What To Expect During an Eviction in Bell County, TX

Takeaways

The Fort Hood area is very landlord-friendly
The entire process generally takes 3-4 weeks from start to finish
Though relatively easy compared to other States, evictions are yet another reason to use a professional property manager

NOTE: I am not a lawyer but a real estate professional. Nothing herein is to be construed as legal advice.

Why Evict?

Probably 95% of the time, evictions will occur just for non-payment of rent. Here are a few possible reasons to evict – however your lease and Texas Property Code will spell out the specifics of your situation:

Non-Payment of Rent
Unauthorized Pets
Unauthorized Extended Guests
Unauthorized Business Run in the Rental
Unauthorized Modifications to the Property
Nuisance / Noise Complaints
Deliberate Property Damage
Illegal Activity on the Property

NOTE: Evictions are also called a Forcible Entry and Detainer (FED) suit in Texas.

Lease Default

In Texas, the rent is late within three days of the due date per the lease. At that point, you can post a three-day Notice to Pay Rent or Quit if you want your tenant to pony up.

Alternatively, if you don’t to give your tenant an opportunity to correct the issue, you can give them a three-day Notice to Vacate. Bam. That’s it. They’re outta there.

Other common problems are unauthorized pets or people on the property, or unauthorized changes to the property.

Holdover Tenant

Maybe a tenant had a valid lease at one point. But perhaps the owner chose, in accordance with the lease, to give notice to the tenant to move out, anyway. Perhaps the owner is PCSing back to Fort Hood and wants to move back in their home.

If the tenant doesn’t cooperate and move out on time in accordance with the lease, they are now a holdover tenant, and not legally entitled to be at the home. At this point, a Landlord can initiate eviction proceedings.

Foreclosure

Even if a tenant has a valid lease, if a property is foreclosed, the bank generally does not have to honor the lease, anymore. Instead, they can give the tenant at least 90 days notice to vacate, even if their lease goes beyond this timeframe. Again, if the tenant stays past that point, the bank can initiate an eviction as a holdover tenant.

Filing Eviction

Before filing an eviction, the Landlord or Property Manager must give a tenant three days’ written notice. The law requires waiting until the end of the three days before filing an eviction with the court. If the lease doesn’t already entitle the Landlord to court costs, then the Landlord must give the tenant 10 days to vacate before the Landlord can request for court costs as part of the suit.

The Notice to Quit or Pay Rent, or the Notice to Vacate, is the start of an eviction! But it is still the “nice” part of an eviction, and nobody is suing anybody.

Yet.

If three days later, a tenant has ignored the Landlord’s instructions, the Landlord can file the eviction suit. It is filed with the jurisdiction and precinct that the property is located in. For example, Killeen and Harker Heights evictions are all done with Bell County. Justice Bill Cooke has some very helpful eviction resources here.

This is the first time the Landlord owes money. The filing fee is $41 plus $100 for each defendant named in the suit. That is $241 if you are filing on a married couple. The fees are subject to change, so be sure to check with the court clerks for the latest.

Once filed, the Justice of the Peace and his or her office creates a citation which is served to the Tenant, along with a court date – usually a week or two from the filing date.

What about the rent?

When filing the eviction, you can simultaneously sue the tenant for unpaid rent up to $10,000. You cannot, however, sue for property damage, late fees or other charges. Those kinds of charges would have to be filed with a separate small claims suit.

Help! I’m Getting Evicted!

If you are a tenant and have received a Notice to Quit or Pay Rent, or a Notice to Vacate, pay attention! This is the start of the eviction process and is very serious. Evictions can move swiftly, often in just a few weeks, before the Sheriff is knocking on your door prepared to literally and physically force you out of the home.

Bell County is a very landlord friendly area. If you think you are being wrongfully evicted, I highly recommend talking to a lawyer quickly.

If you know why you are being evicted, then make every effort to correct the problem – pay the rent or whatever the issue is.

If you cannot manage that, I recommend beginning the search for alternate housing so that you can make an orderly transition from your current home.

The Court Date

Everyone piles up at the court house – usually all eviction cases are done at the same time on the same day. You and a dozen other tenants and landlords will wait to be called into the court room. Once in the court room, there are probably very few people other than yourself, the other party, and the judge. At that point it moves very swiftly.If one party doesn’t show up, the other party automatically wins the case – called a default judgment. When I have been to eviction court, nearly half the defendants (tenants) don’t show up. If the Landlord or their property manager fails to show up, the case is tossed out. The Landlord would have to start over with a new filing fee if they had to proceed again with a new eviction.

If one party doesn’t show up, the other party automatically wins the case – called a default judgment. When I have been to eviction court, nearly half the defendants (tenants) don’t show up. If the Landlord or their property manager fails to show up, the case is tossed out. The Landlord would have to start over with a new filing fee if they had to proceed again with a new eviction.

It probably wouldn’t have mattered if the tenants had shown up, because the outcome was generally the same for those who did. The Judge asks the Landlord for evidence (usually just a copy of the lease, copy of the notice to vacate, and maybe receipts, rent ledgers, or photographs). The judge then asks the tenant for any evidence contradicting the Landlord’s evidence. Most tenants had nothing but a story. Often, within minutes, the judge rules and it is on to the next case.

After Court

The losing party (again, almost always the Tenant) has five days to file an appeal. Filing an appeal usually costs $1000s in fees that are refundable only if you win the appeal. Needless to say, few tenants are able or willing to appeal.

On the 6th day after the court ruling (if the Landlord won), if the Tenant still has not moved out, the Landlord can file a Writ of Possession. The Writ of Possession costs an additional $130. It instructs the Sheriff to forcibly remove the Tenant from the premises. A Writ of Possession cannot be filed more than 60 days after the court date. If you for some reason leave your tenants in the property that long, you will have to start the eviction property over again.

The Sheriff will go to the property and, if the tenant is still there, literally kick them out. The Landlord can then also forcibly remove all the Tenant’s belongings (though cannot sell them), literally putting their belongings on the street, and is not responsible for them. If the Tenant attempts to enter the property at this time or anytime in the future, it is criminal trespassing.

Regarding any judgments for unpaid rent, the court has no way of forcibly collecting the amount from the tenant. At the sixth day after the court date, the Landlord can file an Abstract of Judgment with the County Clerk, and is good for 10 years and renewable.

Thirty-one days after the court date, it is possible to file a Writ of Execution, authorizing the County to seize a tenant’s property that is not exempt, and auction it off in order to pay the judgment.

These actions are sometimes reflected on the Tenant’s credit, and will make it impossible to purchase property in the County or conduct other significant financial business without successfully paying off the judgment.

How to Avoid This Mess

For Landlords, the best way to avoid this chaos is to A) hire a property manager that B) does great tenant screenings and C) regular inspections plus D) promptly initiate eviction procedures on any tenants that default on the lease.

No one will have a 1.000 batting average, but good property managers keep evictions to a minimum, and 99% of that is due to rigorous tenant screening by seasoned, hardened, property managers who don’t fall for sob stories.

List of the best property management companies in Fort Hood

Fort Hood Property Managers

Start your property manager hunt early
Interview multiple property managers
Don’t manage it yourself

Tenants should always take their responsibilities seriously per the lease, plus being sure not to rent more home than they can afford. If you’re a tenant with property manager issues, address them early and swiftly. And of course, difficult Landlords or property managers is another reason to consider buying instead of renting.

Landlords

Do not abandon the eviction process (e.g. fail to show up for the court date or initiate a writ of possession) until completely satisfied that the tenant has corrected the deficiency. You will have to start from scratch and repay your fees if you have to refile a new eviction.
Do not wait to start the eviction process. If rent is due on the 1st and you have not received it by the 4th, be sure to post a Notice to Pay Rent or Quit promptly on the 5th. You may feel confident that the tenant will pay, but the tenant will have ample opportunities to get you the rent before the end of the process. Starting with a Notice to Pay Rent or Quit shows that you are serious and a professional property manager. Plus you don’t want to wait three weeks to start a three-week week process and, before you know it, you’re only advertising for a renter a full three months since your last rent check.
Evictions are another reason to use a property manager, especially if you’re not local. It costs a lawyer $750+ to do a full eviction, not including the court fees, when you could have done it (or your property manager) for free. Also, judges love the proprietary lease contracts that professional property managers use (either the Texas Association of Realtors (TAR) Lease or Texas Apartment Association (TAA) lease) because the judges know exactly what is written in each.

Tenants

If you think it’s going to be like Judge Judy and you’re going to get to go back and forth and persuade the Judge of how great a person you are compared to your nasty Landlord, think again. Generally, the judge is going to look at the lease, look at the notice to vacate, ask if you have any proof or reason to think that the Landlord is wrong, and then rule. It usually takes less than five minutes. If you want to appeal, it will cost $1000s. Don’t let it get to court because you will likely lose.
Sometimes a Landlord kicks you out for no fault of your own. Maybe the home was foreclosed on. Maybe the previous owners want to move back in and give you a notice to vacate. Situations like these shouldn’t lead to an eviction, but it can still be frustrating.

Timeline

Here is an example timeline for non-payment of rent eviction.

1st. Rent is Due
5th. Rent is Late. Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate is posted on the Tenant’s door. Late fees begin accumulating.
8th. Tenant has not paid or vacated. Landlord files for an eviction with the County. The Court serves the Tenant orders to appear in court.
18th. Court Date. Both Tenant and Landlord appear to hash out the case. It takes about 5 minutes per case. Judge probably rules in the Landlord’s favor. Tenant has 5 days to move out.
23rd. Tenant still has not moved out. Landlord files a Writ of Possession.
26th. Sheriff shows up and removes the tenant forcibly from the property.

Conclusion

The entire process can take as little as three weeks. Texas is generally a Landlord-friendly state, and that has been my personal experience in the Bell County area.