Landlord Enforcing an Eviction Notice Against Only Some Named Tenants

Attorney Answer

Two different questions are buried in yours, and they have opposite answers. If the landlord physically puts anyone out or locks them out without a court judgment and a constable’s writ, that is illegal in Texas under Property Code § 92.0081 and it carries a fixed money penalty. But choosing to sue only some of the people named on a notice is lawful — and being left off the lawsuit does not make you safe, because the writ of possession removes you anyway.

The self-help lockout. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081(b) says a landlord “may not intentionally prevent a tenant from entering the leased premises except by judicial process,” with narrow exceptions for bona fide repairs, construction or an emergency, abandonment, or a lock change on the unit of a tenant delinquent in rent — and that lock change is only lawful if the landlord follows the written-notice and 24-hour key-access requirements in § 92.0081(c) and (d). If the landlord violates the section, § 92.0081(h) lets the tenant “either recover possession of the premises or terminate the lease” and recover “a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $1,000, actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees,” less any delinquent rent. Under § 92.0081(j), a lease clause purporting to waive that is void. And § 92.009 gives you a same-day remedy: file a sworn complaint for reentry with the justice court in your precinct, state the facts of the lockout orally under oath, and the justice may issue an ex parte writ of reentry restoring you to the property pending a hearing. Note that § 92.001(6) defines “tenant” as a person authorized by a lease — written or oral — to occupy the dwelling; if your name is on the notice to vacate you are almost certainly within that, but a pure houseguest would have to act through the tenant.

Suing only some people is not, by itself, illegal. Nothing in Chapter 24 requires a landlord to name everyone listed on a notice to vacate, so removing two occupants while letting a third stay is lawful on its own. It becomes unlawful only if the reason is prohibited: Tex. Prop. Code § 301.021(b), the Texas Fair Housing Act, bars discrimination in “the terms, conditions, or privileges of” a rental because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin; and § 92.331 bars a landlord from filing an eviction within six months after a tenant exercises a legal right, complains to a code authority or utility, or joins a tenant organization, with § 92.333 adding one month’s rent plus $500, actual damages, costs and fees. Retaliation is also a defense in the eviction suit itself under § 92.335.

This is the part that matters most for you: staying off the lawsuit will not keep you in the house. Under Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061(d)(2)(B), the writ of possession orders the officer to “instruct the tenant and all persons claiming under the tenant to leave the premises immediately, and, if the persons fail to comply, physically remove them.” If your right to be there runs through the person who was sued, the constable removes you with him whether or not your name is on the judgment. Before executing the writ the officer must post a written warning on the front door at least 24 hours in advance (§ 24.0061(d)(1)), and the writ cannot issue before the sixth day after judgment (§ 24.0061(b)).

The deadline. Texas rewrote its eviction statute effective January 1, 2026 (S.B. 38, 89th Leg.), and the new law governs any eviction petition filed on or after that date. The appeal window is now statutory: Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005107(a) requires the bond, cash deposit, or statement of inability to afford payment of court costs to be filed with the justice court “not later than the fifth day after the date the judgment is signed,” and 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. Under § 24.0042 those five days include Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, and roll forward only if the fifth day itself is one. To stay in possession you must also pay the rent stated in the judgment into the justice court registry within five days (§ 24.0053). The pre-suit notice requirement is unchanged: at least three days’ written notice to vacate under § 24.005(a), unless the lease sets a different period.

What you can do:

1. If the landlord changes the locks or removes your belongings without a constable executing a writ, go to the justice court for your precinct that same day and file a sworn complaint for reentry under § 92.009. Bring the lease or any writing showing you live there.

2. Photograph everything before you lose access — the lock, the door, any notice posted on it, and your property inside.

3. Pull the court file. Find out whether a petition was filed, exactly who is named, and whether a judgment has been signed. If it has, the § 24.005107(a) five-day clock is already running from the signing date, not from the day you found out.

4. If you are living there only through the person who was sued, plan on the writ reaching you. Your practical warning is the 24-hour notice posted on the front door under § 24.0061(d)(1).

5. Ask a landlord-tenant attorney or Texas legal aid about the § 92.0081(h) penalty if a lockout already happened. One month’s rent plus $1,000 plus attorney’s fees is worth pursuing, and § 92.0081(j) voids any lease term that tries to waive it.

⏱ Time limits apply. Five days from the date the judgment is signed to perfect an appeal (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005107(a)); five days to deposit the judgment rent into the justice court registry to stay in possession (§ 24.0053); the writ of possession may issue on the sixth day after judgment (§ 24.0061(b)), and the constable posts only a 24-hour warning before executing it (§ 24.0061(d)(1)).