I received an eviction notice and went in the office and paid half on my balance a week later I received a lockout without notice, is that legal in Houston?
I received an eviction notice and went in the office and paid half on my balance a week later I received a lockout without notice, is that legal in Houston?
Read your lease. If your lease allows your landlord to follow a lockout procedure, then your landlord can follow that procedure when you fail to pay your rent in full and on time. The idea is to get the delinquent tenant to contact the landlord, and perhaps to come to an agreement about the delinquent rent and when it will be paid.
Lockout is not the same thing as eviction. Your landlord must give advance notice of the lockout (which has apparently been given), providing at least five calendar days notice of the lockout. If you continue to fail to pay your rent, as long as the lockout process is authorized by the lease and the action is consistent with the notice, the landlord may lock you out of your unit and require you to request a key to regain entry. The key must be given upon request, and you do not have to pay additional rent in order to regain access to your rental unit.
Ok but I was given an eviction notice and she told me I needed to pay at least half the rent which I did, I never received a lockout notice and I didn't see the lockout until after hours so I couldn't do anything about it until the next day when the office opened...I called the manager and ask why I didn't receive a lockout notice and she said because I didn't pay all of my rent which I understand but wasn't I suppose to receive something letting me know I was going to be locked out and a number to call after hours so that I could regain entry
Read Section 92-0081 and 92-009 of the Texas landlord tenant statute at:
http://law.justia.com/codes/texas/20...-8/chapter-92/
If you go to court, you might win a nice big chunk of money from the landlord.
She has now filed for eviction so I'm waiting for a constable to serve me a court notice.. I believe it was an unlawful lockout because I didn't receive prior notice which I've been reading up on for a week now..thanks alot
Do I need to have a lawyer go to court with me or should I represent myself?
That's a call you need to make for yourself. If you believe that you are competent to represent yourself, you can give it a shot. If not, or if you're not sure, then it would be sensible to get help from a lawyer.