Eviction Process in Texas Without a Lease: Family and Guests

Removing a family member, a partner, a guest who stayed too long, or anyone else living in a home without a written lease is one of the eviction topics covered in Texas tenant rights under the Property Code. The absence of a lease does not let an owner skip the courthouse. Texas funnels almost every removal of a residential occupant through the same forcible detainer process, and the process starts with a written notice, not a locksmith.

Who counts as a tenant when there is no lease

Texas eviction law does not require a signed lease before it applies. It sorts occupants into categories, and most people living somewhere without a lease fall into one of them. Under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 24.002, a person commits a “forcible detainer” by refusing to surrender possession on demand when they are a tenant, a tenant at will or by sufferance, or a tenant of someone who took possession by force.

The category that captures no-lease situations is the tenant at will or by sufferance. A tenant at will is someone allowed to live in the home with the owner’s permission but with no fixed term, such as a relative invited to stay. A tenant at sufferance is someone whose right to be there has ended but who remains, such as a guest who was asked to leave and did not go. Neither one signed a lease, and both are still occupants the law protects with a court process.

Two removals fall outside this article because they are not evictions at all. A co-owner of the property, or a spouse with a community-property or homestead interest, cannot be evicted through justice court; those disputes run through other proceedings. A true trespasser who never had permission to enter also sits outside the landlord-tenant framework. Everyone in between, the family member on the couch or the ex-partner who never left, is generally a tenant at will or by sufferance.

Why you cannot just change the locks

The strongest instinct for an owner dealing with an unwelcome occupant is to change the locks, move the person’s belongings to the curb, or cut off the electricity. Texas law treats those actions as illegal self-help, and the penalties fall on the owner, not the occupant.

A residential tenant who is locked out or has utilities cut off to force them out can recover possession of the home or end any tenancy, plus a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $1,000, actual damages, court costs, and attorney’s fees under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 92.0081. These protections apply to occupants generally, and a lockout that skips the court process is the core of a wrongful eviction in Texas, which carries its own penalties even where no written lease existed. The safe path is the court process, which puts a constable, not the owner, in charge of the physical removal.

Step 1: Give a written notice to vacate

Every Texas eviction begins with a written demand that the occupant leave, called a notice to vacate. This is a separate document from any notice ending a rent arrangement, and skipping it means the eviction suit can be dismissed.

For a tenant at will or by sufferance, Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 24.005 requires at least three days’ written notice to vacate before a forcible detainer suit is filed, unless a written agreement between the parties sets a shorter or longer period. Because there is no lease in these situations, the three-day default almost always governs. The notice must clearly demand that the occupant leave and give the date by which they must be out.

Where a genuine month-to-month rent arrangement exists, ending that arrangement is a separate step from the notice to vacate. Under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 91.001, a month-to-month tenancy with a rent-paying period of at least one month ends on the later of the date named in the notice or one month after the day the notice is given, unless the parties agreed otherwise in writing. A relative who chips in monthly may be a month-to-month tenant, so the tenancy has to be terminated before, or together with, the demand to vacate.

Sec. 24.005 also controls how the notice reaches the occupant. It must be delivered by at least one of the listed methods: by mail (including first-class, registered, or certified mail or a delivery service); by delivery to the inside of the premises in a conspicuous place; by hand delivery to a tenant of the premises who is at least 16 years old; or, if the parties agreed in writing, by electronic communication such as email.

Step 2: File a forcible detainer suit in justice court

If the occupant does not leave after the notice period, the next step is a forcible detainer suit, the formal name for an eviction case. It is filed in the justice court for the precinct where the property sits, and it decides one question only: who has the right to possess the property right now. Claims for unpaid money beyond rent, damage to the home, or other disputes are handled separately.

The suit is filed with the justice of the peace court, which charges a filing fee plus a service fee for a constable to deliver the citation to the occupant. Fees vary by county and are set locally, so the exact amount comes from the specific justice court’s fee schedule. The court then sets a hearing date, and the occupant is served with a copy of the petition and a citation to appear.

Justice court is built for people without lawyers. Under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 24.011, the parties in an eviction suit in justice court may represent themselves or be represented by an authorized agent who need not be an attorney. The eviction process itself is also governed by the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure for eviction cases, which set the detailed timing for service, hearings, and appeals on top of the statute.

Step 3: The hearing and the writ of possession

At the hearing, the person seeking possession must show the occupant’s right to be there has ended and that the required notice to vacate was given. Because a no-lease occupant is a tenant at will or by sufferance, the core proof is usually that permission was withdrawn and the three-day notice was properly delivered. An occupant who wants to contest the case shows up and raises any defect; the defenses that decide these cases are the subject of how to win an eviction case in Texas.

If the court rules for the owner, it issues a judgment for possession. That judgment does not let the owner physically remove the occupant. Only a constable or sheriff executing a writ of possession can do that. Under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 24.0061, a writ of possession may not be issued before the sixth day after the judgment for possession is rendered, which leaves time for the losing side to appeal. Once issued, the writ must be served by a sheriff or constable no later than the fifth business day after it is issued. The appeal to county court, and the built-in pauses, are the main ways to delay an eviction in Texas.

Before the removal, the officer posts a written warning of at least 8½ by 11 inches on the front door stating that the writ will be executed on or after a stated time, no sooner than 24 hours after the warning is posted. When the officer executes the writ, they deliver possession to the owner, instruct everyone to leave, and, if they refuse, physically remove them and their belongings, all under Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 24.0061. The whole sequence, from notice to writ, commonly takes several weeks.

Family members, adult children, and guests who never paid rent

The rules above do not soften because the occupant is family or never paid a dime. An adult child living rent-free in a parent’s home, a partner who stayed after a breakup, or a friend who came for a week and stayed for months is generally a tenant at will or by sufferance once permission to stay is withdrawn. The three-day notice to vacate and the forcible detainer suit apply the same way they do to any occupant.

The practical difference is proof, not procedure. There is no lease to point to, so the person seeking possession relies on their ownership or right to control the property and on evidence that permission ended, such as the delivered notice to vacate. Payment history does not change the category: an occupant who never paid rent is still removed through court, and one who paid something toward the household may be a month-to-month tenant whose arrangement has to be terminated under Sec. 91.001 first.