Do I have a squatter? How to get them out?

[Spencer OBrien]

I have no lease with a tenant I inherited and I am getting paid by section 8. I gave her notice to move out October 31st. They requested to stay until November 7th. Now they are refusing to leave. Do I have a legal tenant or do I have a squatter? What steps within the law can I take to remove them from my property? Can I shut the power and water off after changing it over to my name? I could really use some help! This property is in Dallas, Texas. Thanks everyone! Spencer

[Jon Holdman]

Welcome to the joys of landlording.

Turning off power would be a self-help eviction.  Judges take a VERY dim view of such actions.  Yes, you have a tenant.  You MUST follow the eviction process to get them out or else they can fight back and turn a relatively quick eviction into a very lengthy one.   If they're still there and refusing to leave you are not getting it tomorrow.

This will be an easy eviction if you follow procedures.  I assume that when you say you gave notice that was given with the proper timing.  Here I would need to give notice no later than Oct 2, which would be 30 days before the next rent payment is due.  If you've done that (with whatever timeline applicable laws and the lease says) then you have a good case and should have no problems getting a judge to rule in your favor.  At this point you're likely to lose most of November before you can make this happen, but shouldn't be much worse than that.  Hire an attorney in Dallas who specializes in landlord/tenant law from the landlord side and let them work the process.

You say you have no lease.  Did this tenant never have a written lease?  Seems unlikely.  That lease is still in effect.  If their truly is no written lease then state and local laws prevail, effectively creating a default lease.