Texas Supreme Court halts eviction proceedings through late April due to coronavirus
The Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency order Thursday halting all eviction proceedings in Texas through late April.
The order notes that while filings can still be submitted, no trial, hearing, or other eviction proceeding may be conducted until after April 19. The order is effective immediately, and can be extended by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Exceptions will be made if the court determines that a tenant or occupant’s actions pose an imminent threat of physical harm to a landlord, their employees or other tenants, or if tenants are engaging in criminal activity, according to the order.
In a statement Friday, Gov. Greg Abbott praised the Texas Supreme Court’s decision.
“This decision by the Texas Supreme Court offers a lifeline to many Texans who are beginning to feel the economic impact of COVID-19,” Abbott said. “Temporarily suspending residential eviction proceedings will provide Texans whose personal income has been affected by the spread of this virus with greater flexibility to meet their housing needs and provide for their families. I thank the Texas Supreme Court for its swift action on this matter.”
Courts across Texas had previously announced their intentions to temporarily halt evictions in order to prevent residents from losing their homes amid layoffs and reduced hours due to the coronavirus’ spread. The counties of Travis, Bexar, Harris and Dallas had previously paused evictions, and on Tuesday the Tarrant County Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace Court had announced any eviction cases set for the docket during the week of March 23rd -27th and any new filings would be heard after April 13.
The emergency order is the Texas Supreme Court’s fourth following Abbott’s declaration of a state of disaster last week, and it came just hours after Abbott issued an executive order that temporarily closed Texas schools and gyms, restricted dining-in at restaurants and bars, restricted visits to nursing homes and limited social gatherings to no more than 10 people through April 3.
More than 45 state lawmakers had signed onto a letter to Abbott and Chief Justice Nathan Hecht on Monday, urging the Supreme Court of Texas to order all Texas courts to temporarily halt eviction and foreclosure proceedings for residential homes and properties.
The lawmakers noted how hourly employees, small businesses and restaurants have borne the brunt of the economic losses due to restrictions to slow the spread of the virus.
“This economic loss has created an untenable situation where it is in our state’s best interest to safely keep people in their own homes while, at the same time, people may be forced out of their homes because they have lost too much income or lost their employment completely,” the letter read.
The Supreme Court of Texas had previously ordered that in an effort to reduce in-person gatherings, Texas courts must not conduct non-essential proceedings through May 8, and allowed courts to “take any other reasonable action to avoid exposing court proceedings to the threat of COVID-19,” such as temporarily suspending deadlines or allowing witnesses to participate remotely.
And in court-ordered child visitation agreements that have been affected by school closures, parents should abide by the school calendar that had been in place before mandated school closures due to the coronavirus’ spread.
Earlier this week, Tarrant County announced there would be no new jury trials in county courts through April 20.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 6:54 PM.
