Texas Eviction- Tenant Appeal
I sent certified mail eviction notice to tenant on 2/8/16. They never accepted letter so after seeing this through the USPS tracking on 2/12 I taped a copy of the notice on the exterior of the front door and a copy in the mail box (I have a key). My notice stated they needed to pay past due rent or vacate no later than Saturday, 2/20/16. I filed the eviction suit on Friday, 2/19 after being told they can't move or pay on 2/18. I didn't see a reason to delay any longer. The tenant has been basically past due since Dec due to employment hours being reduced (that's their story). They were supposed to temporarily pay weekly and catch up if needed when their tax return arrived in Feb. They paid one weekly payment in Dec and Jan, and didn't catch up in full in Feb as promised. All of our communication has been by text/phone thus far until the notice mentioned above when I sent a written notice. Their failing to pay in full when their tax return came made me realize they are simply not going to catch up and led me to take legal action. The tenant contacted me by text/phone daily between 2/12 when she received my notice and 3/11 trying to negotiate things. They were offering to make weekly payments but refusing to pay the $25/day late fees owed. Considering they never paid as promised up until now we were unable to reach an agreement. I didn't trust they would pay as promised so we went to JP court on 3/11.
The judge stated I filed my suit one day too soon and should have waited until 2/20 or later to file since my letter said they had until 2/20 to vacate or pay (even though they told me they weren't planning to do either) and that it was illegal for me to tape the notice to the front door but stated he was awarding a judgement in my favor after the tenant told them they could not be moved out by Monday should he lend them the extra day's time and they admitted they owe two months rent. He advised them they needed to be out within 5 days and they could appeal the decision. They appealed that day.
I went to the JP court to get a copy of their appeal docs and they appealed using a Pauper's affidavit inability to pay indicating their income was now equal to their rent amount and attached a Food stamp approval they recently received. When they moved in their income was 3x the rent... They have until tomorrow to pay the deposit into the court registry which the tenant informed me they plan to do. They informed me they are appealing to remain in the property that they are not planning to move.
My questions now are:
1. Do I need to hire an attorney for the County court appeal?
2. Will the county judge dismiss the case based on the errors the JP Judge mentioned above that my notice served 1-day to soon and taping it to the front door is illegal?
3. I have been reading the TX property code and it sounds like I should have given a separate written 3-day notice to vacate or a unpaid rent reminder before giving the pay or vacate eviction notice. Is this correct? Will the county judge dismiss my case if this is true?
By the time we get to the County court appeal in April at the earliest, they will owe 3 months rent and late fees. From what I read they will have to pay the deposit on tomorrow and rent each month during the appeal so hopefully that is true and the amount owed won't grow but I don't want to get to the County court and lose and have to start all over again if I should just do so now. Their lease isn't up until 7/31. This has taught me to never bend by giving a tenant extra time to pay beyond a week or so. I know better next time.