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Texas Squatter Laws 2026: SB 38 and SB 1333
By Jaken Finance Group · Principal, Jaken Finance Group
Texas SB 38 and SB 1333 now speed unauthorized-occupant cases. What the 10–21 day rocket docket, email notice rules, and sheriff removal actually cover.
Texas squatter laws changed in two steps. Senate Bill 1333 took effect September 1, 2025. Senate Bill 38 applies to eviction petitions filed on or after January 1, 2026.
Together they give owners a faster civil calendar and a narrow sheriff path for true unauthorized occupants. They do not turn every messy possession fight into a same-day lockout.
This guide is for Texas landlords and flippers. Read it as investor context, not legal advice. Use a Texas landlord-tenant attorney on a live file. For the slower Illinois court path, see our Cook County eviction timeline.
What is actually in force
| Rule | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| SB 1333 effective date | September 1, 2025 | Enrolled SB 1333, Section 5 |
| SB 38 eviction changes | Petitions filed on or after January 1, 2026 | Enrolled SB 38, Sections 17–18 |
| Justice-court trial window | Not before day 10, not after day 21 after filing | SB 38, Property Code §24.0051(g) |
| Earliest trial after service | Fourth day after the occupant is served | Same section |
| Max postponement | 7 days unless all parties agree in writing | Same section |
| Citation service target | Diligent effort by the 5th business day | SB 38, §24.0051(f) |
| Writ of possession | Not before the 6th day after judgment (unless a possession bond) | SB 38, §24.0061(b) |
| Email notice | Only if the parties agreed in writing | SB 38, §24.005(f-3)(4) |
| False lease or deed | Class A misdemeanor | SB 1333, Penal Code §32.56 |
| Fraudulent sale, rental, or listing | First-degree felony | SB 1333, Penal Code §32.57 |
| Wrongful sheriff removal | Actual damages + 3× fair-market rent + fees | SB 1333, Property Code §24B.005 |
Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) authored SB 38 and called the new calendar a rocket docket in a December 31, 2025 Houston Public Media interview. Sen. Bryan Hughes authored SB 1333. Local TV often collapsed both bills into one Houston headline. They are different tools.
Two statutes, two jobs
SB 38 rewrites the civil eviction clock. It lives in Property Code Chapter 24. You still file a sworn petition in the justice precinct where the property sits. The court decides possession, not title. Counterclaims and third-party joinder are out of that suit.
SB 1333 adds a non-court path for a true squatter. It created Property Code Chapter 24B and two Penal Code fraud offenses. The owner (or agent) files a sworn complaint with the sheriff or constable. After the officer verifies record ownership, the officer must serve a notice to immediately vacate and put the owner back in possession.
If you mix the two, you will pick the wrong tool. A seller who lingered after a cash close is not the same fact pattern as a stranger who walked into a vacant flip.
How the SB 38 rocket docket actually runs
Start with notice. If the occupant is a tenant under a written lease or oral rental agreement, the landlord still gives at least three days’ written notice before filing, unless the lease set a different period (§24.005(a)).
Delivery methods are specific. Use at least one of these.
Mail works, including first-class, registered, certified, or a delivery service. You can also deliver to the inside of the premises in a conspicuous place. Hand delivery to any tenant 16 or older also counts. Electronic notice, including email, counts only if the parties agreed in writing.
That last line is the one TV coverage flattened. Email is not a new default. It is an opt-in.
Then file the sworn petition in the correct precinct. The sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve citation and petition by the fifth business day. If that does not happen, the landlord may have another trained law-enforcement officer serve it, including an off-duty officer with proper identification.
Trial dates are not “whenever the docket opens.” Subject to service, the court must set trial on day 10 through 21 after filing. It may not try the case before the fourth day after service. It may not postpone more than seven days without a written agreement.
Summary disposition is the faster track for a clean forcible-entry case. The landlord can attach a sworn motion with supporting facts. The occupant has until the fourth day after service to file a response that shows a genuine fact dispute. If the court finds no dispute, it may enter judgment without a trial. If it finds a dispute, it still sets trial inside the same 10–21 day filing window.
Advocates quoted by Houston Public Media said a squatter case can go from filing to judgment in five days with no trial. The statute does not say “five days from filing.” It says four days from service, plus the service clock. Treat “five days, no hearing” as advocacy shorthand, not the text.
After judgment, a writ of possession generally cannot issue before the sixth day. The officer must serve the writ by the fifth business day after it issues. The occupant has five days to appeal to county court. The county court must try the appeal no later than the 21st day after it receives the transcript.
Possession is faster than it was. It is still a court file, a service problem, and a writ.
Who SB 1333 will actually remove
Chapter 24B is narrow on purpose. An owner may request immediate sheriff or constable removal only if every gate in the enrolled analysis is met. The property must be residential. The person must have entered a dwelling that was not open to the public. There must be no pending litigation between owner and occupant. The owner must already have told the person to leave, and the person stayed. The person cannot be a current or former tenant under an oral or written lease. The person cannot be an immediate family member of the owner.
The officer must verify that the complainant is the record owner or the owner’s agent. Then the officer serves notice to immediately vacate — by hand to an occupant or by posting on the front door — and restores possession. The officer may arrest for trespass or another offense if probable cause exists. The owner can ask the officer to stay while locks are changed. Personal property can be moved to the property line.
Use this path on the wrong occupant and you can get sued. A person who is wrongfully removed may recover possession, actual damages, exemplary damages equal to three times fair-market rent, court costs, and attorney’s fees.
That is the real gray area FOX 26 Houston described in August 2026: a buyer who let a former owner stay “a few extra months” after a cash close. That informal stay is the fact pattern Chapter 24B excludes. The rocket docket may still help in justice court. The sheriff shortcut likely will not.
Crimes that used to look like paperwork
SB 1333 also created two fraud offenses.
Penal Code §32.56. Knowingly presenting a false, fraudulent, or fictitious lease, deed, or similar instrument, with intent to enter or remain, is a Class A misdemeanor. Under Penal Code §12.21, that is up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both.
Penal Code §32.57. Knowingly listing, advertising, selling, renting, or leasing residential property without legal title or authority is a first-degree felony. Section 12.32 sets punishment at life, or 5 to 99 years, and a fine up to $10,000. Licensed brokers, lenders, and title companies have a written exception when they did not know the other party lacked authority.
The same bill also raised criminal-mischief exposure when a habitation is damaged during criminal trespass and the loss is $1,000 to $300,000. That becomes a second-degree felony. Vacant flips that get stripped or wrecked sit in that range more often than owners want to admit.
A fake lease is no longer just a delay tactic that sends the deputy back to the car. It is a charging decision.
What we did not publish from the coverage
FOX 26 was a topic prompt. Several lines in that story, and in the surrounding press, do not survive a statute check.
| Claim you will see | What the primary text says | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Eviction notices can now go by email | Email only if the parties agreed in writing | Corrected above |
| Law enforcement can remove squatters immediately | Only after a sworn complaint and owner verification, and only if the occupant is not a tenant, former tenant, or family member | Corrected above |
| Filing-to-judgment in five days with no trial | Summary disposition uses a four-day post-service response window | Corrected above |
| Texas ranks second in the nation for squatting | Appears in a May 28, 2025 Bettencourt press release with no dataset | Omitted |
| Months-long statewide delay, or a fixed legal-fee average | Anecdote and testimony, not a published statewide median | Omitted as a statistic |
| Justice court can settle who owns the house | Justice court may not adjudicate title | Corrected |
Housing advocates at Texas Housers told Houston Public Media the civil bill still makes eviction a little less friendly to renters. That policy fight is real. It is not a reason to treat a former tenant as a trespasser.
Title fights still belong in district court. SB 38 did not repeal adverse-possession statutes in Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 16. It just kept those claims out of the possession docket.
Why this matters on a Texas flip
Texas already moves distressed inventory fast. The state page on Texas fix-and-flip loans is built around first-Tuesday foreclosure speed. Occupancy is the delay that still kills a file.
ATTOM’s Q1 2026 flipping report put typical U.S. gross ROI at 25.4%. Large Texas metros printed much thinner spreads: Austin 2.0%, Dallas 4.3%, San Antonio 5.1%, Houston 7.2%. Those figures are purchase-to-resale only. Rehab, interest, and selling costs are not in them. We walked through that math in best fix-and-flip markets for fall 2026.
ATTOM’s 165-day median hold with a stranger in the house is not a 165-day hold. It is extra interest-only months on an 8.99%–13.5% hard-money loan, plus insurance, utilities, and a stalled draw schedule. Run the extra months through the fix-and-flip calculator and the holding-cost breakdown before you treat “vacant at closing” as a hope.
Compare that to Illinois eviction timelines, where contested Cook County cases often run 4–9 months. Texas is still faster. The new bills make the clean unauthorized-occupant file faster still. They do not rescue a handshake stay or a missing lease file.
Underwrite occupancy before you underwrite ARV
Treat possession like a line item, not a surprise.
Before you close. Walk the house. Check utilities, mail, and neighbors. If anyone is living there, get the lease, the last payment, and a written move-out date. A seller who “just needs two more weeks” is creating a former-owner occupancy file.
If you allow a short stay. Put it in a written use agreement with an end date, a daily holdover fee, and a statement that the occupant is not a tenant if that is the real deal — or use a proper lease if they are. Do not rely on a text thread.
If you find a stranger after closing. Call Texas counsel before you file a Chapter 24B complaint. The wrongful-removal statute is the penalty for guessing. If the person ever had a lease or oral rental deal, file the civil eviction.
If you are holding as a rental. The rocket docket helps a defaulting tenant case move. It does not replace a written lease, notice compliance, or a property manager who can prove service. Texas DSCR loans still need clean occupancy and rent that covers PITIA.
Keep a refinance exit. If the retail buyer walks because the house is not actually vacant, you want a hard-money-to-DSCR refinance already underwritten. Cap the offer with the 70% rule and a real ARV, not a best-case lockout date.
Indiana operators who want the other side of this comparison can use our Indiana landlord-tenant guide. Same question, different statute.
Financing while the house is occupied
We underwrite the property and the exit, not a W-2 story. Occupied or contested files change the clock, not the published ranges.
| Product | Rate | Leverage | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fix-and-flip / hard money | 8.99%–13.5% | Up to 100% LTC on qualified files; up to 75% ARV | 6–12 months |
| Bridge | 8.99%–13.5% | Up to 90% purchase | 12–24 months |
| DSCR rental | 5.75%–10.5% | Up to 85% purchase, 80% cash-out (select files) | 30-year fixed or ARM |
Close speed on flip paper is typically 7–10 business days once the file is complete. A pending possession fight can still stall draws, insurance, and a DSCR takeout. See 100% financing for how purchase-plus-rehab is structured when the house is truly vacant, and Texas hard-money lenders for the state desk.
Next step
If you are buying a vacant Texas flip, or you just inherited an occupant you did not underwrite, send the address and the occupancy facts. We will tell you whether the hold still works.
Submit a flip scenario or pick the loan that matches the exit. Call (833) 264-7776.
Sources
- 89th Legislature, SB 38 enrolled text (Bettencourt; eviction calendar, notice, summary disposition, writs). Petitions filed on or after January 1, 2026.
- 89th Legislature, SB 1333 enrolled text and enrolled bill analysis (Hughes; Chapter 24B, Penal Code §§32.56–32.57, criminal-mischief enhancement). Effective September 1, 2025.
- Texas Penal Code Chapter 12 — Class A misdemeanor and first-degree felony punishment ranges.
- Houston Public Media, December 31, 2025 — Bettencourt “rocket docket” quote; Texas Housers criticism.
- FOX 26 Houston, 2026 — topic prompt only. Used for the former-owner gray-area scenario, not as a statute source.
- ATTOM Q1 2026 U.S. Home Flipping Report. National 25.4% gross ROI and Texas large-metro compression.
- Jaken Finance Group published ranges as of this writing. Hard money is 8.99%–13.5% for 6–12 months, up to 100% LTC and 75% ARV on qualified files. DSCR is 5.75%–10.5%.