The Eviction Notice
What is the eviction notice process?
When to deliver the eviction notice.
How long have you waited to send or have delivered the eviction notice to a tenant that has not paid the rent or broken the lease? Lets take a look at what the guidelines are for the eviction notice process.
If you have waited longer than 4 days to send the Notice to Vacate you have waited too long.
You can actually send a 3 Day Notice To Vacate after the first day the rent is past due or a violation of the lease, depending on what your lease agreement says. The lease agreement takes precedent when you can deliver the Eviction Notice and how much time the tenat(s) have to respond to the notification.
Texas law states: About a w
The determining factor on when you can deliver this notice is when the tenant has defaulted on the rent payment or broken the lease not how many days has it happened.
We had a lady from France that became our client and she had waited one and a half years to file the eviction because that was the law in France where she lived.
This is not France people, it’s Texas and the motto here is “Don’t Mess With Texas”.
It’s Time to Take Action and get the Eviction Notice delivered
Hey Landlord, it’s time to put the tenant on notice and get the eviction process started. Most landlords wait too long wasting valuable time and losing money. It’s time to put the delinquent tenant on notice and have them pay up or shut up. I know out of the kindness of your heart and all the heart breaking excuses you have heard, you will end up with more bills and late mortgage payments and do they care not one hoot. It’s time to move and get the process rolling. Be nice to the next tenant these guys have worn out their welcome.
So When can you deliver a 3 Day Notice to Vacate in Houston Texas? The answer is the next day after the rent is due. With most lease agreements the rent is usually due on the first day of the month, no matter whether this is a weekend or vacation unless various terms are specified in the lease or rental arrangement.
Delivery Timing Considerations
Legally Valid Delivery: Texas law does not specifically prohibit delivering a notice to vacate on weekends or holidays. However, the timing might affect when the notice period starts.
Count the Days: When calculating the notice period, exclude the day of delivery. The countdown starts the following day. For instance, if a 3-day notice to vacate is given on a Friday, the days counted would be Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, meaning the tenant must vacate by the end of Monday.
When is the Lease is considered Late and when to Deliver the Eviction Notice and tell the tenant to Vacate?
Now that we have established when we can deliver the 3 Day Notice to Vacate the day after the rent is due, we are now ready to file the Forcible Entry and Detainer lawsuit with the Houston Courts, since the tenant has not paid the rent. Unless otherwise agreed to in the lease or rental contract, the rent is considered late the day after it is due. So proceed with your eviction and deliver the notice. Don’t wait! We see sympathetic landlords get taken advantage of all the time, the tenant certainly will not reciprocate those feelings.
Let Houston Evictions hand deliver your 3 day notice to vacate if you have not already done so. This way you know it will be done right and you don’t have to deal with the tenant. We handle everything and you can feel more at ease.
If you are searching for a “3 Day Notice to Vacate near me” call us we hand deliver eviction notices all over Harris County, Fort Bend, and Galveston.
Landlord Options for Accepting Late Rent
In some states, when provided an eviction notice, renters have the option to either pay the late rent or move out of the rental. If the occupant pays the lease, then the eviction procedures do not continue. In Texas, the landlord gets to decide whether the renter has the option to pay the lease or leave. But always deliver a 3 Day Notice to Vacate to get the process going. Don’t even lose one day.
If the landlord chooses to offer the occupant the alternative to pay the late rent, then the landlord has to inform the renter in composing that the occupant owes rent. This notification must take place prior to the landlord offers the occupant a 3 Day Notice to Vacate eviction notice. If the landlord offers this notice to the tenant, then the Notice to Vacate can offer the renter the alternative to either pay the rent or move out. If the renter pays the rent, then the eviction proceedings will not continue (see Tex. Prop. Code Ann.
§ 24.005(i)). If the landlord does not send out a notice to the tenant about owing rent before sending the tenant a Notice to Vacate, then the only option that will be available to the tenant in the Notice to Vacate is to vacate.
When to Charge Late Fees for an Eviction for Failure to Pay the Lease in Texas
Under Texas building laws (Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § 92.019), a landlord needs to supply a minimum of a one-day grace period prior to charging a renter late charge. But under state law, there is no grace period before a landlord can offer an occupant an eviction notice for failure to pay rent. This implies that a landlord can provide an occupant an eviction notice the day after the lease is due).
As soon as the landlord offers the tenant a Notice to Vacate, the occupant has 3 days to pay the rent (if that alternative is available to the renter) or leave the rental home. The 3 days start on the date the notice is provided to the tenant. Weekends and holidays are included in the three-day duration. Under state building law (Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § § 24.005 (a)and( g)), the lease or rental arrangement might allow for a longer or much shorter time period than 3 days.
Details to Consider in Preparation of Texas Eviction Notices
The Notice to Vacate need to be in composing, and consist of the following info:
- date the notice was served on the tenant(s).
- name(s) and address of renter(s) rental.
- the reason for the notice (that the occupant failed to pay rent for a specified period of time).
a declaration that the renter has 3 days to leave, including the final date and time by which the renter must be out of the home. - a final notice that the landlord might pursue legal action (an eviction suit) if the tenant does not move, and.
- a declaration specifying how the notice was offered to the tenant, either by in fact giving the notice to the occupant or mailing the notice.
If the renter has the option to pay rent, then the notice needs to be consistent with that statement so that the tenant has 3 days to either pay the lease due and owing or leave.
If an eviction notice is missing key details, such as the time and date the renter needs to be moved out of the rental unit, then the eviction notice will not be considered valid and the 3 Day Notice to Vacate will not be recognized by the courts. The landlord would then need to provide a new notice to the renter, starting a new three-day period, and the notice would need to consist of all the information listed above.
How Landlords Have to Serve Eviction Notices in Texas.
Landlords in Texas have 4 alternatives for serving a Notice to Vacate under Tex. Prop. Code Ann.
§ 24.005(f):
- The landlord, or an agent of the landlord, can personally hand deliver the notice to the occupant or to somebody who is 16 years or older who resides in the rental building.
- The landlord can post the notice on the inside of the front door of the rental. The landlord can only use this option if the landlord is able to get in the properties legitimately, for instance, with a key.
- The landlord can mail a copy of the Notice to Vacate by regular mail, registered mail, or certified mail. If the landlord mails the notice, then the landlord needs to request a return receipt.
- If the rental building does not have a mail box to receive mail and the landlord can not lawfully go into the rental unit to post the notice inside the front door, then the notice can be posted on the outside of the front door of the property. If the occupant has an unsafe animal, such as a guard dog, or an alarm, that restricts the landlord from getting in the property, then the notice can be firmly posted on the front gate or other noticeable part of the main entry to the rental unit.
If the landlord does not serve the notice properly, then the landlord needs to create a brand-new notice and start the process over. The 3 days’ notice will not be in effect until the landlord serves the occupant in one of the ways listed above.
Occupant Alternatives When Served With Notice to Vacate for Nonpayment of Rent in Texas.
What happens next depends on the tenant’s response to the eviction notice:
If the occupant has the alternative to pay the lease within the three-day amount of time and does so, then the landlord must not proceed with the eviction.
If the renter does not pay the rent, however moves out within 3 days, the landlord might use the tenant’s down payment (if any) to cover the unsettled lease. If the down payment does not cover all the lease due and owing, consisting of late charges, then the landlord can sue the occupant for the rent still owed (see Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § 24.0051). If the occupant does not pay the complete rent within the three-day time period and does not move from the building, then the landlord can continue to submit a summons and grievance with the Texas justice court. This case is called a forcible detainer suit.
Eviction Lawsuits in Texas Justice Court.
The landlord needs to effectively win the forcible detainer case in the court before a constable can legitimately secure the property. It is extremely important that landlords do not participate in “self-help” practices (such as changing the locks or shutting down the utilities) and they must follow the procedures of the forcible detainer complaint.
More information about filing the problem in justice court can be discovered in Tex. Prop. Code Ann. § § 24.0051– 24.0061.
