How to start an eviction in Texas under the 2026 rules

How to start an eviction in Texas under the 2026 rules is a notice-then-petition sequence: deliver the written notice Texas Property Code Chapter 24 requires, wait out the notice period using the day-counting rule in section 24.0042, then file a sworn petition in the Justice of the Peace precinct where the property sits. On a first unpaid-rent delinquency during the lease term, that notice is a notice to pay rent or vacate; later or non-rent grounds use the form section 24.005 describes for those facts. Senate Bill 38 (SB 38) and rewritten Rule 510 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure govern eviction suits filed as of 2026. This article reports those mechanics. It is not legal advice for any lease, property, or county.

Eviction Wizard helps landlords organize eviction documents, submit through the court's e-filing system, request a process server, and track every deadline — in one dashboard. Eviction Wizard AI Partners, LLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

Key takeaways

• Starting a Texas eviction is notice, then a sworn petition. Changing locks or shutting off utilities without a court process is illegal.
• If the only issue is unpaid rent and it is the tenant's first delinquency in the lease term, section 24.005 requires a notice to pay rent or vacate before a standard notice to vacate.
• The default notice period is still three days unless the written lease sets a different period. Covered properties may still need a 30-day notice under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
• The suit begins with a sworn petition under section 24.00505, filed in the Justice of the Peace (JP) precinct where the property sits. Under Rule 510.6(c), a wrong-precinct filing is dismissed, not transferred.
• A sheriff or constable serves the court citation, not the landlord. Section 24.0051 gives a five-business-day window to attempt service after filing. Trial is generally set 10 to 21 days after the petition is filed, subject to county practice.
• No article or software can guarantee a timeline or an outcome. Check your lease and consult a Texas attorney before you treat any notice method, day count, or venue choice as sufficient.

Contents

• What the 2026 Texas eviction process includes
• Notice first: pay or vacate versus notice to vacate
• How Texas counts notice days under Property Code section 24.0042
• How to start an eviction in Texas step by step
• File in the Justice of the Peace precinct where the property sits
• After you file: citation, trial setting, and self-help limits
• How Eviction Wizard handles this
• Frequently asked questions
• Start the case file before you authorize filing

What the 2026 Texas eviction process includes

Landlords searching how to start an eviction in Texas often want one starting action. Under the 2026 rules, the start is written notice, a counted waiting period, then a sworn petition in the correct precinct. Texas SB 38 amended Texas Property Code Chapter 24 for eviction suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. The Texas Supreme Court rewrote Rule 510 as the procedural framework for those cases.

The table is a process map, not a promise. County clerks, constables, and judges still control calendars and hearing rooms.

Stage	What Chapter 24 and Rule 510 describe as of 2026	Who typically acts
Written notice	Notice to pay rent or vacate, or notice to vacate, under section 24.005	Landlord or the landlord's agent
Notice period	Default three days unless the written lease says otherwise; CARES Act 30-day notice still applies to covered properties	Calendar, counted under section 24.0042
Sworn petition	Section 24.00505: the suit is initiated by a sworn petition filed with the court	Landlord as plaintiff and filer
Venue	Section 24.0041 and Rule 510.6(c): JP precinct where the premises are located	Court dismisses a wrong-precinct filing
Citation	Sheriff or constable attempts service within five business days after filing (section 24.0051)	Law enforcement, not the landlord
Trial setting	Generally not earlier than the 10th day or later than the 21st day after the petition is filed	Court, with county practice variation

This article covers the start of the suit. Later stages are not shortcuts around notice or venue.

Two separations matter from day one. The landlord's pre-suit notice is not the court citation: you deliver the notice; a sheriff or constable serves the citation after filing. Organizing documents is also not a finding that a notice method or precinct is legally sufficient. Those decisions belong to you and, when the facts are unclear, to a Texas attorney. A provision-by-provision map of the 2026 Texas eviction law changes belongs in the SB 38 explainer.

Notice first: pay or vacate versus notice to vacate

Texas Property Code section 24.005 requires written notice before a landlord files a forcible detainer suit against a tenant under a written lease or oral rental agreement. The default period is at least three days unless the written lease or agreement sets a shorter or longer period.

Under the 2026 rules, the form of that notice is fixed when the only ground is unpaid rent and the tenant has not been late during the lease term. Section 24.005 requires a notice to pay rent or vacate — a pay-and-stay opportunity — before a standard notice to vacate in that first-delinquency setting. If the tenant was already late or delinquent before the month in which the notice is given, the landlord may use either form.

That is a report of the statute, not a diagnosis of your ledger. Whether a prior late fee, a partial payment, or a prior lease term counts as a delinquency is a fact-and-law question. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney before you decide which form applies.

Holdover and non-rent grounds follow the rest of section 24.005, including any different period in the written lease and, for end-of-term holdover, Property Code section 91.001. SB 38 did not erase the CARES Act 30-day notice for covered properties. Whether a property is covered is not something a blog post can decide.

Section 24.005(f-3) lists the delivery methods the statute recognizes:

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.
4. Electronic communication, including email or other electronic means, only if the parties have agreed in writing.

This article does not say that any of those methods is sufficient for your case. Electronic delivery is on the list only when the lease or the parties agreed in writing. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney. Keep the proof you actually created, without treating that proof as a legal opinion. Section 24.005(f-4) also addresses actual receipt; whether that answers a delivery question in your facts is a question for counsel.

If you are comparing organizers, form-fillers, and attorney-only paths, see the best eviction tools Texas landlords use under the 2026 rules.

How Texas counts notice days under Property Code section 24.0042

A three-day notice is not “skip two weekdays and file.” Section 24.0042 tells courts and parties how to compute a period prescribed by Chapter 24:

• Exclude the day of the event that begins the period (the trigger day).
• Count Saturdays, Sundays, and state or federal holidays.
• Include the last day of the period.
• If that last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or state or federal holiday, roll it to the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or state or federal holiday.

Worked illustration, not advice: a landlord delivers a three-day notice on a Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the three counted days if none is a state or federal holiday. Filing on Thursday would treat the period as if it had already expired. A Friday delivery can push the last day onto Monday when the roll-forward rule applies.

Do not treat that illustration as a filing date for your property. Holidays, longer lease periods, and federal 30-day floors change the arithmetic. If the last day of your period is in doubt, consult a Texas attorney before you file. Two mistakes show up when petitions come back: filing on the last day of the notice period instead of after it has run, and assuming a lease’s shorter period overrides a federal floor on a covered property.

How to start an eviction in Texas step by step

The numbered path below is an organization sequence for a typical residential nonpayment or holdover file under the 2026 rules. It is not a substitute for a Texas attorney.

1. Gather the lease and the money facts. Collect tenant name, property address, rent amount, and lease dates from the signed lease (or documented oral terms), plus the payment ledger, prior notices, and any written agreement about electronic delivery.

2. Name the ground, then stop if it is unclear. Unpaid rent, holdover, and other defaults are different statutory paths. If the only issue might be unpaid rent, read section 24.005’s first-delinquency rule before you pick a notice form.

3. Check the lease for notice period and electronic-delivery agreement. The default state period is three days; the written lease can set a different period. Electronic delivery is listed only if the parties agreed in writing. Reading the lease is not a conclusion that any method is enough.

4. Select the notice form the statute describes. First unpaid-rent delinquency in the lease term: section 24.005 requires a notice to pay rent or vacate before a standard notice to vacate. Later unpaid-rent delinquencies may use either form. Holdover follows section 24.005 and, for end-of-term termination, section 91.001.

5. Deliver the notice using a method listed in section 24.005(f-3), and keep the proof you created. In-person delivery to a tenant 16 or older, mail (including a delivery service), conspicuous placement inside the premises, or electronic delivery only if the parties agreed in writing. Never treat this list as a finding that your method was sufficient. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney.

6. Count the period under section 24.0042. Exclude the trigger day. Count weekends and holidays. Roll the last day forward if it lands on a weekend or a state or federal holiday. Do not file until the period has run.

7. Identify the JP precinct for the property address. Venue is the precinct where the premises are located (section 24.0041). Confirm it against the county’s current map. A software helper is not a guarantee. Rule 510.6(c) dismisses a wrong-precinct filing; it is not transferred.

8. Prepare a sworn petition. Section 24.00505 initiates the suit with a sworn petition that includes the contents required by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, including when and how pre-suit notice was given and whether it was a notice to vacate or a notice to pay rent or vacate.

9. Review every field, then file as the plaintiff. You remain the filer. If you use an organizer or the court’s e-filing portal (in many Texas counties, eFileTexas), you still review, confirm, and authorize submission. Court fees and third-party fees are separate from any document-organizer fee.

10. Track citation and the trial setting; do not switch to self-help. Service and the hearing calendar are court and law-enforcement work. Lockouts and utility shutoffs are not a substitute for a writ of possession executed by law enforcement.

If a step fails — a name mismatch, a disputed precinct, the wrong notice form — stop and get a Texas attorney into the file.

File in the Justice of the Peace precinct where the property sits

Texas eviction venue is not “any JP court in the county.” Section 24.0041 states that an eviction suit must be brought in the justice precinct in which the real property is located. Rule 510.6(c) matches that statute: if the petition is filed elsewhere, the judge must dismiss the case.

That dismissal is the 2026-rules fact landlords underestimate. A wrong-precinct filing is not cured by transfer. Rule 510.6(c) also states that the plaintiff is not entitled to a refund of the filing fee, though service fees may be refunded if the case is dismissed before service is attempted. The practical result is a new petition, a new fee, and a reset of the citation and trial clocks.

Precinct lines do not always match ZIP codes or the city name on a lease. Large counties split into multiple JP precincts. Verify the precinct against the property’s physical address using the county’s current materials, then confirm the court name and e-filing destination before you authorize a filing.

Address helpers exist because that lookup is easy to get wrong. Eviction Wizard’s precinct helper, described below, is framed as “based on the information you provided.” It is not a guarantee of correct venue. You review and confirm. If two maps disagree, or the property sits on a precinct boundary, that is a counsel question. The sworn-petition contents may be statewide under Rule 510, but the clerk portal and precinct map are local.

After you file: citation, trial setting, and self-help limits

Once the sworn petition is accepted, the landlord’s job shifts from drafting to tracking. The citation is not a second notice to vacate. Section 24.0051 requires a sheriff or constable, including a deputy, to make a diligent effort to serve the citation and petition not later than the fifth business day after the petition is filed. If service has not happened by then, the statute allows service by another trained law enforcement officer. It does not authorize the landlord to serve the citation personally.

Keep those roles separate. Notice delivery and citation service have different actors, clocks, and proof. Treating a posted notice as if it were citation is how files get confused at the hearing.

Trial setting is also statutory, with a hedge. Section 24.0051 directs the justice court to hold the trial on a date that is not earlier than the 10th day or later than the 21st day after the petition is filed, with additional limits tied to service. County practice can move the date you actually receive. Treat “10 to 21 days” as the rule the statute describes, not as a guaranteed hearing week.

Nothing in SB 38 or Rule 510 authorizes a landlord to skip the court process. Self-help lockouts and utility shutoffs remain illegal. A writ of possession is a later, court-issued document. Only law enforcement executes that writ. Public write-ups of Texas evictions often describe ranges from a few weeks to much longer when service fails or an appeal is filed. Those are reported ranges, not a schedule this article can promise.

How Eviction Wizard handles this

Eviction Wizard is built for the sequence above: gather the lease facts, assemble the notice and sworn-petition packet, route filing through the court’s e-filing system at your direction, and keep notice, citation, hearing, judgment, appeal, and writ deadlines on one dashboard.

You remain the filer. The product organizes and formats documents from commonly used court templates. You review every page, confirm the fields, and authorize submission. Nothing files without that confirmation.

Lease upload is the start of that packet. Eviction Wizard may extract tenant name, property address, rent amount, and lease dates and place them into the forms you selected, for your review and editing. Extraction is a draft. You match those fields to the lease and the ledger.

For Texas venue, you enter the property address and the product helps determine the precinct and Justice of the Peace court commonly associated with that location, including typical filing-fee information and e-filing portal links. Results are shown as based on the information you provided. That helper is not a guarantee of correct venue. You still confirm the precinct before you file.

The Document Organizer fee is $149 per case. It covers state-specific notice options populated for your review, a filing packet formatted from court form templates, submission to the court’s e-filing system that you authorize, tracking through service, hearing, judgment, appeal, and writ, and deadline alerts at each stage. Court fees and third-party service fees are separate and are shown before you approve them. You can build the case file free and pay only when you file.

The dashboard can also hold a process-server request and an Attorney Directory of independent attorneys. Optional attorney review of the packet is a completeness review, not representation. Eviction Wizard does not advise whether a notice method was sufficient. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney. Launch is Texas first, county by county. Florida, Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are next on the public roadmap. Founding members on the waitlist lock the $149 Document Organizer fee for life.

Frequently asked questions

Can I start a Texas eviction by changing the locks or shutting off utilities?

No. Self-help lockouts and utility shutoffs are illegal. Under the 2026 rules, a landlord starts an eviction by delivering the required written notice, waiting out the notice period, and filing a sworn petition. Possession after judgment is recovered through a writ of possession executed by law enforcement.

Do I have to send a notice to pay rent or vacate every time rent is late?

Section 24.005 requires a notice to pay rent or vacate when the only issue is unpaid rent and it is the tenant’s first delinquency in the lease term, before a standard notice to vacate. Later delinquencies during that term may use either form. Whether your ledger is a first delinquency is a case-specific question. Check the lease and consult a Texas attorney.

Can I email the notice to vacate?

Section 24.005 lists electronic delivery only if the parties agreed in writing. Mail, conspicuous placement inside the premises, and hand delivery to a tenant 16 or older are also on the statutory list. This article does not say any method is sufficient for your facts. Check the lease. Consult a Texas attorney.

What happens if I file in the wrong JP precinct?

Rule 510.6(c) requires dismissal. A wrong-precinct filing is not transferred to the correct court. The filing fee is not refunded. You would need a new sworn petition in the precinct where the property sits. Confirm venue before you authorize filing.

Does Eviction Wizard file the eviction for me?

No. You are always the filer. Eviction Wizard organizes and formats the documents for your review. You review, confirm, and authorize submission to the court’s e-filing system yourself. The $149 Document Organizer fee does not include court fees or third-party service fees.

How soon is trial after I file the sworn petition?

Section 24.0051 generally sets trial not earlier than the 10th day and not later than the 21st day after the petition is filed. County practice, failed service, and docket limits can change the date you actually receive. No timeline is guaranteed.

Start the case file before you authorize filing

Starting a Texas eviction under the 2026 rules is a document-and-venue problem before it is a hearing problem. Get the notice form section 24.005 describes, count the days the way section 24.0042 describes, swear the petition section 24.00505 requires, and file it in the precinct Rule 510.6(c) will not dismiss. Then let law enforcement serve the citation and let the court set the trial. Do not invent a faster path with a lock or a breaker.

If you want the packet, the e-filing handoff, and the deadline list in one place — with you still reviewing every field — join the Eviction Wizard waitlist. Build the case file free. Pay the $149 Document Organizer fee when you file. Court fees and third-party fees stay separate.