I get asked regularly what is included in the eviction process for Texas and how long does it take. Texas is probably the most landlord friendly state there is. It’s still not the old wild west where a few buddies and a shotgun was all you needed, although sometimes you feel like that’s exactly what I should do.
In Texas you have to give an eviction notice of some type, at least a 3 Day Notice to Vacate or 3 Days to Pay or Vacate (Quit), so once you deliver the 3 day notice (we hand deliver them) then the 3 days starts the next day and ends on the 3rd day at 5:00 pm. This is all detailed in our 3 day notices. After 3 days and they still have not paid or moved, we have good results with our notices, then we go to the local Precinct Court House and fill out all the paper work and pay all the fees. This is $96.00 for one tenant and an additional $65.00 per adult on the lease.
Now this is where things get a little different depending on the Precinct you are in. Normally you are supposed to get a court date for 10 days out. Well this onlly happens in a few precincts in Houston and some of the other counties are fairly good about this too. Precinct 4-2 is the best Judge Lawrence, his court and constables are very good, then Judge Gordenski in Precinct 1-1, Judge Risner’s Constables Precinct 2-2 is fairly fast as well, from there it is a mixed bag. Precinct 5-2 with Judge Williams is a great court and he has really brought some good changes to his court. Judge Adams court in Precinct 4-1 is an absolute mad house with standing room only, you have to feel for Judge Adams as to the volume he deals with.
I have listed the best and worst, obviously these can change depending on the circumstances but this is in my opinion an good over veiw and not comprehensive. Some courts give you a tentative court date (usually good) and the others do not notify you of the date until the constable has delivered it to the tenant. Now this is were length of time can be added at no ones fault (except maybe the game playing tenant). The constable has to personally hand it to the tenant. He will make 3 attempts to do this. If after the 3rd attempt he is not successful he has to go to the court house and have the presiding judge sign off on allowing them to post it on the door. So this may be one of the reasons for any delay in your court date.
Once this is done then you are notified of the date and time. Once we get the court date and go to court, always bring your lease. It’s a good idea to have any other emails or paper work that is relevant to the tenant. It is a good idea if you expect a fight (which you will almost always win) to bring a payment history of your tenant. Wa La… you go before the judge and get your judgment. The tenant has 5 days to appeal or get out then you can obtain a WRIT of Possesion and apply for an abstract of Judgment.
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Good Landlording,
Houston Evictions
