What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in Texas?

In Texas, a landlord may remove the contents of a unit the tenant has abandoned, but property seized under the landlord’s lien may be sold or disposed of only if a written lease authorizes it, after notice to the tenant by first class and certified mail at least 30 days before the sale. A landlord may seize only nonexempt property, only if a written lease authorizes it and it can be done without a breach of the peace, and must immediately leave a written notice and an itemized list of what was removed in a conspicuous place in the dwelling. The sale notice must give the date, time and place of the sale, an itemized account of what the tenant owes, and a contact for the sale, the amount owed and the tenant’s right to redeem. The tenant may redeem the property at any time before the sale by paying the delinquent rent and any packing, moving, storage and sale costs the lease authorizes. Sale proceeds go first to delinquent rent and lease-authorized costs, and any remainder must be mailed to the tenant within 30 days after the sale. After an eviction judgment, the officer executing the writ of possession has the tenant’s personal property removed and placed outside the unit, may use a bonded or insured warehouseman, and may not require the landlord to store the property. This is Tex. Prop. Code §§ 54.044, 54.045, 24.0061.

WhatTexas
Belongings left behindSale only if the lease allows, after 30 days’ notice
What the statute requires firstNotice, a waiting period or storage before disposal

What the statute says

“Before selling seized property, the landlord or the landlord’s agent must give notice to the tenant not later than the 30th day before the date of the sale. The notice must be sent to the tenant by both first class mail and certified mail …”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Tex. Prop. Code §§ 54.044, 54.045, 24.0061

Read the statute in the Texas Statutes (Texas Legislature): statutes.capitol.texas.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.

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