What Happens When an Eviction Is Filed in Texas?

Knowing what happens when an eviction is filed in Texas, from the first notice all the way to your screening record, helps you make better choices at each step. Here’s the full path in plain words.

Stage 1: Notice to vacate

Before filing, the landlord has to give you a notice to vacate. Here’s how much notice the Texas Property Code (opens in new tab) gives you:

• Unpaid rent: 3 days (or whatever the lease says)
• Staying after the lease ends: 3 days (or whatever the lease says)
• Lease violation: 3 days or whatever the lease says (Texas doesn’t make the landlord give you a chance to fix it first)

Under SB 38 (2026), the law lists how the notice can be delivered. If you actually got the notice, it counts no matter how it reached you. And when the only issue is unpaid rent and you weren’t late before, it has to be a notice to pay rent or vacate.

What you can do at this stage: fix the problem (pay the rent, clear up the lease issue, or move out on your own). The landlord can still file. But a fix may change their mind, and legal aid can walk you through your options.

Stage 2: Eviction suit filed at JP court

If you don’t fix it or move out, the landlord files the eviction case. It goes to the justice of the peace (JP) court for the precinct where the property sits. Expect court costs of roughly $50 to $60, plus a fee for the constable to deliver the papers (about $85 in Harris County).

What happens right away: your name and address show up on the JP court’s public docket (its list of cases). That’s the moment the record starts.

What you can do: call a legal aid organization as soon as you can. Try Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (956-996-8752), Lone Star Legal Aid (800-733-8394), or Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas (888-529-5277). TexasLawHelp.org (opens in new tab) can point you to the one that serves your county.

Stage 3: Citation and service

The court issues a citation (the official papers telling you about the case) and sets a hearing date. A sheriff or constable has to deliver it to you at least 4 days before trial. They have to try within 5 business days after the case is filed.

No service by then? The landlord can have another trained officer do it. If the officer tries at least twice and can’t reach you, the judge can OK another way. The officer then slides the papers under your door (or attaches them to it) and mails you a copy.

When the hearing usually is: 10 to 21 days after filing.

What you can do: work with legal aid to get your defenses ready (a bad notice, suing the wrong person, proof you paid, retaliation). You don’t have to file a written answer, but you do have to show up. Got a lawyer? Fill them in.

Stage 4: Court hearing (or summary disposition)

At the JP court hearing, the judge hears both sides. SB 38 created a fast version of summary disposition, which is a judgment without a full trial. It’s only for cases against someone who moved in without permission, like a squatter (courts call these forcible entry and detainer cases).

In an ordinary case over unpaid rent or staying past the lease, either side can still ask for summary disposition. The judge can’t look at that request until it’s been on file for 14 days, and you can file a sworn response. From what we see, most ordinary cases still go to trial.

The case can end a few ways:

• Judgment for landlord: you have to give up the unit, and you may owe the landlord money
• Dismissed with prejudice: the case is closed and can’t be filed again
• Dismissed without prejudice: the case is closed, but the landlord could file it again
• Nonsuited: the landlord dropped the case
• Judgment for tenant: rare in the cases we hear about, but possible with strong defenses

What you can do: show up to every hearing. Miss one and the judge can rule against you without hearing your side.

Stage 5: Appeal window (5 days)

You have 5 days after the judgment is signed to file an appeal with the JP court (TRCP 510.19). The case then moves up to county court. Under SB 38, you pay one rent period’s rent (usually one month) into the court registry (an account the court holds) within 5 days of appealing. Then you keep paying it there each time rent comes due.

What it takes: an appeal bond, a cash deposit, or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (the form saying you can’t afford court costs, once called a pauper’s affidavit). On top of that, you make the rent payments into the registry.

What you can do: talk to legal aid before you file. An appeal makes sense only if you have a real defense and the cash to keep paying rent into the registry. You’ll have to swear to that defense, and swear you aren’t appealing just to buy time. The county court then hears the case fresh, from the start.

Stage 6: Writ of possession and lockout

If you don’t appeal (or you lose the appeal), the landlord asks the court for a writ of possession (the order that lets them take the unit back). The constable carries out the writ. Then you have to be out.

Typical timing: as early as the 6th day after judgment. The constable posts a warning on your door at least 24 hours before carrying out the writ.

What the landlord can’t do: lock you out for good or remove your belongings without the writ. Texas does let a landlord change the locks over late rent if the lease allows it and they warn you in writing first. But they have to give you a new key at any hour, whether or not you pay (Texas Property Code § 92.0081 (opens in new tab)).

What you can do: get your belongings out before the 24 hour warning runs out, and give the landlord your forwarding address in writing.

Stage 7: The record hits the screening databases

Screening companies (SafeRent Solutions, RealPage, TransUnion, and others) pull JP court records on a regular schedule. We often see a new filing show up in these databases within a few weeks. From then on, it can show up on any tenant screening report a landlord orders on you.

Stage 8: Adverse action notices (if you’re denied)

Say a future landlord turns you down, or approves you only with a cosigner, a bigger deposit or higher rent. If a screening report played any part, they have to give you an adverse action notice, which says the report counted against you. That’s a rule under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) (opens in new tab), and the notice can be written, electronic, or even spoken. The notice names the screening company and tells you that you can ask for a free copy of the report within 60 days and dispute anything wrong on it.

Our dispute guide covers what to do with an adverse action notice.

Stage 9: The seven year screening window

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, tenant screening reports usually can’t include eviction filings older than 7 years. Once 7 years pass, the screening record should drop off. The court record stays in the court’s files.

What doesn’t happen

• No Texas law expunges or automatically seals the JP court record (sealing one is rare)
• Paying the balance doesn’t remove the filing (it updates the status, that’s all)
• Time alone doesn’t erase the court record (the 7 year rule is for screening reports, not court records)

What you can control after a filing

• Your balance: paying it off lets you get the record updated to show it’s paid
• Errors on your screening report: dispute them under the FCRA
• Your next rental: start planning it early

If you’re facing an eviction filing right now, here’s what we’d do:

1. Get a lawyer or legal aid (TexasLawHelp.org lists the group for your county)
2. Talk with the landlord about a settlement or an agreement to move out (legal aid can help with this)
3. Plan your next housing search (see our home page, and we can start helping as soon as you know what’s on your record)

This guide is general information, not legal advice, and we aren’t attorneys. For legal help with an active Texas eviction case, talk to a licensed Texas attorney or legal aid organization.