To evict a mobile home from your land in Texas, you have to run a court-supervised process: give the tenant proper written notice, file a forcible detainer suit in the Justice of the Peace court for the precinct where the land sits, win a judgment, and then get a writ of possession so a constable or sheriff can remove the tenant. Because the tenant owns the structure but rents your lot, a second track runs alongside the eviction itself: notifying any lienholder on the home and, if the home is left behind, using your landlord’s lien to clear it. Both tracks are governed by Texas Property Code Chapter 94 for manufactured home communities and Chapter 24 for the eviction suit.
Grounds That Let You Start
You need a recognized legal reason. Nonpayment of lot rent is the common one. You can also evict for a material lease violation or for breaking community rules that are incorporated into the lease. Under Chapter 94, any rules you adopt for the community are treated as part of the lease, but new or amended rules don’t take effect until at least 30 days after every tenant gets a written copy, and if a change forces the tenant to spend more than $25, they get at least 90 days to comply.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.008 – Manufactured Home Community Rules Trying to enforce a rule the tenant was never properly notified of will sink your case.
Notice Before You File
Nothing goes to court until the tenant has been given written notice. For nonpayment evictions on a manufactured home lot, there’s a preliminary step: you first send a notice giving the tenant at least 10 days to pay what they owe. Only after those 10 days pass without payment can you move forward.
The Notice to Vacate
After the cure period runs out, or immediately if the eviction is based on a lease violation rather than nonpayment, you serve a written Notice to Vacate. It terminates the tenant’s right to occupy the lot and demands they leave by a specific date. The default is at least three days before you file suit, but your written lease can shorten or lengthen that period, so check what you signed.2State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 24.005 – Notice Required
How to Deliver It
Effective January 1, 2026, Texas lets you deliver the notice by any of the following: first class, registered, or certified mail; delivery to the inside of the premises in a visible location; hand delivery to any tenant at the property who is at least 16; or electronic communication if both parties agreed to that method in writing.2State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 24.005 – Notice Required For manufactured home lots, Chapter 94 also allows posting the notice securely to the outside of the main entry door if the written lease authorizes that method.
Document delivery carefully. Landlords who can’t prove the notice was delivered properly often lose the eviction at trial regardless of the underlying merits.
Filing the Forcible Detainer Suit
If the tenant hasn’t left when the notice period ends, you file a forcible detainer suit in the Justice of the Peace court for the precinct where your land is located. The filing fee is $54, plus $100 for each person who needs to be served.3Texas Office of Court Administration. Fees for Justice Courts (Effective 01/01/2026) Your petition has to describe the property, state why you’re evicting, and explain how you delivered the Notice to Vacate.
The court sets a hearing no sooner than 10 days and no later than 21 days after filing, and the tenant must be served at least four days before trial.4Texas State Law Library. The Eviction Process Both sides present at the hearing, and the judge usually rules the same day or within a few days.
The Writ of Possession
A judgment in your favor doesn’t itself remove anyone. If the tenant still won’t leave, you request a Writ of Possession, the court order that authorizes law enforcement to physically remove them. The court cannot issue the writ until the sixth day after judgment, which gives the tenant one last chance to leave on their own.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 24.0061 – Writ of Possession
Once issued, the sheriff or constable has to serve the writ within five business days. Before executing it, the officer posts a written warning on the front door giving the tenant at least 24 more hours before the actual removal.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 24.0061 – Writ of Possession At execution, the officer delivers possession to you and instructs the tenant to leave immediately.
Dealing With the Home Itself
Clearing the person off the lot is one problem. Clearing the structure is another, and it runs on a slower timeline.
If the tenant discloses a lienholder on the home, you must notify that lienholder in writing within three days of filing the eviction suit. The lender has a separate legal interest in the home, and skipping this step creates problems that outlast the eviction.
You, as the landowner, may hold a lien on the home for unpaid lot rent. If the tenant neither pays what they owe nor removes the home after eviction, you can file in court to foreclose on that lien and have the home sold to satisfy the debt. The practical reality is worth knowing before you plan around it: moving a manufactured home often costs several thousand dollars, so some tenants simply walk away when removal costs exceed the home’s value. The lien foreclosure sale is the mechanism that lets you recover unpaid rent and clear your land in that scenario.
If the Tenant Appeals
The tenant has five days after the judgment to appeal to county court. Weekends and holidays count, but if the courthouse is closed on day five, the deadline rolls to the next business day.6State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 24.007 – Appeal
An appeal does not automatically stop the writ of possession. To stay on the lot during the appeal, the tenant has to pay rent into the court registry, either fair market rent or $250 per month, whichever is higher, with the first payment due within five days of filing the appeal. If those payments stop, you can ask the court for permission to proceed with removal while the appeal is pending. The county court is supposed to hear the appeal within 21 days of receiving the case from the JP court, so the process has a built-in cap.
Do Not Try Self-Help
The single most expensive mistake is trying to push the tenant off the lot without the court. Texas law prohibits changing locks, shutting off utilities, removing doors, or otherwise making the property uninhabitable to pressure someone into leaving. Chapter 94 states that a landlord may only evict a tenant or require removal of a manufactured home through court proceedings, and Texas Property Code Section 92.0081 gives tenants remedies for illegal lockouts that include penalties, a month’s rent, and attorney’s fees.
Even if the tenant hasn’t paid in months, go through the court. Done cleanly, the formal process can move in roughly three to five weeks when there’s no appeal. The illegal shortcut almost always costs more time and money than the real procedure would have.