Maybe you inherited a house in Sunnyside or Acres Homes and it sat empty through probate. Maybe a tenant in your Pasadena rental said they were moving out months ago, and someone’s still parking in the driveway. However it happens, finding someone living in a house you own who has no right to be there is one of the most stressful situations a Houston owner can face — and until recently, Texas law didn’t make it easy to do much about it quickly.
Why Vacant and Inherited Houston Homes Are Targets
Squatters tend to show up where nobody’s watching closely. A house that’s been empty for weeks during probate, a rental between tenants, or a property owned by someone who’s moved out of state are all easy marks. Houston’s spread-out suburbs make it worse — a house can sit vacant in Spring or Humble for a month before a neighbor even notices lights on that shouldn’t be, utilities still running, or mail piling up at the curb.
What Texas’s New Squatter Laws Actually Changed
Two new laws reshaped how Texas owners deal with unauthorized occupants. Senate Bill 1333, effective September 1, 2025, created a faster path for true squatters — someone who never had a lease, was told to leave, and refused. Instead of filing a full eviction lawsuit, an owner can submit a sworn complaint to the county sheriff or constable, who can serve a notice to vacate and put the owner back in possession without going through court first.
Senate Bill 38, effective January 1, 2026, works differently and applies to a different situation: tenants who did have a lease, even one that’s since expired. For those cases, owners still have to go through eviction, but the new law creates a faster “rocket docket” process aimed at wrapping up a case in about three weeks instead of two months or more.
The two laws don’t overlap, and using the wrong one can backfire — treating a former tenant with an expired lease as a squatter (or vice versa) can expose an owner to real liability. Harris County and the surrounding constable precincts are still working out exact forms and procedures for the newer law, so this is general information, not legal advice. If you’re dealing with an active situation, a local real estate attorney can tell you which process fits your facts before you act.
Removing Someone Is Only Step One
Even with a faster legal process, getting an unauthorized occupant out doesn’t solve the rest of the problem. There’s often damage to repair, unpaid utilities or property taxes that piled up while the house sat vacant, and then the time and cost of getting it market-ready, listed, and shown — all while the house, and the stress, keeps sitting with you. For owners managing this from out of town, or dealing with a property in Cypress, Baytown, or Conroe they can’t easily check on, that timeline adds up fast.
What to Expect When You Sell to Southern House Buyers
We buy houses across the Houston area in whatever condition they’re in, including ones that have had an unauthorized occupant, deferred maintenance, or back taxes stacking up. You won’t need to repair anything, clean it out, or stage it for showings. We’ll make a no-obligation cash offer based on the property as it sits today, and once your title and occupancy situation is resolved, we can close in as little as a couple of weeks.
If you’re dealing with a squatter, a difficult tenant, or just inherited a house you don’t want the headache of listing — whether it’s in Willis, Katy, or anywhere in between — reach out for a free, no-pressure conversation about your options. We’ll walk through what selling to us would look like, even if it turns out not to be the right fit.