Texas 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate

Texas three-day pay-or-vacate notice: Dallas and San Marcos

This notice offers payment of the stated unpaid rent or surrender of the rental premises under Texas Property Code § 24.005(a). The form is limited to ordinary residential rentals inside Dallas or San Marcos city limits, the standard three-day period and a new, undisputed rent balance. A completed notice is a landlord's demand; it is not a judgment or a filed eviction case.

1. Verify city limits, county and the property's agreements

Use the property's actual municipal boundary, not merely its postal city or ZIP. Dallas can extend into Dallas, Collin, Denton, Kaufman and Rockwall counties; San Marcos can extend into Hays, Caldwell and Guadalupe counties. Select the county where the rental is actually located. A neighboring unincorporated address is outside this form's supported city scope. Austin, San Antonio and other cities need their own review.

Dallas's September 2025 ordinance repealed its former proposed-eviction notice requirement. San Marcos states that its former emergency delay expired June 30, 2023. Those changes do not cancel an individual lease, assistance agreement or financing condition. Check those documents before selecting the ordinary branch. Covered or uncertain housing programs, government-backed loans, manufactured-home lots, foreclosure, holdover and other eviction grounds require separate review.

2. Check whether the lease changes the three-day period

Section 24.005(a) generally calls for at least three days' written notice before a forcible-detainer suit against a tenant, but a written lease or agreement may specify a shorter or longer period. This form supports only the standard period with no additional contractual notice or opportunity to cure. Do not ignore a lease addendum because the form's heading says three days.

Under the 2026 statute, nonpayment and the tenant's earlier delinquency history affect whether pay-or-vacate wording is required or one of the available alternatives. This form offers the payment option throughout its supported rent-only branch. It does not claim that every Texas eviction must offer that option, and it does not use the separate rules for an occupant who entered without permission. A holdover case also raises § 91.001 and needs a different notice analysis.

3. Reconcile rent before stating the demand

Compare the lease's rent obligation with receipts, transfers and the ledger. Identify every rental period, the rent charged and each payment or credit allocated to that period. The demand uses the remaining rent balance. A credit is not an optional deduction: omitting it can make the demand inaccurate. Resolve disputed allocation, an accepted payment plan or a previously delivered notice before using this new-notice workflow.

Late fees, utilities, damages, legal costs and future rent are not included in this form's cure amount. Late fees have separate requirements under § 92.019; their inclusion in a lease does not make them unpaid periodic rent here. Attorney-fee recovery under § 24.006 is also a separate question. Do not turn the three-day rent demand into the separate attorney-fee demand or add fees to the total without changing the legal analysis.

4. Verify the deadline from actual delivery

Section 24.0042 excludes the day that starts the period, counts intervening Saturdays, Sundays and state or federal holidays, and moves a final day falling on one of those days to the next eligible day. For example, delivery on Tuesday, October 27, 2026 ordinarily makes Friday, October 30 the third day; delivery on Wednesday, October 28 ordinarily moves a Saturday third day to Monday, November 2. Applicable holidays or court orders must still be checked.

The date entered as the notice date records the demand and rent balance; signing or preparing the file does not prove delivery on that date. The form shows a preliminary minimum and rejects known invalid dates, but you must enter and verify the actual deadline using the state and federal holiday sources. If delivery happens later than planned, recheck the notice before relying on it. The supported calendar covers 2026 delivery dates, with a limited early-January 2027 deadline range; it is not a perpetual calendar or an earliest-filing certification.

5. Use a delivery method allowed by the current statute

Section 24.005(f-3) lists mail or delivery service, conspicuous placement inside the premises, hand delivery to a tenant who is at least 16, and electronic communication when the parties agreed in writing. This form supports the last three options after the relevant conditions are checked. A household resident is not automatically a tenant; outside-door placement is not inside placement. Inside delivery does not itself grant permission to enter.

Mail needs separate timing review here; a mailing date or delivery estimate is not proof of receipt. Although subsection (f-4) addresses actual receipt, do not assume an unsupported method succeeded without evidence. For agreed electronic delivery, retain the written agreement, agreed destination, complete notice, transmission information and any failure response. The Share button does not verify delivery, consent or receipt. Record what actually occurred on the separate delivery record; never complete it as though a planned event already happened.

6. Choose paper signing or an agreed electronic signature

Paper execution is available by preparing the notice, printing it and signing before delivery. Optional electronic execution requires actual agreement by the parties for this notice and the signer's intention to adopt the signature. Business & Commerce Code §§ 322.003, 322.005, 322.007–322.009 address scope, agreement, recognition, retention and attribution. Other substantive law and required delivery methods still apply.

Checking the electronic-signature option records your confirmation; it cannot supply another person's agreement. Agreement to an electronic signature and the written agreement needed for electronic delivery are distinct matters. Do not select email service merely because you typed your signature. A saved signature remains available in your draft, but a changed notice requires fresh review before a new signed version is prepared.

7. Recheck changes before filing in the correct precinct

Review payments, credits, agreements and delivery evidence again before taking the next step. Do not proceed as if the original balance remained unpaid when a later payment changes it. The court process for possession is separate from creating this notice. Section 24.0041 places an eviction suit in the justice precinct containing the rental property; the county alone does not identify the precinct.

The Texas State Law Library's eviction guide describes the stages from notice through judgment and writ. Citation, hearing and appeal deadlines concern the lawsuit and should not be copied into this pre-suit demand. A notice does not authorize physical removal or utility interruption. Possession through a writ is governed by § 24.0061, and separate residential lock and utility protections remain applicable.

8. Keep the executed notice and supporting evidence

Retain the final notice, complete rent statement, payment directions, lease and addenda, receipts, and the actual delivery record. The blank version leaves these facts for handwriting; the online version fills the reviewed entries. Inspect every page before signing or sending, including a continued rent table. A download is not a court filing and does not establish the date of service.

Do not use the ordinary three-day form to resolve covered-housing disputes. Section 24.005(c-1) discusses federal notice periods and writ timing, but federal program obligations and their interaction with state law require separate analysis. Existing assistance, disputed rent, special protections or uncertain scope should be reviewed before a demand is delivered. The form preserves that boundary instead of substituting a generic notice for a situation it does not support.