What type of notice does my commercial landlord need to give me in Texas before locking me out?

I have a month to month rent an a mini-office warehouse at a public storage facility. I run my business from the office-warehouse. Due to delinquent rent payments the landlord evicted me. The landlord gave no written notice and only about a 30 minute oral notice before changing the locks and evicting me. Most of my belongings are still inside the office. I also rent from the same landlord several individual smaller warehouse units. Each of these units is contracted with a seperate rental agreement and/ or signed contract. The landlord is also preventing me from accessing each of these smaller units and is demanding all past due payments be made in full before he will let me access any of the units. I attempted to pay the landlord $440.00 cash today to become current with the smaller units, but he would not accept it and called the police on me and filed a criminal trespass warning. What should I do?

"What should I do?"

What you should do is call a good landlord/tenant lawyer in Texas and have him or her advise you on this unique situation.

You are asking for trouble by going to anyone other than a lawyer who knows what they are doing.

"The Landlord Tenant Act, as amended by Texas would still apply."

No, it wouldn't. Storage facilities and warehouses are subject to different laws than a regular landlord/tenant situation. These laws frequently turn the storage facility or warehouse into a virtual demi-god under the law.

"The landlord cannot use constructive eviction to prevent you from accessing your property"

Storage facilities and warehouses are automatically granted a lien against the property within and almost always can literally padlock you out if you are even 5 minutes late with payment. This persons situation is further complicated by the fact that this facility also offers office space. What may be improper is that the owner is blocking access to all his space and not just the defaulted space. He needs a lawyer and not cut & pasted quotes from laws that don't apply to his specific situation. Google-fu (no matter how well intentioned) is extremely inappropriate in this situation.

"he tenancy is controlled entirely by the terms of the lease."

No, it's not. Again, storage facilities and warehouses are subject to different laws than a regular landlord/tenant situation.

Hon, you are in a complicated situation and need a real honest to goodness Texas lawyer who specializes in these matters.

You are already getting screwed. Don't compound the situation by screwing yourself by not getting advice from a qualified and licensed professional.

Unfortunately there are very few laws concerning commercial tenancies. The tenancy is controlled entirely by the terms of the lease. You are either going to have to pay everything in full to get your stuff or you're going to have to find yourself a commercial real estate attorney who will carefully read your lease while you cross your fingers and hope that the landlord has done something that violated that lease.

Doesn't matter if it is commercial or residential. The Landlord Tenant Act, as amended by Texas would still apply.

I am surprised the police did anything. Usually they tell the landlord that this is a landlord tenant dispute and leave if there is no threat of violence.

I would call the police and ask them to escort you to your premises to get your things as the present landlord is threatening you.

The landlord cannot use constructive eviction to prevent you from accessing your property, without a court order. He still has to issue a 3 Day Pay Rent or Quit the Premises notice. If you do not quit the premises, he has to go to court to get a Forcible Detainer to evict you.

If you want to play hardball, get a lawyer and have him ask the court for a Cease and Desist order. This will allow you to access your property.

The landlord simply cannot lock you out of your property without a court order.

You can actually get judgment against him,usually in treble damages, for the amount he says is due him, because of the constructive eviction.

Good Luck