Eviction Process Information for San Antonio Tenants
TUSA is not a legal organization. While we believe it is valuable that we educate ourselves as organized tenants, that work does not replace qualified legal advice in certain instances. See here for more on Legal Aid and Resources for San Antonio Tenants.
Useful links:
Texas Law Help has a good article here on the eviction process.
Five main steps in the eviction process:
Step 1: DON’T SELF-EVICT! A ‘Notice to Vacate’ from your landlord is not a legally-binding eviction, it’s just an early first step.
Step 2: To legally evict you, your landlord will have to file a lawsuit with the ‘Justice of the Peace’. After that, a Constable will issue the eviction to you in person or post it to your door, with a court date. Any other document is not an official eviction.
Step 3: If you want to request a jury trial, you must request it at least 4 days before the court date on your eviction citation. To do this, you should go to the courthouse address on the eviction citation, pay $22, and provide information about your eviction.
A jury trial can take longer and delay eviction proceedings, if that is something that would help you. A jury trial doesn’t necessarily increase your chance of winning in court.
Step 4: Whether or not you have a jury trial, both the Landlord (Plaintiff) and Renter (Defendant) must attend court on the assigned court date. You can hire a lawyer for this. Hopefully you win the case, but if you don’t, it goes to the next step.
Step 5: If you do not leave the property, your landlord may get a ‘Writ of Possession’ from the Justice of the Peace Court. The Writ of Possession allows for a forcible eviction, after a deputy has posted written notice notifying you that the writ has been issued. By law, the city has to give a minimum of 24 hours notice before enforcing the writ. Thereafter, a Constable (not your landlord!) may execute the writ as described by the written notice.
Further Contact Information:
If it would help you to have more information, you can:
[A] schedule a call with us (we’re not lawyers),
[B] contact a lawyer, or
[C] attend one of our monthly Zoom meetings.
If you want to contact us, or get the Zoom meeting link:
Email: tenantsunionsanantonio@gmail.com
Text Messages / Phone: (210) 281–1477
Facebook / Facebook Messenger: https://www.facebook.com/TenantsUnionSA
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TenantsUnionSA