Texas Eviction Protections for Tenants

A Texas landlord must give you a written notice to vacate, at least 3 days unless your written lease sets a different period, before filing an eviction suit in justice court. Only a law enforcement officer, usually a constable or sheriff, carrying out a writ of possession (the court's order to remove you) can make you leave. Under the rules in effect since January 1, 2026, the trial must be held 10 to 21 days after the landlord files, you have 5 days after the judgment to appeal, and an appeal lets you stay only if you pay rent into the court registry. A landlord who locks you out or cuts off utilities outside the narrow exceptions in Property Code chapter 92 can owe you one month's rent plus $1,000, damages, and attorney's fees, minus rent you owe.

What notice must come before a Texas eviction suit?

Property Code section 24.005 sets these rules for the notice to vacate:

• Length. At least 3 days, unless a written lease or agreement sets a shorter or longer period. Check the notice clause in your lease.
• Unpaid rent. If the eviction is only for unpaid rent and you had not been late with rent before the month the notice is given, the landlord must use a notice to pay rent or vacate, which gives you the choice of paying the rent it demands by the deadline instead of moving. If you were late before, the landlord can use either that notice or a plain notice to vacate.
• End of a month-to-month tenancy. Before evicting you for staying past the end of a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord must first end it with at least one month's notice, unless you both signed an agreement setting a different notice period or none.
• Delivery. The notice must be mailed, left inside your home in a conspicuous place, handed to a tenant who is 16 or older, or sent electronically, such as by email, if you agreed to that in writing. Any method counts if you actually receive it.
• Counting days. The day of delivery does not count, weekends and holidays do, and a period that would end on a weekend or holiday runs to the next business day.

Under the federal CARES Act, a landlord of a property with a federally backed mortgage, such as one insured by FHA or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or a property in a federal housing program such as public housing, Section 8, or the low-income housing tax credit, must give 30 days' notice to vacate. Texas allows filing after the state notice period, subject to additional federal requirements, but the writ of possession cannot be served on you until 30 days after the notice was delivered. In public housing and covered HUD project-based assisted housing, the housing agency or landlord must wait at least 30 days after you receive notice before filing for unpaid rent. It cannot file that nonpayment case if you pay the alleged rent owed within those 30 days. Texas rent payment rights covers late fees and lock changes for unpaid rent before a notice arrives.

How fast does a Texas eviction case move?

The landlord files in the justice court for the precinct where the property is located, and the 2026 rules set these deadlines:

You do not have to file a written answer, but you must appear at trial. If you neither answer nor appear, the judge treats the landlord's claims as admitted and enters a default judgment; if you answered but miss the trial, the judge can hear the landlord's evidence and rule without you. The justice court decides only who has the right to possession, plus unpaid rent of up to $20,000. You cannot file a counterclaim in the eviction case, so claims such as unmade repairs need a separate suit, but two chapter 92 defenses do count: retaliation, covered below, and a rent deduction you made lawfully under that chapter. Texas repair rights explains when a deduction is lawful.

Example: your landlord hands you a notice to pay rent or vacate on a Monday. The 3 days run Tuesday through Thursday, so the landlord can file Friday, and the earliest trial date is 10 days later, a Monday. If you lose that day and do not appeal, your 5-day appeal deadline falls on Saturday and moves to Monday, so the writ can issue Tuesday at the earliest. The officer must then post a warning at least 24 hours before acting, which puts removal no sooner than Wednesday, 23 days after the notice. At a property covered by the CARES Act, removal cannot come sooner than 30 days after the notice.

How do you appeal, and what rent must you pay?

To appeal to county court, file one of these with the justice court within 5 days after the judgment is signed: a bond in the amount the judge set in the judgment, a cash deposit, or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. You must also swear, under penalty of perjury, that you believe you have a valid defense and are not appealing to delay. If you file a bond or cash deposit, you must serve written notice of the appeal on all other parties within 5 days after filing it, using a method allowed by the court rules. Unless costs are waived through a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs, pay the county court filing fee within 7 days after the county clerk notifies you. If you miss that fee deadline, the case returns to justice court as though you had not appealed. The county court then holds a new trial within 21 days after it receives the case file.

In addition to meeting those notice and fee requirements, staying in your home during the appeal requires rent payments into the court:

1. Within 5 days after you file the appeal, pay one rental period's rent, in the amount stated in the judgment, into the justice court registry, an account the court holds.
2. After that, pay each period's rent on or before the day it is due, into the registry of whichever court has the case at the time.
3. If a housing agency pays part of your rent, you pay only the share the court sets for you.

The justice court must give you a written notice of the amount, the payment method, and the due dates when you appeal. If you miss a payment, the court must issue a writ of possession on the landlord's request, without a hearing. If you lose in county court, that judgment can be put on hold only if you file a bond set by that court within 10 days.

Can a Texas landlord lock you out or shut off your utilities?

Only in narrow cases. Under section 92.0081, a landlord cannot keep you out of your home without a court order except for real repairs, construction, or an emergency, removing the contents of a unit you abandoned, or a lock change for unpaid rent that your lease allows and that follows strict notice rules, including giving you a new key at any hour whether or not you pay. Removing doors, windows, locks, or furnished appliances is also barred unless the landlord is promptly repairing or replacing them.

Under section 92.008, a landlord cannot interrupt utilities you pay for directly, or water, wastewater, gas, or electric service it provides, except for real repairs, construction, or an emergency. The electricity exception lets a landlord that bills you for submetered or shared electricity cut off service only if your written lease permits it, the bill remains unpaid through the 12th day after it was issued, and a separate written notice arrives after the bill is past due and at least 5 days before disconnection. The landlord cannot use this exception for unpaid rent or for a bill you dispute before the landlord investigates it.

Unless a dangerous condition exists or you request disconnection, the landlord cannot shut off electricity if the previous day's high was 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower and the nearest National Weather Service forecast keeps temperatures at or below 32 for the next 24 hours. The same ban applies if your county has a National Weather Service heat advisory that day or had one on either of the preceding 2 days.

You can delay disconnection if, before the shutoff date, a treating licensed health care provider gives the landlord a written statement that losing electricity would cause or worsen serious illness for someone in your home. You must also enter a written payment plan before that date, spreading the overdue electric bill in equal installments over at least 3 billing cycles. This protection lasts until the 63rd day after you meet both conditions, unless you and the landlord agree to an earlier date.

If a landlord breaks either rule:

• You can move back in or end the lease.
• You can recover a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $1,000, your actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees, minus any rent you owe. Refusing to give you a key to a changed lock adds another month's rent.
• To get back in or get service restored quickly, file a sworn complaint at the justice court for your precinct and explain the facts to the judge under oath. If the judge believes an unlawful lockout or shutoff likely happened, the court can issue a writ of reentry or a writ of restoration of utility service without first hearing from the landlord, which lets you back in or restores service until a hearing the landlord can request. Ignoring the writ is contempt of court. The judge can defer your filing and service fees, and court costs can be waived if you swear you cannot afford them.

A complaint filed in bad faith can cost you one month's rent or $500, whichever is more, plus damages and fees. Self-help eviction explains what counts as a self-help eviction in general.

When is an eviction illegal retaliation?

Section 92.331 bars a landlord, for six months after you take certain actions in good faith, from filing an eviction, raising your rent, ending your lease, cutting services, or interfering with your lease rights to punish you. The protected actions are using a right or remedy under your lease or the law, giving a repair notice or using a repair remedy, complaining about a building code violation or utility problem to a government agency, utility, or nonprofit group, and starting or joining a tenant organization.

An eviction is not retaliation if you were behind on rent when the landlord gave the notice to vacate or filed, if you, a family member, or a guest intentionally damaged the property or threatened someone's safety, or if you seriously breached the lease, for example through criminal acts. It also does not cover staying after you gave notice that you would move out, or staying after the landlord gave a notice ending your tenancy before you made your complaint. In any case, the landlord avoids liability if it proves its action had a reason other than retaliation.

Retaliation is a defense in the eviction case. You can also sue for a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, your actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees, minus any rent you owe. A tenant who sues in bad faith can lose possession and owe the landlord one month's rent plus $500 and fees. If your suit rests on a code or utility complaint that an inspector or the utility found in writing had no basis, bad faith is presumed unless you show otherwise.

What happens when the writ is carried out?

Once the writ issues, a sheriff or constable must serve it within 5 business days, or the landlord can have another trained officer do it. The officer must post a written warning on the outside of your front door at least 24 hours before acting, giving the date and time. At that time, the officer delivers the home to the landlord, tells everyone to leave, and has your belongings placed outside the unit nearby, but not while it is raining, sleeting, or snowing. If the officer uses a bonded or insured warehouse instead, you can take back any item free while the movers are still at your home; after that, the warehouse can charge reasonable moving and storage fees and can sell unclaimed property after 30 days. No writ can be carried out after the 90th day following the judgment. How long the eviction process takes gives a stage-by-stage overview that applies beyond Texas.