Notice to vacate error

[TravisC51]

Hi I have a question about my notice to vacate. I live in Texas Yes I know I need to vacate and an official eviction notice has not been made from the court just the notice to vacate from the landlord. The notice states I need to vacate the property within ten days (October 22) so I just need some more time to get to November first because all the places I have been looking at wont have anything ready before Nov. 1st.

So here is my issue on the notice to vacate it states. "In efforts to collect delinquent rents on the property and to recover possession of the property, now are proceeding with giving you this Notice of Past Due rents, Notice to Vacate and Notice of Eviction and relay that eviction proceedings against you have begun."

This letter is not from the court so can all these notices be written in one letter?

Another issue I see is, "Accordingly you are hereby given Notice to Vacate the property on or before 12:00 am. (noon) on the 22nd of October 2019, which includes 10 days after delivery of this letter, as per the rental agreement."

Is 12:00 am (noon) a legitimate error (shouldnt it have said midnight instead of noon) to present to the landlord and request another notice and reset the clock so I can have an extra 10 days?

 

[quincy]

Hi I have a question about my notice to vacate. I live in Texas Yes I know I need to vacate and an official eviction notice has not been made from the court just the notice to vacate from the landlord. The notice states I need to vacate the property within ten days (October 22) so I just need some more time to get to November first because all the places I have been looking at wont have anything ready before Nov. 1st.

So here is my issue on the notice to vacate it states. "In efforts to collect delinquent rents on the property and to recover possession of the property, now are proceeding with giving you this Notice of Past Due rents, Notice to Vacate and Notice of Eviction and relay that eviction proceedings against you have begun."

This letter is not from the court so can all these notices be written in one letter?

Another issue I see is, "Accordingly you are hereby given Notice to Vacate the property on or before 12:00 am. (noon) on the 22nd of October 2019, which includes 10 days after delivery of this letter, as per the rental agreement."

Is 12:00 am (noon) a legitimate error (shouldnt it have said midnight instead of noon) to present to the landlord and request another notice and reset the clock so I can have an extra 10 days?

It will not give you an additional 10 days.

 

[adjusterjack]

So here is my issue on the notice to vacate it states. "In efforts to collect delinquent rents on the property and to recover possession of the property, now are proceeding with giving you this Notice of Past Due rents, Notice to Vacate and Notice of Eviction and relay that eviction proceedings against you have begun."

This letter is not from the court so can all these notices be written in one letter?

Yes. A notice is only a notice. It carries no force of law. Only a court order matters. The Texas landlord tenant statute (Section 24.005) requires a minimum of 3 days notice and does not require any specific wording as long as it's in writing . You've been giving 10 days written notice. That complies with the law. That an eviction through the courts cannot be filed until the 10 days are up does not make the notice fatal as long as you aren't served court papers prior to the 10 day limit. Even then, you would only be able to address the timeliness of the eviction and not the 10 day notice.

https://law.justia.com/codes/texas/2017/property-code/title-4/chapter-24/

Is 12:00 am (noon) a legitimate error (shouldnt it have said midnight instead of noon) to present to the landlord and request another notice and reset the clock so I can have an extra 10 days?

No.

When the terms of a document are analyzed by a court they are first analyzed by what they actually say using standard definitions and convention. When there is some ambiguity (doubt) as to the meaning of the term the court will determine the intent of the parties. In your case, though 12:00 AM is an error, the LL clarified her intent by inserting the word "noon" thus eliminating any ambiguity. So, no, you don't get an extra 10 days.

You are, of course, free to ignore the notice, refuse to leave and wait for the court to order your removal by an a sheriff. But then you'll have an eviction on your record which is not a good thing to have on your record.

 

[LindaP777]

Seems to me it would be better to pay the landlord what you owe him, stay, and not have an eviction on your record. In my area, rentals are in such a demand, landlords rarely rent to people with prior evictions.