What a Texas notice to vacate does after S.B. 38
In Texas, a landlord can't file an eviction (forcible detainer) suit until the tenant has received a written notice to vacate and the notice period has run. The notice is the first thing a justice of the peace checks. If it's in the wrong form or was delivered the wrong way, the case can be lost and the process starts again. S.B. 38, passed in 2025, rewrote the rules for every eviction suit filed on or after January 1, 2026. It requires a "notice to pay rent or vacate" for some tenants. It replaced the old delivery rules with four permitted methods, ending posting on the outside of the door. It set a statewide rule for counting days, and it changed how state notices interact with federal ones such as the CARES Act 30-day notice.
Many Texas notice templates online still describe outside-door posting or a single notice form for every situation. This kit is written from the amended text of Property Code section 24.005. It opens with a decision guide that tells you which notice the law requires. Then come a notice to pay rent or vacate, a notice to vacate with tick-box reasons and an optional paragraph for leases that require an opportunity to respond, and a month-to-month termination notice under section 91.001. A deadline worksheet applies the section 24.0042 counting rule, a delivery record matches the four legal methods, and a partial payment letter protects the eviction if you accept money.
When to use it
Use it before filing any eviction in a Texas justice court: for unpaid rent, a lease violation, a tenant who stayed after the lease ended, or an occupant with no rental agreement. Use Form C first if you're ending a month-to-month tenancy that isn't in default. It is written for houses, apartments, duplexes and condos rented by individual landlords and property managers.
The rules here govern suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, even if the notice was given in late 2025, so any notice you deliver now should meet them. If the property is public housing, project-based Section 8, tax-credit housing or financed with a federally backed mortgage, check the federal notice rules in Part 1 first. Squatters who entered without permission follow a different path (section 24.005(d) and the new summary disposition procedure) and aren't covered by these forms.
What's inside
The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.
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Before you serve
- Lease notice period
- Notice choice
- Month-to-month termination
- Federal notice rules
- Opportunity to respond
- Written consent to email
- No lockouts
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Decision guide
- First-time nonpayment
- Repeat late payer
- Lease violation
- Holdover
- Tenant at will
- Post-foreclosure tenant
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Notice to pay rent or vacate
- Date
- Tenants and occupants
- Premises
- Unpaid rent table
- Total
- Deadline and time
- Payment method and payee
- Court and precinct
- Non-waiver statement
- Signature
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Notice to vacate
- Date
- Tenants and occupants
- Premises
- Reason checkboxes
- Lease paragraph and facts
- Deadline and time
- Court and precinct
- Non-waiver statement
- Optional opportunity to respond paragraph
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Month-to-month termination notice
- Termination date
- Keys and access devices
- Rent through termination
- Forwarding address for deposit
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Deadline worksheet
- Delivery date
- Notice period
- Weekend and holiday rule
- Deadline
- Earliest filing day
- Federal writ date
- Mailed notice caution
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Delivery record
- Mail or delivery service
- Inside the premises
- Hand delivery to tenant 16 or older
- Email by written agreement
- Delivered by
- Signature
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Partial payment letter
- Amount received
- How applied
- Balance
- Non-waiver statement
Preview pages
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Page 1 -
Page 2 -
Page 3
How to complete and serve the notice
- Read the lease's notice clause. Record the notice period it sets, whether it allows electronic notice, and its non-waiver clause.
- Pick the notice in Part 2. For a tenant behind on rent for the first time, with no other default, Form A is required.
- Fill in the facts. List the unpaid rent by month, or describe the lease violation with dates and the lease paragraph.
- Calculate the deadline. Use the Part 6 worksheet, moving any weekend or holiday deadline to the next business day.
- Write the deadline and time on the notice. Sign it.
- Deliver it by an allowed method. Mail, inside the premises in a conspicuous place, hand delivery to a tenant 16 or older, or email by written agreement.
- Complete the delivery record that day. Keep the tracking number, sent email or name of the person who received it.
- Wait for the deadline to pass. If the tenant hasn't paid or moved, file the sworn petition in the justice precinct where the property is located, on the day after the deadline or later.
Example: a completed notice excerpt
A fictional San Antonio landlord, Ruiz Rentals LLC, rents a duplex unit to Tyler and Jordan Haas at $1,450 a month under a lease that sets a three-day notice period. The Haases have always paid on time, but the November rent is unpaid on November 4, 2026.
NOTICE TO PAY RENT OR VACATE. Date of notice: November 4, 2026. To: Tyler Haas, Jordan Haas and all other occupants. Premises: 2207 Hackberry Street, Unit B, San Antonio, Texas 78210. November 2026 rent due $1,450.00, paid $0.00, unpaid $1,450.00. You must either pay the total rent unpaid of $1,450.00 or move out of the premises by 11:59 p.m. on November 9, 2026. Delivery record: hand delivered to Jordan Haas, age 34, at the front door at 5:40 p.m. on November 4, 2026, by Ana Ruiz.
Because the Haases weren't late before November and rent is the only default, Form A is mandatory. The third day after delivery is Saturday, November 7, so the deadline moves to Monday, November 9, and the earliest filing day is Tuesday, November 10, in the Bexar County justice court for the precinct where the duplex is located.
Texas rules to know
These provisions of the Texas Property Code, as amended by S.B. 38 (Acts 2025, 89th Leg., ch. 960), are the ones the forms are built on.
- Notice period and form (section 24.005(a)). At least three days' written notice unless the written lease says otherwise. A notice to pay rent or vacate is required for nonpayment-only cases where the tenant wasn't previously late. Holdover suits also require termination under section 91.001.
- Tenants at will and after foreclosure (section 24.005(b)). Three days for tenants at will or by sufferance, and 30 days from a foreclosure purchaser to a residential tenant who pays and is not in default.
- Federal notice periods (section 24.005(c-1)). The suit may proceed, but the writ can't be served until the federal period has run from delivery of the notice.
- Opportunity to respond (section 24.005(e)). The periods may run concurrently, and the notice may include the response opportunity.
- Delivery (section 24.005(f-3) and (f-4)). Mail or delivery service, inside the premises in a conspicuous place, hand delivery to a tenant 16 or older, or electronic delivery by written agreement. Actual receipt cures the method.
- Counting days (section 24.0042). Exclude the first day, include weekends and holidays, and roll a weekend or holiday deadline forward.
- Venue and petition (sections 24.0041 and 24.00505). Sworn petition in the justice precinct where the property is located.
- Month-to-month tenancies (section 91.001). One month's notice for monthly tenancies unless a signed agreement provides otherwise.
Mistakes that get Texas evictions dismissed
The most common errors in 2026 are notices posted on the outside door out of habit, plain notices to vacate served on first-time late payers who were owed a pay-or-vacate notice, deadlines that land on a weekend without being moved, and filing a day early. Others are demanding late fees and utilities as "rent" in a pay-or-vacate notice, emailing a notice without a written agreement to electronic delivery, and not being able to prove delivery because nobody wrote down who received it and when. Each part of this kit is designed to prevent one of those failures.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Texas notice to vacate still be taped to the door?
No. For eviction suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, section 24.005(f-3) of the Property Code allows only four delivery methods. They are mail or a delivery service, delivery to the inside of the premises in a conspicuous place, hand delivery to a tenant aged 16 or older, or email or other electronic means if the parties agreed in writing. Posting on the outside of the door was repealed by S.B. 38.
When do I have to give a notice to pay rent or vacate in Texas?
When the tenant's right of possession ends solely because of unpaid rent and the tenant was not late or delinquent before the month the notice is given. The tenant must then be given the choice to pay or move out. If the tenant was late before, or there is another default, a plain notice to vacate may be used.
How many days' notice to vacate does Texas require?
At least three days' written notice, unless the written lease sets a shorter or longer period. Under section 24.0042, the delivery day isn't counted, weekends and holidays are, and a deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday moves to the next business day. A purchaser at foreclosure must give a paying residential tenant at least 30 days.
Can I email a notice to vacate in Texas?
Yes, but only if you and the tenant agreed in writing to electronic notice, for example in the lease. Send it to the address the tenant designated or has used with you, and keep a copy of the sent message. Without a written agreement, use mail, inside delivery or hand delivery instead.
Do I still need a 30-day notice for a CARES Act property in Texas?
The federal requirement still applies to covered properties, but since January 1, 2026 section 24.005(c-1) lets a landlord file after the state notice period. The writ of possession can't be served until the federal period, such as 30 days, has passed since the notice was delivered. Judges may differ on this, so get advice for a covered property.
How do I end a month-to-month tenancy in Texas?
Give written notice of termination under Property Code section 91.001. Where rent is paid monthly, the tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after the notice is given, unless a signed agreement sets a different period. If the tenant stays after that date, a notice to vacate is still needed before filing.
