SB38

SB38 rewrites important Texas eviction procedures, including notices, trial timing, appeals and removal orders. It is broader than a law about squatters alone: many changes affect ordinary landlord–tenant cases. Signed June 20, 2025, it generally took effect January 1, 2026 and applies to petitions filed on or after that date. Earlier-filed cases keep the earlier law. The direction to the Supreme Court to clarify procedures took effect September 1, 2025. History; enrolled law.

Notice before filing

The basic written notice for a tenant who defaults or holds over remains at least three days, unless a written lease or agreement sets a different period. For an eviction based solely on nonpayment, a tenant who had not been late or delinquent before the month of notice must receive a notice to pay rent or vacate. If the tenant had been late or delinquent earlier, the landlord may use either a pay-or-vacate notice or a notice to vacate. Holding over also requires compliance with the separate tenancy-termination law. Existing special notice rules for other occupancy situations are not all abolished.

Notice may be sent by mail/delivery service, delivered conspicuously inside the premises, handed to a tenant at least 16 years old, or sent electronically if agreed in writing. The delivery-method restriction does not apply if the tenant actually receives the notice. These pre-suit notices are different from court citation and petition service.

When federal law requires notice before a tenant must vacate, SB38 says compliance with the state notice rule permits the lawsuit to proceed without waiting for that federal period, but the possession writ cannot be served until the required federal period has elapsed from notice. A required opportunity to respond to a proposed eviction may run concurrently with the state notice period and be included in that notice. This describes the state enactment; it is not a determination that any federal requirement is inapplicable to a particular property or case.

Filing, trial and the special no-trial procedure

Eviction suits belong in the justice precinct where the property is located. The court decides actual possession, not ownership title. Counterclaims and third-party joinder are excluded from the eviction suit, but separate claims may be brought in a proper court. A sworn petition must meet statewide civil-rule requirements. Local rules cannot demand extra petition contents, require mediation or another pretrial proceeding, or authorize dismissal of a petition that meets—or can be amended to meet—those requirements.

The sheriff or constable must diligently try to serve citation and the petition within five business days after filing. If service has not occurred by then, the landlord may arrange service by another appropriately trained law-enforcement officer, including an identified off-duty officer. The trial generally falls 10–21 days after filing and cannot occur earlier than four days after service. A postponement cannot exceed seven days without the parties’ written agreement. Electronic appearances for the parties require their agreement.

The act’s special four-day response route is limited to a petition alleging forcible entry and detainer—unauthorized or forcible entry followed by refusal to surrender possession—not every eviction for unpaid rent. A landlord must submit a sworn motion with supporting facts and documents. The occupant has four days after service to respond with supporting facts and applicable documents. The court may consider a late response before judgment if it shows a genuine factual dispute. If genuinely disputed facts prevent judgment for the landlord, the case goes to trial; a trial may be set immediately on the occupant’s request. A motion or a missed response is not by itself proof that the landlord is entitled to possession.

Later Supreme Court rules matter: Rule 510.10(b) separately permits ordinary forcible-detainer cases to use Rule 503.2 summary disposition, under which the motion must be on file at least 14 days before consideration. Do not confuse that with SB38’s special four-day route. Court citations retain warnings about immediate deadlines, default judgments, military-service protections and legal assistance; the special motion requires an additional English/Spanish warning. Current official civil rules, Rules 503.2 and 510.

Appeals and rent payments

A party may appeal within five days after judgment is signed by filing a bond, cash deposit or statement of inability to afford court costs. A tenant appealing must affirm under penalty of perjury a good-faith belief in a meritorious defense and that the appeal is not for delay. Inability-to-pay statements remain available and may be contested through the prescribed process; an approved statement avoids the additional county filing fee, but does not waive required rent payments.

The rent-deposit requirements extend beyond appeals of nonpayment cases. In residential eviction judgments, the court sets the rental period and rent due during appeal. Without a rental agreement, the amount per rental period is the greater of $250 or fair-market rent if the court determines it—not a universal $250 monthly charge. The first period’s rent is due into the justice-court registry within five days after the appeal; later payments are due by the beginning of each rental period into the court where the case is pending. The court must give written instructions and warnings.

Generally, tenants with rent assistance pay only their court-determined share and can contest that amount. If an agency fails to pay its share, the landlord may seek an order requiring the tenant to pay the full rent to remain in possession, but notice, a hearing and the statutory proof are required. SB38 removes the former additional requirement to prove the landlord could not reasonably cause the agency to resume payment.

After the required written notice, missing a required registry payment allows an immediate possession writ on request without a hearing. SB38 repeals earlier hearing-and-cure provisions for missed payments during appeal. Landlords can request disbursement of deposited rent at any time during or after appeal; each registry payment satisfies rent only for its covered period. Remaining rent or attorney-fee issues can still proceed after a writ has issued or been executed. The appeal papers ordinarily move between 4 p.m. on day six and 4 p.m. on day ten after appeal, or earlier after confirmed initial payment. The county court must hold its new trial within 21 days after receiving them.

Removal orders and other limits

A possession writ normally cannot issue before day six after judgment, or the day after the appeal deadline, whichever is later under current Rule 510.18, with a possession-bond exception governed by the court rules. Under those rules, a properly completed appeal with any required rent deposits prevents issuance of the writ. SB38 removes the former default-judgment-only condition on that exception; it does not authorize a landlord to remove someone personally without court process. The sheriff or constable must serve the writ within five business days after issuance; another qualified law-enforcement officer can be used if that deadline passes. Existing execution safeguards, including the officer’s posted warning at least 24 hours before removal, remain. The act broadens landlord protection from tenant damages resulting from enforcement of a favorable judgment, including an officer’s execution of a writ.

Parties may use authorized nonlawyer agents in justice-court eviction suits. On appeal, the stated nonlawyer-agent provision covers multifamily owners in nonpayment cases, not every party in every appeal. The act changes the covered-premises definition to include the specified occupied unit and outside areas meeting the listed use and possession conditions.

The statute counts calendar days excluding the triggering day, extending a deadline that ends on a weekend or state/federal holiday. Express business-day provisions remain distinct. Current Rule 510.4 also addresses court closures for filing deadlines. Only the Legislature may change or suspend the statutory procedures, subject to the act’s limited Supreme Court disaster exception: similarly affected courts must be treated alike regardless of subject matter, and requests must be written and public. Read all 18 sections; official court rules. This is an explanation of the law, not a calculation of a particular person’s filing deadline.