It should clearly state that you want the Tenant to leave. If that’s not clear, then you probably don’t have a Notice to Vacate. Unequivocal demand for possession is not something like, “If you pay, then you can stay,” that’s what your Lease already says.
Your Notice to Vacate is “I demand you to Vacate.” should be a demand for possession: you’re drawing the line in the sand, they’ve got to go.
So, what valid form can this Notice take? It has to be in writing. Courts and the Legislature do not accept Email or Text as a valid “written Notice to Vacate.”
Essentially, it has to be on paper. Too many Landlords try to send a very well-crafted Notice by email, perfectly worded, right out of the statute. But if you only send it by email, that’s not a valid way to send your Notice.
Your Notice to Vacate has to be on paper. When you’re delivering your Notice to Vacate, make sure that the paper that you deliver is not the only paper in existence. Make a copy.
A photo with your cell phone is okay, but a scanned copy will have better quality. You can give your Tenants the original, that’s fine. But you definitely want to keep a copy.
If you don’t have a copy, and the substance of the Notice is challenged, or the fact of the Notice is challenged, or the method of delivery is challenged, it always helps to have a copy of the Notice with you.
So, if it only exists in email, you surely can print it out, but it means you essentially announced to the court your invalid method of delivery. The substance might be good, as well as everything in it might be proper and according to the Texas Property Code. But the fact that it was only delivered by email, kills it.
So, you definitely want it on paper, email is not good enough. Send your Notice to Vacate by email ONLY in conjunction with a PROPER method.
If you deliver your Notice to Vacate by at least one valid method, then email is helpful. And sometimes people have in their Leases that email is the preferred method of Notice, and there’s nothing wrong with sending a copy of the Notice to Vacate by email. But you must have at least one of the valid methods of delivery:
- by regular and/or certified mail. We serve ALL of our Notices to Vacate by regular & certified U. S. Mail;
- personal delivery to a Tenant in their hand or an Occupant who’s above the age of 16, in their hand. You have to be able to prove that this Occupant is a resident on the premises. The best way is if their name actually appears on the Lease;
- by attaching the paper Notice to the inside of the main entry door. Don’t post it outside. It’s too complicated and it’s too easy to get it wrong.
Make sure to always print your Notice to Vacate in paper. If you’re going to send email, go ahead, but do at least one of the valid methods of delivery, first or contemporaneously.
So, use U.S. Mail (regular and/or certified U.S. Mail), personal delivery in the hand of the Tenant, or fix it attached to the inside of the main entry door.
