Texas Tenant Advisor

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The Texas Tenant Advisor is intended to provide general information regarding Texas residential tenancies only.

Unique facts can render some statements inapplicable to a given situation.

We attempt to provide current information; nonetheless, you are urged to consult an attorney for legal advice and assistance.

This web site is a public service of the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service.

Before you go to any court to file the suit, you should have done the following:

1. Have one original, and two copies of a completed lawsuit petition. You will need to have filled in the name of the defendant landlord, and the name and address of the person to be served with the court papers. You will also need to have filled in other blanks on the petition. Once it is filled out, you need to sign it and make at least two extra copies. The court will keep your original, and will serve one copy on the defendant landlord, and will give you a copy back for your records.

2. Have the money for the filing fee and the service fee (or a completed affidavit of inability to pay costs if you are indigent). Call the court for precise amount of the fees. These fees generally must be paid in cash or money order. Many courts do not accept personal checks. All of these costs may be added to the amount you recover at trial, if you win.

3. Confirmed that the rental property is in the county and precinct of the court you plan on going to. Call the court and give them the address, and they can confirm if it is within their county and precinct.

Now you are ready

Then go to the court. Give the clerk of the court the petition and the two copies. Tell the clerk you want to file suit. The clerk may give you paperwork to fill out. Look it over. It is probably a form petition. If you have followed our instructions you will not need it. Ask the clerk to file your petition, and give the clerk the appropriate fees. You have a right to request that a jury decide your case if you make the request in writing and pay the appropriate fee. If you want a jury trial, mention this also to the clerk when you file your case.

Ask the clerk how the court sets the trial date. Procedures may vary in different courts. In some courts, the trial date may be set by court order, and you will be responsible for sending the defendant a letter giving him or her notice of the trial date. If your court follows this procedure, you should send the letter by certified mail, return receipt requested.

Check back with the court

Call the clerk after two weeks to make sure that the defendant has been served and find out the exact date the person was served. Ask the clerk how long the defendant has to "answer" or respond to the suit. If the defendant does not meet this deadline, you can ask the court to grant you an automatic or "default" judgment for the amount you requested. This is the fast and easy way to win. If the defendant answers the case in writing, the court will probably set the case for trial. ALWAYS VERIFY THE TRIAL DATE WITH THE CLERK. REMEMBER THIS DATE AND BE IN COURT AT THAT TIME.

Remember, you cannot recover anything unless the papers have been served on the proper person. The court cannot help you until the other party is served. After waiting two weeks, you may wish to start calling the sheriff or constable until they tell you that the citation has been served.

Remember to always be polite. Do not get the clerk, the judge, his staff, the sheriff or the constable angry with you. Cooperation with these officials is a must. Your case is one of thousands of cases on file. These officials can only spend a limited amount of time on your case without neglecting other cases. Also, remember that if you do speak to the judge about procedural matters, do not try to take advantage of the conversation to impress or persuade the judge about the merits of your case. It is improper for the judge to hear one side of the case without the other side present. If you try to influence the judge, the judge may actually get angry with you. It is not worth making the judge mad.

Preparing for trial

You should write down a short statement what happened to you as if you were talking to someone that does not know anything about you or the landlord. Because you filed the suit you have the burden to put on your case with evidence that proves you should win. Leave out details that just distract the listener from the point of the story. Then figure out what evidence you will need to tell your story and prove your case. The lease, receipts, letters are typical items you might need. Get photos to show the court as well. Affidavits are typically not helpful because the court may not consider them. The court requires people to testify under oath in the court, and will not often consider affidavits.

Witnesses

You should determine if there are any witnesses who can come to court with you and help you tell your story. If you feel the witnesses will help tell your story, ask them if they will assist you by giving their testimony in court. If a witness is important to your claim but will not voluntarily come to court, then you have the right to subpoena him and force him to court. If a subpoena is necessary, go back to the county clerk as soon as you have a trial date and ask the clerk to issue the subpoena. You must provide the complete name for the witness and a good address where the witness may be served with the subpoena. The subpoena may require the witness to bring to court any documents in his control which help prove your claim. You must pay an extra fee for getting a subpoena served on a witness. (If you filed your case using an affidavit of inability to pay costs, the court must waive the fees.)

Organize the case

Once you have organized your case by writing a statement, gathering documents and selecting witnesses, then the exact issues in controversy will probably become clearer to you. You should then sit down and prepare what you will say when you get to court. You should also decide in what order you will present the evidence you have accumulated. List the questions you expect to ask each witness. Make an outline of what you want to say when you testify. Sometimes people forget to say things that are important to their case in a trial atmosphere. During trial, you should check off each item as you cover it.

You should also determine whether you prefer the judge to hear the case or whether you want a trial by jury. You should make this decision based upon whether you think a jury will be more sympathetic to the case than the judge. If you request a jury, you will have to pay a small jury fee. You can request a jury decide the case when you file it, or afterwards. (But there is limt on how late you have to ask for a jury so do not wait too long to decide.)

Mediation

Sometimes courts will require the parties to try and settle their case without a trial using a mediator. A mediator is a person that tries to get the parties to settle the case, but does not decide anything or rule on anything. A mediator will typically try to point out the problems with the positions of both parties. For example, the mediator will tell a plaintiff that their case does not have strong evidence and that they could lose. The mediator will then tell the defendant that if the judge or jury believes the plaintiff, then the defendant will have to pay. This might cause the plainitff to accept less, and the defendant to be willing to pay more. This is the job of the mediator. Settlements are sometimes good because you control the result -- you know what you are going to get. Going to trial takes time, and has risk. Also, sometimes judgments are not easy to collect. When you settle a case, you get the money up front.

Continue on to trial...