Texas Holdover Notice to Vacate: When It Applies and What Comes First
A Notice to Vacate is not the document that makes a fixed-term or periodic tenancy end. For a holdover case, first establish that the tenant's right of possession actually terminated, then use the Chapter 24 notice period and delivery rules.
Before the notice
Confirm the fixed-term lease expired or the periodic tenancy was properly terminated, any required nonrenewal notice was satisfied, no post-termination agreement or rent acceptance changed the tenancy, and the tenant remains in possession.
How long is the holdover Notice to Vacate?
Texas Property Code §24.005 generally requires at least three days' written notice to vacate before filing, unless the parties contracted in a written lease or agreement for a shorter or longer period. The tool must therefore check the lease before defaulting to three days.
What the notice should identify
§92.012 can add another mailing requirement
If the tenant gave the statutory written primary-residence notice at lease signing or renewal, the landlord must also satisfy the separate primary-residence notice requirement unless the statutory hand-delivery exception applies.