In response to the Supreme Court’s order, many Texas counties, including, but not limited to, Harris (Houston), Dallas (Dallas), Collin (Plano) and Travis (Austin) have each issued similar orders prohibiting evictions through at least April 30, 2020.

However, it is important to note that, while the Supreme Court’s order is limited to residential properties, most county orders do not make the same distinction; instead, their blanket prohibitions on evictions proceedings and related court closures implicitly include both residential and commercial tenants or, in the case of Collin County, explicitly include commercial tenants.

As April 1 came and went, landlords and tenants across Texas were faced with the reality of how to handle rent payments (or the failure thereof) during the COVID-19 pandemic. While evictions have been temporarily placed on hold, landlords still need to consider a number of factors under their leases to ensure that they are adequately protected and prepared when the courts reopen.

Landlords should carefully review the default provisions in their leases and closely adhere to the procedures contained therein, including providing any required notice and cure periods to their tenants, since many leases provide cure periods for failure to pay rent before such failure becomes an event of default permitting the landlord to exercise remedies. Additionally, some leases provide that a landlord can only pursue remedies for a tenant default if the landlord itself is not in default under the lease. In such cases, the landlord should be vigilant in continuing to perform all of its obligations under the lease, including providing necessary building services and utilities, even if their tenants are not permitted to work at their premises because of state or local shelter-in-place orders.