Landlord/Tenant Forms and Laws

For starters, we would like to share a useful link with you: the link to the Texas State Law Library. The library contains various legal forms that Texas residents may use when entering an eviction process. Among them are Eviction Appeal, Eviction Petition, and other forms. You will also find thorough instructions about all forms provided there. 

Types of Notices in Texas

As you already know, there are several types of eviction notice forms that a landlord can use if they plan to evict their renters. The property owner should select the type depending on the reason why the tenant(s) must leave.

In Texas, there are three common types of eviction notice forms that lessors commonly use:

  • Notice to Pay or Quit (3-day)

If a renter has failed to pay the rent on time, an estate owner has the full right to deliver such a notice to warn the renter. If the renter doesn’t pay after the notice and violates this rule repeatedly, the property owner can initiate the eviction procedure.

  • Notice to Comply or Quit (3-day)

This type fits if a lessee has somehow broken the lease contract’s conditions. Within three days after the notice is delivered, the lessee has to fix the situation (if the lessee’s actions are curable). If this does not happen or the actions are incurable, the landlord may evict the lessee. We will tell more about the curable and incurable actions later.

  • Lease Termination Notice (30-day)

Sometimes, the lessor decides to use their premises for different purposes rather than having a lessee living there. In this case, the lessor should deliver this notice to let the lessee know that they should leave in 30 days.

Curable and Incurable Violations

Understanding curable and incurable violations is rather easy when we speak of eviction notices. When we define violations in this or that specific case, we shall check the contract signed between the lessor and lessee.

If the contract term that is violated can be fixed, it is called a curable violation. Here are a couple of examples:

  • The lessee has not paid the rent on time, and it has happened for the first time (the lessee should pay and avoid delaying the rent in the following months).
  • The lessor has checked their premises and found them messy and dirty. The lessee can clean up or hire a cleaner in such a case.
  • The lessee has brought someone not on the contract to stay on the premises. Here, the lessee should ask this someone to leave.

This is not the full list of examples, but the idea should be clear now.

Speaking of incurable violations, these are impossible to fix. Typically, an incurable violation can be an illegal action or a repeated curable violation (for instance, failure to pay rent on time for several months in a row).

Texas Prenuptial Agreement Form

The Texas prenuptial agreement, or a prenup, is a specific contract that two people create before getting married to define their financial and property rights just in case they separate later.

Texas Living Will (Advance Directive) Form

The Texas Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates is the same as a Living Will form, and it is commonly used in the healthcare system.

Texas Last Will Form

Texas last will and testament is a paper that determines the way to distribute and transfer rights for a property after the testator’s death.

Texas Laws Regarding Eviction

Every American state offers its laws and rules regarding all topics, and the eviction topic is not an exception. Those who want to know more about the eviction procedure’s legal peculiarities in the state of Texas can find out some useful information in the Texas Statutes.

Most of the provisions are included in the Property Code of the Texas Statutes: in Title 4, Chapter 24 (Forcible Entry and Detainer) and Title 8, Chapters 91 (Provisions Generally Applicable to Landlords and Tenants) and 92 (Residential Tenancies).

Section 24.005 mentions that a lessee has a 3-day period after the lessor delivers an eviction notice to them about non-payment or non-compliance.

As stated in section 91.001, if a lessor wants to vacate the premises and terminate the lease agreement, they should give the lessee at least 30 days to move out.