Texas Eviction Notice

1. Tenant and rental. Every tenant's name, the rental address with the unit, and the county.
2. Rent owed. The unpaid rent and the period it is for. Keep late fees and other charges out of it: the tenant can end the notice by paying this amount.
3. Notice period. Three days, unless your written lease sets a shorter or longer period - then enter the lease's number (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(a)). Add the last day to pay and it is printed on the notice.

A 2025 law (SB 38) rewrote the Texas eviction notice rules for eviction suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. Three changes matter here:

1. Pay or vacate first. If the tenant was not late with rent before the month of the notice, the notice must give a chance to pay - a notice to pay rent or vacate, which is what this form makes. For a tenant who has been late before, you may use either kind (§ 24.005).
2. New delivery methods. Taping the notice to the outside of the door is no longer one of them - see below.
3. A counting rule. Weekends and holidays count, but a period ending on one runs to the next business day (§ 24.0042).

Do not count the day the notice is delivered. Count every day after it, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays included. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or a state or federal holiday, the period runs to the end of the next day that is not one of those (§ 24.0042). Delivered on a Tuesday with 3 days' notice, the last day is Friday. Delivered on a Thursday, the third day is Sunday, so the last day is Monday.

The law now lists four ways (§ 24.005(f-3)):

1. Mail - first class, registered or certified mail, or a delivery service.
2. Inside the rental - left inside the premises in a conspicuous place.
3. By hand - to any tenant of the rental who is 16 or older.
4. Electronically - by e-mail or other electronic means, only if you and the tenant agreed to it in writing.

If the tenant actually receives the notice, the method does not matter (§ 24.005(f-4)). Tick the method in the proof of delivery and keep a copy.

For a "covered dwelling" under the federal CARES Act - a property with a federally backed mortgage or in a federal housing program - the tenant cannot be required to leave before 30 days after a notice to vacate (15 U.S.C. § 9058(c)). In Texas you may still file after the shorter notice, but the writ of possession cannot be served until the 30 days have passed (§ 24.005(c-1)). Choose "Yes" in the form and the notice adds the 30-day statement.

Only if your lease allows it and you follow the lockout rules of § 92.0081: an advance notice, and a key to the new lock for the tenant at any hour. Getting a lockout wrong costs one month's rent plus $1,000. An eviction through the justice court is the way to get the tenant out; this notice is its first step.

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