January 15, 2025 by Sydney Perez
Lone Star Legal Aid’s Eric Kwartler Helped In-Person Outreach Attendee Avoid Unfair Eviction
We met Evelyn Smith at our first court help desk, an in-person outreach event, at the Harris County Civil Courthouse on Caroline Street in Houston. Evelyn was being evicted for nonpayment of rent, and she had no resources to move. Eric Kwartler, Managing Attorney of our Eviction Right to Counsel, took on her case, noting that Evelyn was “a nice person who had fallen on tough times.”
Evelyn’s landlord sent her a Notice to Vacate (NTV) by first class mail, but unfortunately, she had not been receiving mail for months. She was able to produce evidence of this, sending many emails to her landlord expressing concerns about not receiving her mail.
Mr. Kwartler presented these emails as evidence in court. The landlord tried to argue that Texas Property Code Section 24.005 was satisfied because the NTV was sent in accordance with the law, but Mr. Kwartler pointed out that the Plaintiff had not met its burden for a Forcible Detainer. A Forcible Detainer suit is also known as an eviction, where a landlord can file legal action to remove a tenant from their rental property for violating their lease agreement. According to TPC 24.005, a landlord must give at least 3 days written notice to vacate the property before the landlord can file a Forcible Detainer suit.
Regarding the case, Mr. Kwartler shared that, “Knowledge is important in the law. Ignorance of the law is generally not an excuse for breaking it, but not knowing you are doing the prohibited thing often is. In order to be sued for eviction, a tenant has to then “willfully” not move out despite having been told with a Notice to Vacate that they were no longer welcome. In order to do something willfully, you have to know you are doing it. In this case, the tenant had no idea she was supposed to move out, because she never received the Notice to Vacate in the mail. Therefore, she could not possibly have “willfully” not moved out. You can’t refuse to do something if no one told you to do it in the first place.”
The court ultimately issued a take nothing judgment, which cleared Evelyn’s back rent debt and granted her possession of the premises. Evelyn was able to keep her home, and was reassured that the landlord could not file an eviction suit again for the same reason.
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the client(s).
Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income and underserved populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. LSLA focuses its resources on maintaining, enhancing, and protecting income and economic stability; preserving housing; improving outcomes for children; establishing and sustaining family safety, stability, health, and wellbeing; and assisting populations with special vulnerabilities, like those with disabilities, the aging, survivors of crime and disasters, the unemployed and underemployed, the unhoused, those with limited English language skills, and the LGBTQIA+ community. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.
Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org
Sydney Perez
