Not in Texas. Before a landlord may file an eviction lawsuit, the landlord must serve the tenant with a written Notice to Vacate. The notice to vacate may be served in several ways: hand delivered, mailed, posted on the inside of the front door, but NOT posted on the outside of the door. Often the Notice is a form, sometimes it is a letter. There is no legally specifically required form for the notice to vacate.

The time limit for a notice to vacate is generally 3 days unless the lease specifies a different period of time. Many TAA leases provide for a 24 notice period. There is no requirement that a constable or even a process server serve the notice to vacate. The notice to vacate is merely the first step in the eviction process. Once the notice period is up, the next step for the landlord is to file an eviction lawsuit in the Justice of the Peace Court.