The documents you use in your eviction trial will make a HUGE difference. Use Texas eviction forms that are thorough and professional, your tenant has little chance of beating you at trial. Use poorly drafted forms, your tenant’s mere presence at trial is enough to derail your case.
And this is especially true if your tenant blind-sides you by showing up with a legal aid attorney.
Select he red button below that best meets your needs. The “Non-Payment” button is only for landlords who have a written lease agreement AND the tenant has stopped paying rent. The “Terms” button is for an eviction on terms. This is an eviction for something other than non-payment of rent. Select this form if you have a written lease and you are evicting for something other than non-payment of rent, OR if you have no lease agreement. This packet is useful if you are evicting family members and former romantic partners. Select the “Both” button if you have a written lease agreement, your tenant has stopped paying rent, AND your tenant has violated non-payment terms of your lease agreement.
Original Pleadings
If you haven’t yet filed any eviction documents with your court, check out our Original (as in “first time”) filings here:
Amended Pleadings
Have you already filed low quality, high-risk eviction documents? Not a problem! Assuming you have more than three days before your eviction trial, you can update your filings with one of our Amended pleadings packets here:
The Problem with “Free” Internet Eviction Trial Forms
You no doubt have some sense that using those free docs found on the internet is very risky. You never know what you’re going to get. Our firm has had to represent clients who used Arizona lease agreements on a Texas rental property. Still shaking our heads over that one….
If a lease from another state can burn you, what do you think using court pleadings from another state will do to your case? This sort of thing is like filling up your car’s gas tank with kerosene. “Why won’t my car go? It looked like fuel. It smelled like fuel….”
By using “free” online documents, you never know what you’re going get. For all you know, those forms could have been drafted for a state other than Texas. Even if they say “Texas” on them, you have no way of knowing whether they were copied from a set of Minnesota forms. Chances are a Minnesota eviction petition won’t get you very far.
And free online forms drafted by some would-be lawyer on his mom’s basement computer will almost always get you in trouble. They’re the riskiest forms you can use.
And Court-Provided Texas Eviction Forms Aren’t Much Better
I know – you’re probably thinking, “I’m totally safe! I used the forms the Court gave me!”
Not so fast there, Tex….
Unfortunately, the court-provided Texas eviction forms are rarely much better. While Texas courts are well-intentioned by providing these documents, they almost always provide you the bare minimum. If your tenant no-shows at trial, you might be OK.
Court-provided Texas eviction forms are primarily designed to make the Judge happy. They include the information the Judge wants to see in the order the Judge wants to see it. Court-provided forms will almost never include language that gives the Judge no legal basis to rule against you.
You need Texas eviction forms that will serve your interests, not the Court’s.
Original Pleadings
If you haven’t yet filed any eviction documents with your court, check out our Original (as in “first time”) filings here:
Amended Pleadings
Have you already filed low-quality, high-risk eviction documents? Not a problem! Assuming you have more than three days before your eviction trial, you can update your filings with one of our Amended pleadings packets here:
Bad Texas Eviction Forms – It’s a Trap….
Let’s look at some of the TRAPS these abismal, need-to-be-shot-in-the-head eviction forms create for you:
- TRAP # 1: The tenant shows up to court with his unpaid rent. If you don’t have language in your petition that allows you to proceed even when this happens, you’re done!
- TRAP #2: On an eviction on terms you neglect to include the citations necessary to pin down your tenant. The Judge won’t let you stand there to “figure it out” in front of a courtroom full of people. You’re done!
- TRAP #3: Texas law requires all eviction lawsuits to be sworn to. Neglect doing this properly… yep – you guessed it! You’re done!
- TRAP #4: Signing that Affidavit of Non-Military Service without proof your tenant IS NOT in the military. Do this, and you’re done in a completely difference sense of the word. Falsifying an affidavit is perjury. Don’t risk jail time over a dead-beat tenant!
- TRAP #5: Entering into a settlement agreement that you can’t enforce. Our firm has picked up cases after other, well-seasoned attorneys have made this mistake. And often, the only fix is re-starting the eviction.
You can wipe out THE greatest risk you are presently facing in your eviction trial: those horrible forms….