Spring-area renters will no longer receive notice-to-vacate letters on constable letterhead from the Harris County Precinct 3 Constable's Office.

The office confirmed Monday, Sept. 14, that it ended the practice after ABC13 investigated whether the letters could mislead tenants. Deputies had been delivering the notices for at least nine years as a service to landlords. The letters carried the constable's name on both the letter and the envelope.

Landlords must now deliver notice-to-vacate letters themselves.

The change directly affects Spring because the unincorporated community falls within Precinct 3's jurisdiction. A notice to vacate is not a court order or an eviction. It is a letter sent when a lease expires or an eviction process is about to begin. It does not go on a tenant's record. An eviction notice, by contrast, is enforceable by law.

That distinction is exactly what concerned attorneys at Lone Star Legal Aid. They told ABC13 the constable-letterhead format could make the notices look more like eviction orders and intimidate recipients. ABC13 said it brought those concerns to the county attorney and the constable's office about three weeks before the Sept. 14 confirmation.

The constable's office told ABC13 it stopped the practice "based on the information" the station provided. No direct statement from the office has been made public.

Leesa Everitt, an attorney with Lone Star Legal Aid, said tenants who already received one of the constable-letterhead notices should still take them seriously.

"It is a valid notice to vacate, and people should treat it as such," Everitt told ABC13. She said once a notice expires, the landlord can file an eviction suit, which goes on the tenant's record.

For Spring renters who receive a notice to vacate from any source, the letter starts a legal clock. After the notice period expires, a landlord can file suit. A constable then serves eviction papers, and a judge holds a hearing. A tenant can appeal a ruling before a landlord can file for physical removal.

Tenants with questions about a notice to vacate can contact Lone Star Legal Aid at 713-652-0077 or visit lonestarlegal.org.