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Free Texas Eviction Petition (Forcible Detainer) Worksheet

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Texas Eviction Petition (Forcible Detainer) Worksheet — a free preparation organizer for a Texas eviction. Get your facts in order, then file on the Justice Court’s official petition under TRCP 510 and Tex. Prop. Code Chapter 24.

Forcible Detainer TRCP 510 Texas Free PDF

A Texas eviction is called a forcible detainer suit, and it is filed in the justice of the peace (JP) court for the precinct where the property sits. Before filing, the landlord must deliver a written demand to leave — at least three days unless the lease sets a different period (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005) — and let that period run. This tool is a preparation worksheet: it organizes the parties, the property, the grounds, and the notice details you will transfer to the court’s official petition under Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 510. It is not the official court form and not legal advice.

A Texas eviction is a forcible detainer action — a fast, possession-only lawsuit governed by Texas Property Code Chapter 24 and Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 510. Because the case moves quickly and turns on strict predicate steps, landlords who walk into the clerk’s office without their facts organized often stumble on a missing date, a defective demand to leave, or the wrong precinct. This worksheet exists to prevent that: it collects the parties, the property, the grounds, the amount owed, the notice details, and the relief you seek into one clean sheet.

Two things are important to understand up front. First, the PDF this page generates is titled a worksheet because it is a preparation organizer, not the petition the court files. The eviction itself is filed on the JP court’s official forcible detainer petition under Rule 510; you copy the organized facts from this sheet onto that form. Second, the demand to leave (the notice to vacate under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005) is a separate, earlier step from any demand to pay rent or cure a lease breach — a point covered in detail in our Texas eviction notice guide. Get those two ideas right and the rest of the process is a checklist.

A Texas eviction runs through the justice of the peace court and, if appealed, the county court. The sequence is predictable, and every step has a date that a defending tenant — or a careful judge — will check. In order, the eviction proceeds like this:

Before a landlord may file the eviction, Texas law requires a written demand that the tenant leave. Under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005, the landlord must give at least three days’ written notice to vacate before filing a forcible detainer suit, unless the lease has contracted for a shorter or longer period — in which case the lease period controls. This demand is distinct from any earlier notice that asked the tenant to pay overdue rent or fix a lease violation; those cure the breach, while the notice to vacate ends the tenancy and starts the eviction clock. Where possession is being terminated solely for nonpayment and the tenant was not late or delinquent before the month in which the notice is given, § 24.005(a) requires the notice to take the form of a notice to pay rent or vacate. The notice period is counted under § 24.0042, added by S.B. 38: it excludes the day the notice is delivered, includes Saturdays, Sundays and state or federal holidays, includes the last day, and rolls forward if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or state or federal holiday.

The statute is specific about delivery, and it changed on January 1, 2026. S.B. 38 (Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 960) repealed § 24.005(f), (f-1), (f-2), (g), (h) and (i) and replaced them with a single list at § 24.005(f-3). A notice to vacate must now be delivered by at least one of four methods: (1) mail, including first class mail, registered mail, certified mail, or a delivery service; (2) delivery to the inside of the premises, in a conspicuous place; (3) hand delivery to any tenant of the premises who is 16 years of age or older; or (4) electronic communication, including e-mail or other electronic means, if the parties have agreed in writing. Subsection (f-4) adds that (f-3) does not apply if the tenant actually receives the notice. The pre-2026 methods — affixing the notice to the inside of the main entry door, and the no-mailbox / keyless-bolt / alarm / dangerous-animal fallback of a sealed “IMPORTANT DOCUMENT” envelope on the outside of the door plus a mailed copy — are repealed and no longer authorize service. Keep dated proof of how and when the notice was delivered; that proof is what you rely on if the tenant disputes it. For the drafting mechanics of the demand itself, see the Texas eviction notice laws guide.

The eviction is filed in the justice of the peace court for the precinct and county where the rental property is located — not where the landlord lives or does business. Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 510.3 fixes that venue, and filing in the wrong precinct is a routine reason a case is dismissed or transferred, costing weeks. When you file, the petition must identify the parties and describe the premises well enough that the court and the officer can find it.

A forcible detainer petition states, at a minimum: the plaintiff-landlord and the defendant-tenant by name; a description of the premises, including the address and any unit; the basis for the suit — the tenancy or lease, the grounds (nonpayment, holdover, or breach), and that a written notice to vacate was delivered and expired; the relief sought, which is possession, plus unpaid rent and costs if the landlord chooses to plead them and the amount is within the court’s limit; and a verification. Verification is no longer optional: Tex. Prop. Code § 24.00505, added by S.B. 38 effective January 1, 2026, provides that to initiate an eviction suit a sworn petition must be filed with the court, containing the contents the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure require. The court, on filing, issues citation for service on the tenant. Under § 24.0051(g) the court must set the trial not earlier than the 10th day and not later than the 21st day after the petition is filed, may not try the case earlier than the fourth day after the tenant is served, and may not postpone the trial more than seven days unless the parties agree in writing. Under § 24.0051(f) a sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve the citation and petition not later than the fifth business day after filing; if that does not happen, the landlord may (but need not) have it served by another trained law enforcement officer. Because the JP suit decides possession only, a landlord who also wants a money judgment beyond the court’s limit, or who is fighting about ownership, may need a separate action in another court — and § 24.004(c) now states expressly that the justice court may not adjudicate title and that counterclaims and the joinder of suits against third parties are not permitted in eviction suits, though a barred claim may be brought separately in a court of proper jurisdiction.

S.B. 38 also gave landlords a way to win without a trial. Under § 24.005106, a landlord filing the sworn petition may include a sworn motion for summary disposition, setting out all supporting facts with the documents relied on attached. If the motion shows no genuinely disputed facts, the court may enter judgment for the landlord without a trial unless the tenant files a response setting out supporting facts not later than the fourth day after being served and the court finds both that service was proper and that the response raises a genuinely disputed fact. The court may still consider a later response filed before judgment if it shows a genuinely disputed fact, and if it finds one, it sets the trial in the ordinary 10-to-21-day window. Where the motion is filed, § 24.0051(e) requires the citation to carry a bold English-and-Spanish warning explaining that deadline to the tenant.

After the petition is filed, the court issues citation and an officer — a sheriff, constable, or authorized process server — serves the tenant with the citation and a copy of the petition. Service must be completed and returned to the court before the trial date; if personal service fails after diligent attempts, Rule 510.4 allows alternative service by posting or mailing with the court’s permission. The tenant may file a written answer, and appearing to contest the case preserves the tenant’s defenses.

At the hearing, the burden is on the landlord to prove the tenancy, the grounds, and that a proper written notice to vacate was delivered and expired before filing. The tenant may raise defenses — that the demand to leave was defective or miscounted, that rent was tendered and accepted, that the wrong party or premises was named, or that the landlord retaliated. If neither side asks for a jury and none is demanded within the rule’s deadline, the justice of the peace decides the case. A landlord who arrives with the lease, the delivered notice and its proof of delivery, and a clean rent ledger is in the strongest position; the facts recorded on this worksheet are exactly what that presentation requires.

If the landlord prevails, the court signs a judgment for possession. Either party may then appeal to the county court by filing an appeal bond, a cash deposit, or a statement of inability to afford payment of court costs with the justice court not later than the fifth day after the judgment is signed, under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005107. A tenant who appeals must affirm, under penalty of perjury, a good-faith belief that the tenant has a meritorious defense and that the appeal is not for the purpose of delay. The justice court forwards the transcript and original papers not earlier than 4 p.m. on the sixth day and not later than 4 p.m. on the tenth day after the appeal is filed (sooner if the tenant has already made the first registry payment), and the county court must hold trial not later than the 21st day after the record is delivered. Under § 24.0053 the tenant must pay one rental pay period’s rent into the justice court registry not later than the fifth day after filing the appeal, and each pay period after that into whichever court then holds the case; where there is no rental agreement, the court sets the amount at the greater of $250 or fair market rent. A perfected appeal moves the whole case to county court for a new trial; until the appeal deadline passes, the landlord cannot remove the tenant.

When no appeal is perfected and the tenant has not left, the landlord asks the court for a writ of possession. Under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061, the writ may not issue before the sixth day after the judgment for possession is rendered. Before executing the writ, the officer posts a written warning on the exterior of the front door, and the officer may not remove the tenant and their belongings sooner than twenty-four hours after that warning is posted. The officer, not the landlord, carries out the removal — Texas prohibits self-help lockouts as a route to possession. Remember that the JP judgment settles possession only: Tex. Prop. Code § 24.008 states that an eviction suit does not bar a separate suit for trespass, damages, waste, rent, or mesne profits, and it does not decide who holds title to the property.

Complete the fields below to generate your Texas eviction preparation worksheet. It organizes the parties, property, grounds, notice details, amount owed, and relief so you can transfer them cleanly onto the Justice Court’s official forcible detainer petition. Nothing here is filed with the court automatically — this is your working sheet.

Most Texas evictions that fail do so on procedure, not on the merits. The landlord may be entitled to possession and still lose because a date was miscounted or a step was skipped. Watch these first:

• Filing before the demand to leave has expired. The three-day (or lease-period) notice to vacate under § 24.005 must run out before the petition is filed; filing a day early is fatal.
• Confusing the demand to leave with a demand to pay. A notice that only asks for overdue rent does not end the tenancy; the separate written notice to vacate is what the eviction rests on.
• Filing in the wrong precinct. The suit belongs in the JP court where the property sits (TRCP 510.3), not where the landlord is located.
• A vague description of the premises or the grounds. The petition must name the property and state the ground clearly enough to be proven and served.
• Defective service or a missing return. If the officer’s proof of service is not returned to the court before trial, the case stalls.
• Using a self-help lockout. Changing locks or removing belongings without a writ of possession exposes the landlord to liability; only an officer executing the writ may remove the tenant.
• Missing the five-day appeal reality. Trying to remove the tenant before the appeal window closes, or before the writ may issue, undoes the judgment.