Texas Eviction Process for Landlords

A Texas landlord evicts by giving the tenant written notice to vacate, 3 days unless the lease sets a shorter or longer period, and then filing an eviction suit in the justice court for the precinct where the property is located. For suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, the court sets trial 10 to 21 days after filing, either side has 5 days to appeal, and only a sheriff, constable, or other trained officer can remove the tenant under a writ of possession. Changing the locks without a court order is allowed only in a narrow, lease-authorized lockout for unpaid rent.

Senate Bill 38 (2025) rewrote much of Property Code chapter 24, and the Supreme Court of Texas replaced Rule 510 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure to match. Both apply to petitions filed on or after January 1, 2026; earlier cases follow the old rules. For the general sequence used in most states, see the steps in an eviction proceeding.

Which notice do you send before filing?

Under Texas Property Code section 24.005, you must give at least 3 days' written notice to vacate before you file, unless a written lease sets a different period. A lease can shorten it (for example, to 1 day) or lengthen it, so check your lease first.

Which notice you send depends on the reason:

To end a month-to-month tenancy, Property Code section 91.001 requires notice that runs at least one month when rent is paid monthly, unless you and the tenant signed an agreement setting a different period. After the tenancy ends, the 3-day (or lease) notice to vacate still comes before filing.

Deliver the notice by at least one of these methods:

• Mail, including first-class, certified, or registered mail, or a delivery service.
• Delivery to the inside of the unit in a conspicuous place.
• Hand delivery to any tenant of the unit who is 16 or older.
• Email or another electronic method, only if the tenant agreed to it in writing.

If the tenant actually receives the notice, the delivery method does not matter.

Count days this way: skip the day of delivery, count weekends and holidays, and if the last day falls on a weekend or a state or federal holiday, the period runs to the next business day. A 3-day notice handed over on a Monday runs Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, so the earliest filing day is Friday.

If federal law requires a longer notice for your property, such as the CARES Act's 30-day notice to vacate for many properties with a federally backed mortgage or a federal housing subsidy, check the applicable federal requirements before filing. Texas law permits filing after the Texas notice runs and delays writ service until the federal notice period has passed, but federal rules may require you to wait before filing. HUD's termination-notice rule for covered subsidized properties requires at least 30 days after the tenant receives the nonpayment termination notice before filing, and bars filing for that nonpayment if the tenant pays the rent owed within that period.

To recover attorney's fees when your lease has no fee clause, you must send a separate written demand by registered mail or by certified mail with return receipt requested at least 10 days before filing, stating that you may recover fees if the tenant does not leave before the 11th day after receiving the notice and you file suit. Either route also lets a tenant who wins the case recover attorney's fees from you.

How do you file and what happens at trial?

1. File a sworn petition in the justice court for the precinct where the property is located. A petition filed in the wrong precinct is dismissed and the filing fee is not refunded. It must describe the grounds, the notice you gave, the rent owed, and, in a nonpayment case, whether the tenant was late before the notice month.
2. Name every tenant on the written lease who lives in the unit. The court cannot issue a writ against a lease tenant who was not named and served.
3. Add a rent claim if you want. You can ask for unpaid rent in the same case if the total, including attorney's fees, is no more than $20,000; statutory interest and court costs do not count toward that limit. The court decides possession and rent only; the tenant cannot file counterclaims there.
4. Pay the filing and service fees, which vary by county.
5. Service. A sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve the citation (the court's notice of the suit and trial date) within 5 business days after you file, either on the tenant or on someone over 16 at the home. If not, you can request a new citation for another trained officer. After two failed attempts, the court can allow delivery to the unit plus first-class mail.
6. Trial. The citation sets trial 10 to 21 days after filing, and no trial can be held until 4 days after service. The court cannot postpone the trial more than 7 days unless both sides agree in writing. Either side can request a jury by the later of 3 days before trial or 3 days after service.

The tenant does not have to file a written answer. If the tenant neither appears at trial nor files an answer before the case is called, and proof of proper service has been filed, the court treats the petition's allegations as admitted and enters a default judgment accordingly. If the tenant answered but misses trial, the court may hear evidence and decide the case. When requesting a default judgment, you must give the clerk the tenant's last known email and mailing address and serve the judgment. You can represent yourself, and an LLC or other entity can appear through an owner, employee, or property manager.

The new 4-day summary disposition (judgment without trial) in S.B. 38 applies to forcible entry cases, such as squatters who never had a lease, not to a case against your own tenant.

What happens if the tenant appeals?

Either side can appeal within 5 days after the judgment is signed by filing a bond, a cash deposit, or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. A tenant who appeals must swear to a good-faith belief in a meritorious defense and that the appeal is not for delay. You can contest a tenant's Statement of Inability within 5 days after you receive notice of it.

In a residential case, the judgment states the rent the tenant must pay during an appeal. To stay in the unit while appealing, the tenant must:

• Pay one rental period's rent into the justice court registry (an account the court holds) within 5 days after filing the appeal.
• Pay each later period's rent into the court registry on or before the day that period begins.

If a government agency pays part of the rent, the tenant pays only the tenant's share. If the tenant misses a registry payment after the court gave the required notice, the court issues a writ of possession on your request without a hearing. You can ask the court to release registry rent to you at any time during or after the appeal.

The appeal goes to county court for a new trial. The county court must hold trial within 21 days after it receives the case papers.

When do you get the writ of possession?

The writ of possession, the order that lets an officer return the unit to you, cannot issue before the 6th day after the judgment is signed, or the day after the appeal deadline if that is later. It must issue within 60 days after judgment (the court can extend this to 90 days for good cause), and it cannot be carried out after the 90th day.

The sheriff or constable must serve the writ within 5 business days after it issues, or you can have it served by another trained officer. The officer posts a warning of at least 8.5 by 11 inches on the outside of the front door, stating a date and time at least 24 hours later. The officer then removes the occupants and has their belongings placed outside near the unit, not blocking a sidewalk or street and not during rain, sleet, or snow. You pay the cost of issuing and serving the writ, and the officer cannot make you store the tenant's property. For belongings left behind outside this process, see handling a tenant's abandoned property.

An uncontested case where every step lands on its earliest date looks like this:

Failed service, a later trial date, or an appeal adds time.

When can you change the locks without a court order?

Texas Property Code section 92.0081 allows one exception to the court process: changing the locks when rent is delinquent. It is not an eviction: the tenant must get a new key on request, and you still need an eviction suit to recover the unit. You can use it only if all of these are true:

• The lease gives you the right to change the locks for late rent.
• The tenant owes all or part of the rent.
• You gave advance written notice, mailed at least 5 days before or hand-delivered or posted inside the main entry door at least 3 days before, stating the earliest lockout date, the amount needed to prevent it, where to pay, and, in bold or underlined print, the tenant's right to a new key at any hour.
• No one is inside the unit when you change the lock, and it is the first lockout in that rental period.
• You or your office is available to accept payment on the lockout day and the day after.

When you change the lock, post a notice on the front door with an on-site location open 24 hours or a phone number answered 24 hours that will get the tenant a key within 2 hours, the amount owed, and a statement that you must hand over the new key whether or not the tenant pays. You cannot lock the tenant out of common areas.

If you break these rules, the tenant can retake possession or end the lease and recover one month's rent plus $1,000, actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees, minus rent owed. Refusing the key adds another month's rent. The tenant can also ask the justice court for a writ of reentry, which the judge can issue without first hearing from you. Cutting off utilities, except for real repairs, construction, or an emergency, carries the same one month's rent plus $1,000 penalty, and you cannot remove doors, windows, locks, or appliances you furnished except for a real repair that is done promptly.

Can the tenant claim the eviction is retaliation?

Yes. You cannot file an eviction within 6 months after a tenant in good faith asks for repairs, uses a legal remedy, complains to a code enforcement agency, or joins a tenant organization. Eviction for delinquent rent, intentional property damage, threats to safety, or a material lease breach such as serious misconduct is not retaliation, and you can defend any eviction by proving it had a non-retaliatory reason. A tenant who proves retaliation can recover one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees. Keep repair records with your file; Texas repair obligations explains what counts as a proper repair request. After the tenant leaves, the security deposit deadlines still apply; see Texas security deposit rules.