Texas 30 Day Notice to Vacate | Lease Termination Form

A Texas 30 Day Notice To Vacate is a letter which complies with state legal requirements to terminate a rental agreement, including a month-to-month or year-to-year lease. The non-terminating party must receive notice at least thirty (30) calendar days before the date of termination.

When To Use a Texas 30 Day Notice To Vacate

A Texas 30 Day Notice To Vacate terminates the following types of tenancy:

A rental agreement, including a month-to-month or year-to-year lease
A situation with no written lease where the tenant pays rent monthly

Most other states use a 30 Day Notice To Vacate for terminating an expired lease, but Texas allows for a shorter notice period in this rare case.

Some other types of Texas lease termination notice may allow different reasons for termination, or different notice periods. This may also apply to an eviction notice issued because of a lease or legal violation.

How To Write a Texas 30 Day Notice To Vacate

To help ensure the legal compliance of a Notice To Vacate:

Use the full name of the receiving party, and address of record, if known
Specify the basis upon which the tenancy will terminate
Specify the termination date of the lease or tenancy
Fill in the full address of the rental premises
Provide updated/current address and phone number information
Print name and sign the notice
Complete the certificate of service by indicating the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature

It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.

How To Serve a Texas 30 Day Notice To Vacate

Texas tenants do not have strict requirements on how they must deliver a lease termination notice, except that they must in some cases do so in writing. It is always legally most safe for a tenant to follow the same standards as apply to landlords. A Texas landlord may deliver a lease termination notice using any of these methods:

Hand delivery to the tenant
Hand delivery to a person at least 16 on the property who can accept the notice on behalf of the other party
Hand-affixing the notice to the inside of the property’s main entry door
Delivery by any form of mail, return receipt requested
Posting the notice on the exterior of the property’s main entry door, PLUS mailing a copy of the notice by 5:00PM local time (only if the landlord perceives a risk of harm by posting inside, or if the premises have an alarm and no onsite mailbox)

When posting notices on the exterior of the premises, the notice must be placed in a sealed envelope with the receiving party’s name and address written on it. In addition, the party posting the notice shall write “Important Document” in all capital letters on the envelope affixed to the premises. All notices must be mailed from a post office in the same county as the rental unit.

note

In almost all cases, notice is legally served when it is received by the other party, NOT when it’s sent. Check specified date of termination carefully to ensure compliance with the legal requirements for a notice period.

Sources

1 TX Prop § 91.001: If a notice of termination is given under Subsection (a) and if the rent-paying period is at least one month, the tenancy terminates on whichever of the following days is the later:

(1) the day given in the notice for termination; or

(2) one month after the day on which the notice is given.

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2 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(f): Except as provided by Subsection (f-1), the notice to vacate shall be given in person or by mail at the premises in question. Notice in person may be by personal delivery to the tenant or any person residing at the premises who is 16 years of age or older or personal delivery to the premises and affixing the notice to the inside of the main entry door. Notice by mail may be by regular mail, by registered mail, or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the premises in question.
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3 Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005(f-1) & (f-2): (f-1) As an alternative to the procedures of Subsection (f), a landlord may deliver the notice to vacate by securely affixing to the outside of the main entry door a sealed envelope that contains the notice and on which is written the tenant’s name, address, and in all capital letters, the words “IMPORTANT DOCUMENT” or substantially similar language and, not later than 5 p.m. of the same day, depositing in the mail in the same county in which the premises in question is located a copy of the notice to the tenant if:

(1) the premises has no mailbox and has a keyless bolting device, alarm system, or dangerous animal that prevents the landlord from entering the premises to affix the notice to vacate to the inside of the main entry door; or

(2) the landlord reasonably believes that harm to any person would result from personal delivery to the tenant or a person residing at the premises or from personal delivery to the premises by affixing the notice to the inside of the main entry door.

(f-2) Notice to vacate under Subsection (f-1) is considered delivered on the date the envelope is affixed to the outside of the door and is deposited in the mail, regardless of the date the notice is received.
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