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Houston Rental Management | 5 Short Steps on How to Evict a Tenant

Posted by Residential Leasing Management in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX on Jun 02, 2012

Rental Management in Houston | Residential Leasing & Management Corporation has experience in rental management. Learn the steps on how to evict a tenant.

Are you currently facing difficulty in dealing with your tenants? Maybe, all their rent payments have been late? Perhaps, they refuse to follow the terms of their lease? Have your occupants been avoiding you for months? If you have tried everything to negotiate rent with your residents, and you are unable to receive payment, you may have to consider eviction. The property rental management team at Residential Leasing and Management Corp. has three decades of experience in Houston rental management.

It is important to know your legal rights as a landlord. If you are in the Houston rental management industry, make sure you are well informed of your legal responsibilities before you proceed, as laws may vary by state, or county. Here are five guidelines to vacating your home. These guidelines are specifically targeted to landowners in Texas.

Give the tenants written notice to leave the premises, and a final date by which they must leave the property. If a renter is no longer paying their rent, the landlord is required by law to give the renter written notice before proceeding with eviction. Unless your lease states specific terms that precludes the following, you must deliver the written notice, and wait for a period of three days, before initiating your suit in court.
Filing your suit with the court is the next step. Make sure you thoroughly complete all the required paperwork necessary before you appear in court.
Have your finances sorted before the date. It is advisable to have cash, or a money order prepared already, as you must pay court costs to file a petition with the court.
Prepare for your court appearance. Proving your case to the judge is paramount. Have all documents proving your legal ownership of the property in question. It may also be advisable to bring all written communications that occurred between you and your renter. How many times did you attempt to collect rent? Is this a reoccurring problem between you and your occupant? If you are representing yourself, make sure you are respectful, and all your evidence is organized in a clear and concise manner.
It takes a minimum of approximately three weeks to expel someone in any Texas County. It takes three days from the date of notice to vacate to the filing of the suit. Add an additional ten days to serve the citation. (State law requires the defendant be granted six days notice before the hearing.) Then, there is a period of an additional five days to appeal the suit following the hearing, as required by law. During the remaining two days, the constable is required to post a 24 hour vacate notice on the Writ of Possession.