Texas Eviction Process: Timeline, Costs and Every Step (2026)

A Texas eviction takes about 21 days at the legal minimum and usually about three to six weeks when nothing is postponed or appealed. The steps are fixed by Texas Property Code Chapter 24 and Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 510: (1) deliver a written notice to vacate giving at least three days, (2) file a sworn petition in the justice court for the precinct where the property is, (3) a sheriff or constable serves the citation, (4) the trial is held 10 to 21 days after filing, (5) either side has 5 days to appeal to county court, and (6) the court issues a writ of possession no sooner than the 6th day after judgment, which an officer executes after a 24-hour warning. A county-court appeal can add about a month or more.

Texas rebuilt its eviction law on January 1, 2026. Senate Bill 38 (Acts 2025, 89th Legislature, Regular Session, Chapter 960) rewrote much of Property Code Chapter 24 for every eviction suit filed on or after that date, and the Supreme Court of Texas rewrote Rule 510 as a standalone rule to match — the official comment says Rule 510 is now the only rule that governs eviction cases, and the general justice-court rules (Rules 500 to 507) no longer apply to them. Much of what is still published about Texas evictions, including some court web pages, describes the pre-2026 procedure. This guide is built from the current statute and the current rule, with each deadline tied to the section or rule that sets it, so a landlord can plan the calendar and a tenant can see exactly where the deadlines fall.

Below you will find the direct answer on timing, a step-by-step timeline table with the day counts the law sets, a worked calendar, each step in detail, a cost table built only from official county fee schedules (labelled with the county and the date the schedule took effect), what tenants can do at each stage, the shortcuts that are illegal, the mistakes that most often send a landlord back to day one, and answers to the questions people search most.

The short answer is about three weeks at the fastest the law allows, and roughly three to six weeks for a case that is not postponed or appealed. Every stage of a Texas eviction runs on a window written into the statute or Rule 510, and those windows add up to a predictable calendar. The table below lists each step in order with the day count the law sets and the section or rule that sets it.

A Worked Calendar: The Fastest Lawful Texas Eviction

Counting under Section 24.0042 means you skip the day of the event that starts a period, count every calendar day including Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and include the last day — but if the last day lands on a Saturday, Sunday or a state or federal holiday, the period runs to the next day that is none of those. Using that rule, and calling the day the notice is delivered “Day 0,” the shortest path looks like this:

That is the floor. In practice, the trial is often set later in the 10-to-21-day window, the writ is often served later in its 5-business-day window, and weekends and holidays push deadlines forward. Adding up the outer edges of each window without any postponement or appeal — a Day 4 filing, trial on the 21st day after filing, a writ on the 6th day after that, up to 5 business days for service and the 24-hour posting — lands at roughly five and a half weeks. That is why an uncontested Texas eviction realistically runs about three to six weeks. A lease that sets a longer notice period, a holdover that first needs a month-to-month termination notice, a postponement of up to 7 days, or a tenant who appeals will lengthen it.

Senate Bill 38 applies only to an eviction suit whose petition is filed on or after January 1, 2026; a suit filed before that date stays under the old law (SB 38, Section 17). Because many online guides and some court pages were written before the change, it is worth knowing exactly what moved:

• Notice delivery was rewritten. The old subsections (f), (f-1), (f-2), (g), (h) and (i) of Section 24.005 — including the door-posting procedures — were repealed. The delivery methods now sit in Section 24.005(f-3), with a saving rule in (f-4) when the tenant actually receives the notice.
• A single way to count days. New Section 24.0042 sets how every period in Chapter 24 is computed, including weekends and holidays, and Rule 510.4 mirrors it.
• Venue and a sworn petition. Section 24.0041 requires the suit to be brought in the justice precinct where the property is located, and Section 24.00505 requires a sworn petition with the contents Rule 510.6 lists.
• Limits on local add-ons. Under Section 24.00506, a court may not require extra petition content, mediation or a pretrial conference, and may not dismiss a petition that meets the rules or can be amended to meet them.
• Service deadlines with a backup. The sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve the citation within 5 business days of filing, and must serve a writ of possession within 5 business days of issuance; if they do not, the landlord may use another law enforcement officer trained as the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement requires (§§ 24.0051(f), 24.0061(b-1)).
• Trial dates in the statute. The 10-to-21-day trial window, the 4-days-after-service floor and the 7-day postponement cap are now written into Section 24.0051(g).
• Summary disposition for forcible entry. Section 24.005106 created a fast track, with a 4-day response deadline, for suits alleging a forcible entry and detainer — not ordinary tenant cases (explained below).
• Electronic hearings by agreement. Section 24.005105 lets the parties appear by video or phone if they agree.
• Appeal rules in the statute. Section 24.005107 sets the 5-day appeal, the tenant’s sworn good-faith statement, the 6th-to-10th-day transfer of the file and the 21-day county-court trial deadline.
• Only the legislature can change the procedure. Section 24.0043 bars anyone but the legislature from modifying or suspending Chapter 24 procedures, apart from a narrow disaster-order exception.

Before any notice goes out, identify why the tenancy is ending, because the ground decides which notice Texas law requires. Section 24.005(a) covers a tenant under a written lease or oral rental agreement who “defaults or holds over beyond the end of the rental term or renewal period.” Section 24.005(b) covers a tenant at will or by sufferance. Both require at least three days’ written notice to vacate before filing unless the parties agreed in a written lease or agreement to a shorter or longer period.

Month-to-Month Tenancies and Holdovers

Texas does not require a reason to end a month-to-month tenancy, but it does require notice. Under Section 91.001, either side may end a monthly or month-to-month tenancy by notice; when rent is paid monthly or less often, the tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after the notice is given, and when rent is paid more often than monthly, it ends after a period equal to one rent-paying period. A signed agreement can set a different period, and the rule does not apply where there is a breach of contract recognized by law. Only after the tenancy has ended does the tenant become a holdover, and Section 24.005(a) then requires the landlord both to comply with Section 91.001 and to give the notice to vacate before filing. For how leases end in Texas more generally, see the Texas lease termination laws guide.

No Just-Cause Rule and No Rent Control

Texas has no just-cause eviction requirement, so a landlord may end a month-to-month tenancy with proper notice and may decline to renew a fixed-term lease when it ends. Nor is there rent control anywhere in Texas: under Local Government Code Section 214.902 a municipality may adopt rent control only if its governing body first finds a housing emergency caused by a disaster as defined by Government Code Section 418.004 and the governor approves the ordinance. No Texas city has rent control in force, so there is no local rent ordinance to check.

Federal Notice Rules Can Stack on Top

Some rentals carry a federal notice requirement as well. The federal CARES Act, at 15 U.S.C. § 9058(c), says the lessor of a “covered dwelling” may not require the tenant to vacate before 30 days after the lessor gives a notice to vacate; a covered dwelling is one on property that participates in certain federal housing programs or has a federally backed mortgage loan. Texas handles the overlap in Section 24.005(c-1): a landlord who meets the Texas notice rules does not have to delay filing because of the federal requirement, and the federal rule is not a ground to delay the case — but the writ of possession may not be served until the time between the notice and the service of the writ at least equals the federal period. Where a lease or a law requires an opportunity to respond to a notice of proposed eviction, Section 24.005(e) lets that response period run at the same time as the Texas notice period and lets both appear in the same notice.

Grounds a Landlord Cannot Use

An eviction may not rest on a tenant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability under the federal Fair Housing Act. Texas also bars retaliation: under Property Code Section 92.331, a landlord may not file an eviction within six months after a tenant in good faith exercises a legal right or remedy, gives a repair notice, complains to a government entity about a building or housing code violation or a utility problem, or takes part in a tenant organization. Section 92.332(b) lists situations that are not retaliation — including a tenant who is delinquent in rent when the notice is given or the suit is filed, intentional damage or threats to safety, a material lease breach, and certain holdovers.

Since January 1, 2026, a Texas notice to vacate must be delivered by one of four methods listed in Section 24.005(f-3). A notice delivered any other way is open to challenge unless the tenant actually received it.

Section 24.005(f-4) adds that the (f-3) list does not apply if the tenant actually receives the notice. That rule rescues a notice the tenant plainly got; it does not make an unlisted method safe, because a landlord who cannot prove actual receipt is left having to prove one of the four listed methods. Note also what the statute does not say: Section 24.005(f-3) lists mail as a method but does not add extra days for mailing, so a landlord who wants to avoid any argument about when a mailed notice was “given” may prefer hand delivery or delivery inside the premises.

What the Notice Should Contain

Chapter 24 does not prescribe a form, but the petition you file later must describe “when and how pre-suit notice was given, and whether it was a notice to vacate or a notice to pay rent or vacate,” and, in a nonpayment case, whether the tenant was late or delinquent before the month the notice was given (Rule 510.6(a)(9), (11)). A notice that makes those facts easy to prove typically states the tenant’s name, the property address including unit, the demand to vacate (or to pay the stated rent or vacate) by a stated date, the number of days given, the date, and the landlord’s or agent’s signature. Free templates: the Texas 3-day notice to pay rent or quit, the 3-day notice to vacate for nonpayment and the 3-day notice to vacate for a lease violation.

If You Want to Recover Attorney’s Fees, Plan It Now

Section 24.006 decides whether attorney’s fees are recoverable, and the step that makes them recoverable happens before filing. Unless a written lease already entitles the landlord to fees, the landlord must send the tenant a written demand to vacate stating that if the tenant does not vacate before the 11th day after receiving it and the landlord files suit, the landlord may recover attorney’s fees — sent by registered mail or by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 10 days before the suit is filed. The same section cuts both ways: if the landlord gave that notice or the lease lets either side recover fees, a prevailing tenant recovers fees too, without giving any notice. The prevailing party recovers court costs in every case.

Once the notice period has fully expired and the tenant is still there, the landlord files a sworn eviction petition in the justice court for the precinct where the property is located. Venue is not flexible: Section 24.0041 requires the suit to be brought in that precinct, and under Rule 510.6(c) a petition filed anywhere else must be dismissed — with no refund of the filing fee, though service fees are refunded if the case is dismissed before service is attempted.

What the Petition Must Contain

Rule 510.6(a) requires the petition to be sworn to by the plaintiff and to contain:

• the name of the plaintiff, and the address and phone number of the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s attorney;
• the name, address and phone number, if known, of each defendant;
• the amount of money sought, if any, and any other relief requested;
• the basis for the claim, a description of the premises including the address, and the facts and grounds for eviction;
• when and how the pre-suit notice was given, and whether it was a notice to vacate or a notice to pay rent or vacate;
• the total rent due and unpaid at filing, if any;
• in a nonpayment-only case, whether the tenant was late or delinquent before the month in which notice was given;
• a statement that attorney fees are being sought, if they are; and
• in a forcible entry and detainer case, whether a sworn motion for summary disposition is included.

If the eviction is based on a written residential lease, the landlord must name as defendants all tenants obligated under the lease who reside at the premises and whom the landlord seeks to evict; no judgment or writ may issue against a tenant who was not named and served (Rule 510.6(d)). A claim for unpaid rent may be joined if the rent due is not more than $20,000, excluding statutory interest and court costs but including attorney fees (Rule 510.6(e)), and under Section 24.0051(b) the landlord may recover that rent even if the tenant moves out after filing and before judgment. The court decides the right to actual possession only, not title, and counterclaims and third-party claims are not allowed in the eviction case; they may be brought in a separate suit (§ 24.004(c); Rule 510.6(f)). A fillable Texas eviction petition (forcible detainer) can help organize those items; the court may provide its own forms but may not require their use (Rule 510.24(d)).

Who May Represent the Landlord

In justice court, an individual may appear personally, through an authorized agent, or through an attorney. A corporation or other entity may be represented by an employee, owner, officer or partner who is not an attorney, by a property manager or other authorized agent, or by an attorney (Rule 510.3; § 24.011(a)). In a county-court appeal of a nonpayment case, an owner of multifamily residential property may still be represented by a non-attorney authorized agent (§ 24.011(b); Rule 510.20(d)).

What to Have Ready When You File

• The signed, sworn petition with all Rule 510.6 contents
• The written lease, if there is one
• The notice to vacate and your record of how and when it was delivered
• A rent ledger showing every charge, payment and the running balance
• The last known home and work addresses of each tenant (needed if alternative service becomes necessary)
• The filing and service fees, or a Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs (Rule 510.6(b), 510.7)