You’d need to consult an attorney regarding your question. I can say that I always just use the standard eviction process as do all the professional property managers I know. I don’t think any of us see the extra effort and hassle of the BFIP as worth it. If we’re having to evict someone, it’s not a good situation and speeding things up by a few days isn’t going to matter much.

Steve

Here are copy from the collin county website:
There is a remedy that can shorten the time period from 23 days to ten days if you prevail in Court. This is known as a Bond for Immediate Possession and includes a Notice to Defendant of the Bond for Immediate Possession. By filing a bond for immediate possession, the eviction process could be shortened provided the defendant does not request a trial or post a counter bond.

In a Bond for Immediate Possession, you are putting up a bond for surety or cash. If you lose your suit, you could lose all or part of your bond. It must also be noted that any eviction suit judgment may be appealed to the County Courts-At-Law. However, if the defendant requests a trial or files a counter bond, the length of time involved in a Bond For Immediate Possession will be about the same as in a normal Eviction suit.

Best Regards,
Tim

Sounds like you have a month-to-month oral lease (which is recognized as valid in Texas) and you need to send a 30 day notice that the rent is increasing (from zero) to $xxx (whatever amount you think is fair).

Then, if rent is unpaid the following month, follow the standard eviction steps for nonpayment of rent. That’s what I’d do, but if you are uncertain, consult an attorney.

Good luck,

Steve

Only if you forgive the debt. You better consult an accountant about it though.
Steve

I’m a single parent, and I would have liked to know BEFORE signing the lease that this community not only does not have any other families with children living here but contains only urban professional, single 20-somethings, about half of whom are homosexual, who do not like children, do not want to have children living near them, and do not want to see, hear, or in any way know that there is a child living among them. They set upon us right away filing complaints with the office any time my son was seen on the premises doing anything remotely child-like, such as going barefoot in the summer, giggling, running, riding his skateboard (anywhere–even in the parking garage or out on the sidewalk near the street), or doing cannonballs in the empty pool when nobody else was swimming. We feel persecuted here and harassed, as though we couldn’t possibly avoid offending the neighbors unless we stay inside our apartment and keep silent.

The residents complain about trivial things, and the management staff oblige them by finding a way to file every complaint as a lease violation against us. As it is my word against theirs, I have no recourse but to just keep adding to my collection of lease violation notices, since I learned right away it does no good to argue my son’s case or deny the charges.

Examples: lease violation for “destruction of community property” was given because my son was doing cannonballs into the pool. No mention of what property was destroyed or even endangered by my son’s actions–I’m sure I’d have been asked to pay for any damage to community property he caused, but no request for payment, no damages assessed or described–just a vague, nonspecific charge to let us know that splashing and shouting in the pool will not be tolerated.

Lease violation for “child left unattended on community property” was given because I sent my son to retrieve the last two bags of groceries from the car after a trip to the supermarket. He went down the hall about 100 feet to the parking garage, to the car parked near the door, and came back with the groceries. He did not have shoes or socks on. He said a girl from the apartment office chewed him out, so I went down to the office to find out why. It seems the flimsy plastic grocery bag snagged on the door as he came through. He yanked it, tearing a hole in the bag, and a few items fell out onto the floor in the hallway. He went down on hands and knees to pick up the items just as one of the leasing agents walked by with a prospective tenant. Apparently, the dirty soles of my son’s bare feet and the disheveled appearance of dropped groceries embarrassed the leasing agent and contradicted the chic, sophisticated, yuppie image she’d been trying to convey. She sharply scolded my son and told him not to go without shoes in the hallways or parking garage. When I asked the manager what the problem was, she said, “Do you realize he was crawling around on the floor, and he had no shoes on?” I said yes, since it was August, I was aware that he had no shoes on. I wasn’t specifically aware that he’d been crawling on the floor, but I still didn’t see what the problem was. Is there a rule of some kind against crawling on the floor? She spluttered a bit more about his bare feet, never mentioning anything at all about him being in the hallway alone or unattended. The next day I received the official lease violation that charged me with leaving my child unattended on community property. After that, I received this same lease violation notice each time my son was spotted anywhere on community property without me in direct attendance.

Lease violation for “destruction of community property” received because my son was seen with his skateboard in the hallway and in the elevator, on his way with me to walk to the courtyard and parking lot across the street where he would ride his skateboard while I sat reading on a bench. Because he was with me, they couldn’t claim “child unattended” but they claimed he was riding the skateboard all over the place: in the halls, out by the pool, and rolling the skateboard around in the elevator. Again, no specific damage to any property was assessed or described. He carried the skateboard most of the time until we got to the sidewalk across the street, but I admit he did drop the skateboard down a couple of times and kick it around in the hall and in the elevator. Each time, I made him pick it up and carry it again, and I observed myself that no damage was done by the skateboard anywhere on community property.

Because he is the only child living here, he is noticed no matter what he’s doing. Because he’s a child, he will often run or trot down the hallway instead of strolling with a mature, leisurely gait. Because he’s a child, he often laughs and talks louder than is appropriate outside our neighbors’ patios. Sometimes he even whoops and hollers, because he is a child. The residents and management staff clearly do not want my son here, and whatever disturbance he has caused them could have been avoided if only I could have canceled the lease within a few days of signing it. I’m sure there are other situations where both tenants and landlords could benefit from a simple probationary escape clause.

My question is this: toward what purpose have these lease violations been given to me? Are they used to evict a tenant after enough violations have accumulated? Although I don’t consider any of them to be valid or reasonable, if their purpose is to evict us, effectively freeing us from the lease, then I’ll be happy to collect as many of these ridiculous lease violation notices as I can get! I’ve read the lease trying to find anything that explains what these lease violation notices are for. All I found is that I can be charged a $50.00 fine for each violation, but no such fines have been assessed. I wouldn’t pay them because I do not agree with the charges, but if I’m not to be fined or evicted, what are they for?

Don’t know what to tell you. The amount is beyond the JP Court amount limits so your attorney would have to file suit in a higher court.

This is why it’s important to file eviction immediately, before the losses can mount.

Good luck,

Steve

On the JP rent award, the JP is really only deciding who gets possession of the property. They will award past due rents but if you want to accelerate and collect future rents, you have to do that in a separate process.

Good luck,

Steve