I am a property owner in the state of Texas. I have a tenant living in my property and she is not paying rent. There is no contract at this time. It was never signed by both parties. She will not respond to my calls or emails. I served her a 3 day notice to vacate. She has disregarded it. Do I have legal right to change the locks? How do I get her out? This is causing me great financial difficulty and need help. Thanks in advance for your consideration and advice. DE Garrett

I will sound a little mean and disrespectful.

You do not need to be a landlord if you don't know the basics of being one. This is a business and needs to be treated as such.

So there is no lease, that merely means they are on a month to month rental.

1. why did you allow them to move in without signing the lease, that is done at time they pay, and they don't get ot move in with out it.

No you can't change the locks. They would sue you and may end up owning the house for unlawful eviction.

You now have to go to court house and file for a eviction in the court.

You need to begin the eviction process. Call you local county clerk and recorder office and ask them where you can get the documents. I live in CO and manage propeties for some friends of mine who live out of state. I had to go through this process as well and though it can be intimidating, the county clerk can give you clear instuctions. Hope that helps!

You really need to get a lawyer on this one... or at the very least, read up on TX landlord/tenant laws very carefully.

Texas is the only state, that I'm aware of, where the landlord can enter the tenants apartment and confiscate certain personal belongs when rent is in arrears.

As noted you need to know the laws for TX. Generally a 3 day notice is a pay or vacate. If that notice is ignored, you go to court for an eviction notice. A hearing will be set and at the hearing an eviction order will be issued unless she can show some reason not to. She is then given a few more days to vacate. If she still hasn't left, you hire a sheriff to physically remove her.

You cannot change the locks, that would consitute an illegal eviction and open you up for a lawsuit.