Travis County, TX Rental Property Rules: Just Cause Eviction (2026)
Just cause eviction rules in Travis County, TX, sometimes called tenant protection or "for cause" eviction ordinances, list the specific legal reasons a landlord can end a tenancy.
Key Facts
- Default notice period
- 3 days written notice to vacate
- Foreclosure buyer notice
- 30 days for paying residential tenants
- Cause required
- None; any lawful ground is sufficient
- Filed in
- Travis County Justice of the Peace court
- Related section
- Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 91.001 (holdover termination)
- Last amended
- 2015, effective January 1, 2016
Summary
Texas law does not require a landlord to prove cause to end a tenancy. In unincorporated Travis County, Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 24.005 sets only a notice-to-vacate requirement: at least three days' written notice before filing a forcible detainer suit, with no local ordinance adding a just-cause or good-reason standard on top of it.
(a) If the occupant is a tenant under a written lease or oral rental agreement, the landlord must give a tenant who defaults or holds over beyond the end of the rental term or renewal period at least three days' written notice to vacate the premises before the landlord files a forcible detainer suit, unless the parties have contracted for a shorter or longer notice period in a written lease or agreement. A landlord who files a forcible detainer suit on grounds that the tenant is holding over beyond the end of the rental term or renewal period must also comply with the tenancy termination requirements of Section 91.001. (b) If the occupant is a tenant at will or by sufferance, the landlord must give the tenant at least three days' written notice to vacate before the landlord files a forcible detainer suit unless the parties have contracted for a shorter or longer notice period in a written lease or agreement.
Full Breakdown
Unincorporated Travis County has no eviction ordinance of its own; landlord-tenant eviction procedure runs entirely on Chapter 24 of the state Property Code, and Travis County Commissioners Court has not adopted anything narrowing a landlord's right to end a tenancy. Under Sec. 005(a), a landlord whose tenant defaults or holds over past the lease term must deliver at least three days' written notice to vacate before filing suit, unless the lease itself sets a shorter or longer period; a holdover-based suit must also satisfy the separate termination notice in Sec.
001. Subsection (b) applies the same three-day floor to a tenant at will or by sufferance, and carves out a 30-day notice for a residential tenant after a tax or trustee foreclosure sale, if that tenant paid rent on time and the new owner will not continue the lease. Notice can be delivered in person, by mail to the premises, or, under (f-1), by sealing it in an envelope marked 'IMPORTANT DOCUMENT' and affixing it to the main entry door when the unit has no mailbox or a keyless bolt, alarm, or dangerous animal blocks entry, with a same-day mailed copy required.
The notice period runs from the date of delivery, and once it expires, the case is filed as a forcible detainer suit in the Travis County Justice of the Peace court for the precinct where the property sits, not in district or county court. Nothing in Chapter 24 obligates the landlord to state why the tenancy is ending; a lease expiration, a month-to-month termination, or any other lawful ground supports the suit as long as the notice was proper.
Violations & Fines
A forcible detainer suit filed before the notice period runs, or built on a defective notice, gets dismissed by the Travis County JP court for failure to satisfy Sec. 24.005; the landlord must re-serve a compliant notice and refile, losing the time and filing fee already spent. Sec. 24.005(h) treats a valid notice to vacate as the demand for possession that Sec. 24.002(b) requires, so a landlord who skips notice entirely cannot establish the elements of forcible detainer at all. A tenant who was never properly noticed can raise that defect as a defense at the eviction hearing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Travis County require landlords to state a reason for eviction?
How much notice does a landlord have to give in unincorporated Travis County?
What if the rental property is sold at foreclosure?
Where does an eviction case get filed?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Travis County
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Travis County to another location·View the Texas rental property rules overview
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