Texas has special statutes in place to supplement the landlord and tenant laws that don't properly apply in a situation between a mobile home owner and the park landlord who he rents a space from. Since this situation is not the traditional landlord and tenant arrangement, these special statutes establish requirements for the lease agreement and methods of legal recourse and are mainly contained in Chapter 94 of Texas state statutes.
Eviction Reasons
A Texas mobile home park owner has to have a specific and set cause to evict a mobile home owner from his lot. Eviction causes are established in Chapter 94, Subchapter E of Texas state statutes. This section covers termination, eviction and foreclosure situations. The mobile home owner can be evicted from the park due to nonpayment of lot rent and utilities, if the land use of the park is changing, not following park rules, or failing to adhere to any other lease clauses.
Self-Help Eviction
The park owner may attempt to circumvent eviction proceedings by harassing the mobile home owner, turning off utilities to the lot, or making it impossible to safely and conveniently live in the home. This practice is called a self-help eviction, and the park owner is not permitted to do this. The only way a mobile home owner can have utilities shut off or be made to leave is with a legal order of eviction. The mobile home owner can take legal action against the park owner for self-help evictions.
Termination
The park owner has to inform the Texas mobile home owner that the lease is terminated due to the eviction reason. For nonpayment, rule violations and lease violations, the termination notice has a clause to fix the breach and reinstate the lease. Termination notices give the owner 10 days to choose to fix the problem or move his mobile home.
Eviction Proceeding
After the initial termination period, the park owner is free to file for an eviction. The eviction suit is specifically for possession of the lot that the mobile home is parked on, forcing the owner to move his home, as he no longer has possession of the lot. A summons is sent with the eviction lawsuit, and the mobile home owner can file an answer. He can represent himself or choose to hire a lawyer. According to the Texas Tenant Advisor website, the court date is generally set within 10 days of the lawsuit filing. If the mobile home owner loses the judgment, he has a five-day period to appeal. If the appeal fails or is not applicable to the situation, the mobile home owner has 30 days to leave the lot. If the owner is still on the lot, the lot owner files a Writ of Possession in court. The Writ can prevent you from moving the mobile home, so you want to avoid this if at all possible.
