How to get rid of a squatter in Texas — the official process

This page is general information, not legal advice. It is a summary of publicly available official sources, linked at every step. Every situation is different — talk to a licensed attorney about yours.

How to get rid of a squatter in Texas — the official process

This page explains the official Texas court process for regaining possession of real property from someone who is occupying it without a current right to be there. It is a plain-language summary of the Texas Property Code, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, and Texas Law Help — every claim below links to the exact official page it comes from. This page is not legal advice, not a substitute for talking to a licensed Texas attorney, and not a way to skip the court process described here.

Texas requires a court process and a sheriff or constable to remove an occupant. Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, removing belongings, or using threats to force someone out is illegal in Texas, even if that person has no right to be there.

Step 1 — Identify what kind of occupancy this is

Texas law treats two situations differently, and the label matters for which court papers apply:

• Forcible detainer — the person entered *with* consent at some point (a tenant, a subtenant, a tenant at will or by sufferance, or an occupant who stayed on after a foreclosure) but is now refusing to leave after their right to possession ended. Most eviction cases are forcible detainer cases.
• Forcible entry and detainer — the person entered the property *without* the consent of anyone who owns, occupies, or controls access to it, and is refusing to surrender it on demand. The statute treats this as the "squatter" scenario, and it is described as uncommon.

Both are handled under the same chapter of the Property Code and the same Justice Court process, but only the second category can use the faster "summary disposition" motion described in Step 3.

Official source: Property Code Chapter 24. Forcible Entry and Detainer — §§24.001–24.002

Step 2 — Give the written (or oral) notice to vacate the law requires

Before filing suit, the person entitled to possession must give notice:

• If the occupant is a tenant under a lease who defaulted or is holding over, the law generally requires at least three days' written notice to vacate, unless the lease sets a different period.
• If the occupant is a tenant at will or by sufferance, at least three days' written notice to vacate is generally required (special rules apply after certain foreclosure sales).
• If the occupant entered by forcible entry (no permission from anyone with authority over the property), the person entitled to possession must give the occupant oral or written notice to vacate — the notice can set an immediate deadline or a specified one.

Notice may be hand-delivered, mailed, posted on the inside of the front door, or (if agreed in writing) sent electronically; if the occupant actually receives it, the delivery method doesn't matter.

Official source: Property Code Chapter 24 — §24.005, Notice Required Before Filing Certain Eviction Suits

Step 3 — File the sworn eviction petition in the correct Justice Court

The lawsuit — called an eviction suit, forcible detainer suit, or forcible entry and detainer suit — must be filed as a sworn petition in the Justice Court (Justice of the Peace court) for the precinct where the property is located. Eviction suits are not filed in district court, and a Justice Court does not have authority to decide who holds title to the property — only who is entitled to possession.

If the occupant entered without anyone's consent (the forcible-entry scenario from Step 1), the petition can include a sworn Motion for Summary Disposition asking the court to rule on possession without a full trial, if there are no genuinely disputed facts. If filed, the occupant has only four days after being served to file a sworn response with supporting facts, or the court can rule for the property owner without a hearing.

Official sources:

• Property Code Chapter 24 — §§24.0041, 24.00505, 24.005106
• Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, March 1, 2026 (PDF) — Rule 510.1 (Application), Rule 510.6 (Starting an Eviction Lawsuit), Rule 510.10 (Request for Summary Disposition)
• Motions for Summary Disposition in Eviction Cases — Texas Law Help

Step 4 — Citation and service

Once the petition is filed, the court issues a citation — the official notice that a lawsuit has been filed — which must be served on the occupant along with a copy of the petition. A sheriff or constable (or deputy) must make a diligent effort to serve the citation and petition, generally within five business days after the petition is filed. If service isn't completed in that window, the law allows the property owner to use certain other trained law enforcement officers to serve it instead.

Official sources:

• Property Code Chapter 24 — §24.0051(f)
• Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, March 1, 2026 (PDF) — Rule 510.8, Issuance, Service, and Return of Citation

Step 5 — The hearing (or the summary-disposition response window)

• If no Motion for Summary Disposition was filed: the trial must be held not earlier than the 10th day and not later than the 21st day after the petition was filed, and never earlier than the fourth day after the occupant was served.
• If a Motion for Summary Disposition was filed: the occupant has four days from service to file a sworn response. If the court finds no genuinely disputed facts, it may rule for the property owner without a trial. If the court finds genuinely disputed facts, it sets a trial on the same 10-to-21-day schedule.

Either party may request a jury trial.

Official sources:

• Property Code Chapter 24 — §§24.0051(g), 24.005106
• Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, March 1, 2026 (PDF) — Rule 510.10 (Summary Disposition), Rule 510.15 (Trial)

Step 6 — Judgment and the appeal window

If the judgment favors the property owner, it awards possession of the premises, court costs, and — if applicable — unpaid rent and attorney's fees. Either party may appeal to County Court within five days after the judgment is signed, by filing a bond, a cash deposit, or a sworn Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. An appeal starts a new trial (a "trial de novo") in County Court, which the rules say must be held no later than the 21st day after the transcript reaches that court.

Official sources:

• Property Code Chapter 24 — §24.005107, Appeal to County Court
• Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, March 1, 2026 (PDF) — Rule 510.18 (Judgment), Rule 510.19 (Appeal), Rule 510.20 (Trial De Novo)
• Appealing an Eviction — Texas Law Help

Step 7 — Writ of possession, executed by a constable or sheriff

If the judgment becomes final (the appeal window passes without an appeal, or the appeal is resolved in the property owner's favor), the property owner can request a writ of possession. Under the rules, a writ generally cannot be issued before the sixth day after judgment, and its issuance — once properly requested — is a "ministerial act not subject to review or delay." Only a sheriff or constable (or their deputy) may execute the writ. The officer must post a written warning on the front door stating the writ was issued and giving a date and time for execution that is not sooner than 24 hours after the warning is posted. When the writ is executed, the officer delivers possession to the property owner, instructs everyone to leave, and directs how remaining personal property is removed and placed outside (with rules against blocking a public sidewalk and against removal during active rain, sleet, or snow).

Official sources:

• Property Code Chapter 24 — §24.0061, Writ of Possession
• Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, March 1, 2026 (PDF) — Rule 510.18(g), Writ
• Example of one county's own writ-of-possession page (a constable's civil-process division, not a statewide rule): Constable Precinct 4, Civil Process Services — Dallas County

What you cannot do

Texas requires a court process and a sheriff or constable to remove an occupant. Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, removing belongings, or using threats to force someone out is illegal in Texas, even if that person has no right to be there.

Here is what the official sources actually say, precisely, including a narrow statutory exception that only applies to a specific situation:

• Chapter 24 (the eviction chapter) makes the court-and-officer path the only path. Property Code Chapter 24 sets out a single mechanism for lawfully ending someone's possession of real property: a sworn petition, service, a hearing or summary disposition, a judgment, and — only after that — a writ of possession that only a sheriff or constable may execute. Nothing in Chapter 24 authorizes a property owner to retake physical possession outside that process. Property Code Chapter 24, §24.0061

• Chapter 92's specific lockout and utility-shutoff rules apply to landlord-tenant relationships, not to every occupant. Property Code Chapter 92 (Residential Tenancies) prohibits a landlord from interrupting utility service (§92.008) or removing doors, locks, or windows to exclude a tenant (§92.0081), except through narrow, notice-heavy procedures. But Chapter 92 says by its own terms that it "applies only to the relationship between landlords and tenants of residential rental property" (§92.002), and it defines "tenant" as someone "authorized by a lease to occupy a dwelling" (§92.001(6)). So these specific lockout/utility statutes, as written, govern people who have or had a lease — not necessarily a person who entered with no permission from anyone at all (the Chapter 24 "forcible entry" scenario). Property Code Chapter 92, §§92.001, 92.002, 92.008, 92.0081

• The one narrow exception that does exist is for a delinquent-rent tenant, and it is not a free pass to lock someone out. A landlord may change the locks on a *tenant* who is delinquent on rent (§92.0081(b)(3)), but only if the right is written into the lease, the tenant is actually delinquent, and the landlord first mails or posts a detailed notice. Even then, the landlord must give the tenant a new key at any hour, regardless of whether the rent gets paid, and can never do this while the tenant is inside the unit or more than once per rental period. Property Code Chapter 92, §92.0081

Flagged for review, not resolved by this page: the statutes located do not contain a standalone sentence saying "you may not change the locks on a squatter" the way §92.0081 says it for a tenant. The practical protection against self-help removal of a true unauthorized occupant comes from the structure of Chapter 24 itself — it is the only mechanism the statute provides for ending someone's possession, and it ends in an officer executing a writ, not the owner acting alone. This is a legal reading, not a quoted statute, and is exactly the kind of question to raise with a licensed attorney before acting.

FAQ

Can I just change the locks if this person was never on a lease and never paid me anything? Texas Property Code Chapter 24 sets out the only official path to recover possession — a sworn petition, service, a hearing or summary disposition, judgment, and a writ of possession executed by a sheriff or constable. Chapter 92's specific lock-change and utility rules are written for landlord-tenant relationships and define "tenant" as someone with a lease, so they may not directly cover a person with no lease at all — but nothing in the statutes located authorizes self-help removal either. Talk to a licensed attorney before taking any action outside the court process. Official source: Property Code Chapter 24, §24.0061 and Chapter 92, §§92.001–92.002

Do I have to go to district court to get this person out? No. Eviction suits — including the forcible-entry-and-detainer scenario sometimes called a "squatter" case — are filed in the Justice Court for the precinct where the property is located. A Justice Court can decide who has the right to possess the property, but it cannot decide who holds legal title. Official source: Property Code Chapter 24, §24.004

Is there a faster process if this person entered without my permission at all? Texas law allows a sworn Motion for Summary Disposition to be filed with the petition in a forcible-entry-and-detainer case — one where the occupant entered without anyone's consent. The occupant then has four days after being served to file a sworn response with supporting facts; if the court finds no genuinely disputed facts, it may rule on possession without a full trial. Official source: Property Code Chapter 24, §24.005106 and Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 510.10

Who actually removes the person from the property once I win? Only a sheriff or constable (or their deputy) may execute a writ of possession. The officer posts a written warning at least 24 hours before execution, and at execution instructs everyone to leave and directs how any remaining personal property is handled. Official source: Property Code Chapter 24, §24.0061

How long does either side have to appeal? Either party may appeal a Justice Court eviction judgment to County Court within five days after the judgment is signed, by filing a bond, a cash deposit, or a sworn Statement of Inability to Afford Payment of Court Costs. The appeal starts a new trial in County Court. Official source: Property Code Chapter 24, §24.005107 and Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 510.19

This page is general information, not legal advice. It is a summary of publicly available official sources, linked at every step. Every situation is different — talk to a licensed attorney about yours.

Sources checked on 2026-07-28 (re-checked 2026-07-29)

How to read this table. An HTTP 200 means a server answered — it does not mean the page contained the law. Several official sites (California's leginfo, Texas's statutes.capitol.texas.gov, and the State Bar lookups) render entirely with JavaScript, so a plain fetch returns an empty shell that still reports 200. Recording those as "verified" would be a false pass, so this table says exactly how each source was checked and by whom.

The statutes site states it is current through the 89th 2nd Called Legislative Session, 2025. The 2025 amendments to Chapter 24 (S.B. 38) took effect January 1, 2026.