenant and what information it should contain.
Legal self-help publisher Nolo has written this overview of the legal notice that is required before an eviction suit can be filed.
Once the time stated in the notice to vacate has passed, a landlord can file a suit to evict. This suit should be filed in the justice court where the rental property is located. If you are a landlord and do not wish to eFile the petition for an eviction suit, please check with your justice court for a form for the petition.
Once the suit has been filed, the tenant must be served with papers at least 6 days before the trial. A sheriff or constable may serve the tenant with papers by delivering them to the tenant or to a member of the household who is 16 or older. If they have tried to deliver papers twice and are unsuccessful, a judge can allow the landlord to serve the tenant in another method. Other methods include slipping it through a mail slot, slipping it under the front door, or affixing it to the front door.
In justice court, the tenant is not required to file a written answer. They are allowed to do so if they disagree with the claims in the suit. If you do not file an answer, you will need to show up to the hearing or risk a default judgment against you and in favor of the landlord. The hearing will be set for no sooner than 10 days after the suit was filed and no later than 21 days.
You have the right to request a jury for your hearing. This request must be made at least 3 days before the trial.
After the hearing, a judgment will be issued. If the court rules against you, you will have the opportunity to appeal before your property is removed from the rental. For more details, please see the Appealing an Eviction page of this guide.
This section states that eviction suits must be filed in "a justice court in the precinct in which the real property is located."
Section (a) of this Rule governing suits in justice court contains requirements for what information must be in the papers you are served with when a landlord initiates an eviction suit. This includes the timeframe for the hearing that must not be sooner than 10 days after the petition is filed nor later than 21 days. Sections (b) and (c) describe the ways in which you may be served with the eviction suit papers.
This Rule governing suits in justice court states that a tenant may file an answer to the petition in an eviction suit, but that they are not required to.
This Rule governing suits in justice court allows you to request a jury for your eviction hearing.This toolkit from TexasLawHelp.org contains the forms and instructions you will need to respond to an eviction suit.
The Texas Justice Court Training Center has compiled several forms that will be useful if you are a tenant who is facing eviction.
This form from the Texas Tenant Advisor will allow you to respond when your landlord has started an eviction suit against you. (Available through the Internet Archive.)
This form from the Texas Tenant Advisor can be used to request a jury in your eviction hearing in justice court. (Available through the Internet Archive.)
If you are a landlord who needs to evict a tenant, the forms compiled here by the Texas Justice Court Training Center may be useful.
Landlords can file for eviction in a Justice of the Peace court via the state's eFile system.Section 90.121 in volume 5 of this resource contains a form for a Petition for Forcible Detainer (eviction).
Created by the Texas Justice Court Training Center for court and constable personnel, this resource is a practical source of information for situations they may encounter in eviction and landlord/tenant cases.
Once a final judgment has been entered and all deadlines have expired, the landlord may ask the judge to issue a "writ of possession." This is the final step in the eviction process. "Executing a writ of possession" is when a tenant and all their belongings and property are removed from the rental unit.
A writ of possession cannot be issued more than 60 days after the judgment is signed, but a court can allow 90 days for good cause. The writ of possession cannot be executed after the 90th day after the judgment is signed.
This section describes the procedure for issuing and executing a writ of possession. This is when a sheriff or constable removes the tenant and their property from the rental.
This rule lays out the timelines for issuing and executing a writ of possession in an eviction suit.Angelina County has created this flyer to explain what a writ of possession is and what it may mean for a tenant facing eviction.
