Three day notice to evict!!!

My neighbor just recieved a letter in the mail from her landlord saying she has three days to pay or move. We live in Texas. She has been paying what the owner of the property has been telling her too but her lease says something different. His girlfreind is pushing him to collect the difference. My neighbor had already told the owner she would be moving out by the 10th of the month. Now she gets this notice in the mail. Does the owner of the property have to send the letter by certified mail to be legal or will just the US postal service work? I need an answer for her in the next day or so. Please help.

You are on shaky grounds to give more than suggestions!

Laymans suggestions: Read the TX L-T laws.

Odds are even if LL gets every step correct it takes 20-25 days once proper 3 day notice is served. .

Notice may require delivery in person or via certified mail--check it out. Actual receipt of notice may trum defective delivery method--so be careful if you want to claim no notice. (Many folks never accept  certified mail)  What does TX law say as to service of L-T notices?

If the lease spells out rent as say $500 but the LL has repeatedly accepted  say $400 as payment in full there might be a big debate as to if LL is now estopped from seeking $500 even though the lease says $500--devil is in details of fine print of lease--and mood of the judge.

The hidden problem may be can the LL now seek (at GF's pressure)  to recover all the underpaid rents.

It's a pay or quit notice, not an eviction notice.

In some states you cannot modify the terms of a written agreement except through another writing.  So if the agreement to pay less is oral, she's probably on shaky ground.

A pay or quit notice gives the landlord the ability to file for eviction.  He can't come boot her on day 4.

ratsmom:

Does the owner of the property have to send the letter by certified mail to be legal or will just the US postal service work?

The TX landlord tenant statute allows for service by regular mail and provides that the notice "shall be considered as having been given on the date of postmark of the notice."

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PR/8/92/A/92.012

So your neighbor technically has only 3 days from the postmark date and not three days from the received date.

The landlord tenant statutes can be found in Chapter 91 and 92 at:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/txcodes/pr.toc.html

And the eviction law at Chapter 24:

http://codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PR/4/24

Your neighbor needs to pay in full to avoid the eviction.

Even if your neighbor moves out by the tenth, the eviction goes forward along with a likely lawsuit, both of which will serve to trash your neighbor's credit and make it difficult for her to find rentals later on.

I think delivery date counts not posting date:

(f) The notice to vacate shall be given in person or by mail at the premises in question. Notice in person may be by personal delivery to the tenant or any person residing at the premises who is 16 years of age or older or personal delivery to the premises and affixing the notice to the inside of the main entry door. Notice by mail may be by regular mail, by registered mail, or by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the premises in question. If the dwelling has no mailbox and has a keyless bolting device, alarm system, or dangerous animal that prevents the landlord from entering the premises to leave the notice to vacate on the inside of the main entry door, the landlord may securely affix the notice on the outside of the main entry door.

(g) The notice period is calculated from the day on which the notice is delivered.