CARES Act and HUD/Section 8 in Texas: Federal Floors That Override State Defaults

Federal housing law overlays Texas residential landlord-tenant law in two major areas: the CARES Act 30-day notice requirement (which applies broadly to properties with federally backed mortgages, federal subsidies, and certain federal financing) and the HUD/Section 8 framework (which governs the operation of federally subsidized housing including project-based Section 8, public housing, and tenant-based voucher programs). For DFW landlords, federal overlay compliance is most significant for properties with federally backed mortgages (the CARES Act 30-day notice requirement) and properties participating in HUD Section 8 voucher programs across Dallas Housing Authority, Fort Worth Housing Solutions, and the various other DFW housing authority jurisdictions. These federal frameworks set floors that preempt Texas’s three-day notice default and impose additional procedural requirements on landlords. Failing to comply with the federal floor in a covered case is fatal: the eviction is dismissed and the landlord must restart with proper notice. Here’s what landlords need to know about the CARES Act 30-day rule, the categories of covered properties, the HUD/Section 8 framework’s interaction with state law, and the screening rules for voucher holders.

The CARES Act 30-day notice

The federal CARES Act, enacted in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, included a permanent 30-day notice requirement for evictions of tenants in covered properties. The provision survived the end of the broader CARES Act eviction moratorium and remains in effect.

The 30-day notice requirement applies to:

• Properties with a federally backed mortgage. This includes mortgages purchased or guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA, the VA, and the USDA Rural Development. A surprisingly large share of single-family rentals and small multi-family properties have federally backed mortgages.
• Properties receiving federal subsidies. Project-based Section 8, public housing, LIHTC properties, USDA Rural Development properties, and similar federally subsidized housing.
• Properties with tenants holding Section 8 vouchers. Even if the property itself is not federally subsidized, a tenant paying rent through a Section 8 voucher creates federal coverage for the tenancy.
• Other federal financing. Properties with various federal mortgages, federal grant assistance, or federal loan insurance.

The CARES Act requires a 30-day notice to vacate for nonpayment on covered properties. Under Texas Property Code § 24.005(c-1) (added by SB 38), the federal notice period is not a basis to delay filing the eviction; instead, service of the writ of possession is gated until the federal period has run. The best reading is therefore to give the federal notice and file, with the federal period running against the time to writ service. No court has yet construed § 24.005(c-1), so a landlord may choose the more cautious course of waiting out the full period before filing. The 30-day notice does not apply to evictions for other reasons (lease violations, holdover, etc.), though those may carry separate federal procedural requirements.

How to determine CARES Act coverage

Determining whether a property is CARES Act covered is more complicated than it sounds. Practical guidance:

• For properties with mortgages, ask the lender. The lender knows whether the mortgage is federally backed. Many lenders provide written confirmation on request.
• For properties with federal subsidies, the subsidy status is usually obvious. HUD-funded properties, LIHTC properties, project-based Section 8 properties, all are clearly covered.
• For tenant-based Section 8, the lease itself usually identifies the voucher arrangement. Tenants paying part of the rent with a voucher (and the housing authority paying the rest) are covered.
• When in doubt, give 30 days. The cost of an extra 27 days of notice is small compared to the cost of dismissing the eviction case for defective notice.

The lookup tools that emerged during the eviction moratorium (Multifamily Mortgage Lookup, etc.) are still useful for verifying CARES Act coverage on specific properties.

HUD and Section 8: the broader federal framework

HUD-administered programs and Section 8 specifically (the federal housing assistance program) impose additional requirements on landlords accepting federal subsidies:

• HUD lease addendum. Project-based Section 8 properties typically have a HUD-required lease addendum that supersedes contrary lease provisions and adds federal procedural requirements.
• Tenant grievance procedures. HUD-subsidized properties have grievance procedures that tenants can invoke, often before any adverse landlord action.
• Documentation requirements. HUD inspections, recertifications, and reporting are part of the operational framework.
• Specific notice requirements. HUD-subsidized eviction cases often have additional notice requirements beyond the CARES Act 30-day rule.

For tenant-based Section 8 voucher holders:

• Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract. The local housing authority pays a portion of the rent under a HAP contract with the landlord. The HAP contract creates additional landlord obligations including specific eviction notice requirements.
• Voucher-tenant lease. The lease typically incorporates federal requirements as well as standard state law provisions.
• Lease termination procedures. Section 8 eviction often requires notice to both the tenant and the housing authority, and sometimes a hearing before the housing authority can occur before formal eviction.

Screening Section 8 voucher holders

Texas does not have a state-law source-of-income protection. Section 8 voucher holders can be denied based on the voucher status in Texas, with one important caveat:

• Texas Local Government Code § 250.007 (S.B. 267, effective 9/1/2015) bars Texas municipalities and counties from prohibiting a landlord’s refusal to lease because the applicant’s income includes federal housing assistance, so a city ordinance cannot force a landlord to accept a Section 8 voucher (apart from a veteran carve-out under § 250.007(b)). Austin’s 2014 ordinance was preempted and Dallas’s 2016 ordinance cannot reach voucher holders.
• Local ordinance status changes. Landlords with properties in multiple Texas cities should periodically verify current source-of-income protections.

Because § 250.007 reaches only federal-housing income, a Texas landlord generally may decline a Section 8 voucher for non-veterans. Where a local ordinance validly protects other lawful income (§ 250.007 does not preempt protections tied to income such as child support or SSI), the landlord must still apply standard screening criteria (credit, criminal history, prior eviction history) consistently and in line with FCRA and Fair Housing Act requirements.

Project-based Section 8: operational details

For landlords participating in project-based Section 8 programs (where HUD subsidies attach to specific units):

• The HUD lease addendum supersedes contrary lease provisions.
• Tenant rents are determined by HUD’s tenant rent calculation, not by market.
• Annual recertifications are required to verify tenant income and adjust rent.
• Property inspections are conducted by HUD or its agents.
• Operational reporting is required.
• Lease termination requires both compliance with the HUD lease addendum and compliance with Texas eviction law.

Public housing: operational details

Texas has multiple public housing authorities, with the Dallas Housing Authority being the largest in the DFW area. Public housing operates under additional federal requirements:

• Tenant grievance procedures. Mandatory federal grievance procedures must be exhausted before formal eviction in many cases.
• Federal due process requirements. Public housing tenants have additional due process rights under HUD regulations.
• Specific eviction notice requirements. Public housing notices often require 30 days for nonpayment, with additional notice for other reasons.
• Income recertification. Public housing rents are based on tenant income, recertified annually.

Many public housing landlords are the local housing authorities themselves, not private landlords. Private landlord involvement in public housing is more limited.

VAWA in subsidized housing

The federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) applies to most federally subsidized housing, public housing, Section 8 voucher properties, project-based Section 8, LIHTC, USDA Rural Development. See the VAWA and Domestic Violence Tenants page.

The interaction of VAWA with subsidized housing operations adds complexity:

• VAWA-protected tenants have lease termination rights and anti-eviction protections.
• Subsidized housing must follow VAWA’s bifurcation procedures (terminating an abuser’s tenancy while preserving the victim’s).
• Documentation requirements are standardized through HUD Form 5382 and similar forms.
• Failure to comply with VAWA in subsidized housing creates federal civil rights consequences in addition to standard tenant remedies.

SB 38’s preservation of federal floors

Texas SB 38 (effective January 1, 2026) expressly preserves federal protections that exceed state law:

• The CARES Act 30-day notice continues to apply to covered properties regardless of SB 38’s procedural changes.
• HUD/Section 8 procedures continue to apply to subsidized properties.
• VAWA and SCRA continue to apply in their respective contexts.
• Fair Housing Act and FCRA continue to govern screening and discrimination.

The federal floor preservation is an important practical feature of SB 38. Landlords sometimes assume that SB 38’s faster timelines override federal requirements. They do not. The federal floors continue to apply in covered cases.

Common federal-housing mistakes

• Three-day notice on a CARES Act property. The most common mistake. The eviction is dismissed for defective notice and must be restarted with a proper 30-day notice. Always verify CARES Act coverage before filing eviction.
• Treating a Section 8 voucher tenant as a market tenant. Section 8 leases have additional federal requirements that supersede contrary lease provisions. The HAP contract and the local housing authority’s procedures must be followed.
• Skipping the housing authority notice. Section 8 evictions often require notice to both the tenant and the housing authority. Failure to notify the housing authority can be a procedural defect.
• Missing the HUD grievance procedure. HUD-subsidized properties often require grievance procedure exhaustion before formal eviction. Skipping the procedure can produce dismissal or stay of the eviction.
• Misreading source-of-income rules. Texas Local Government Code § 250.007 lets a landlord decline a Section 8 voucher for non-veterans, so no Texas city can require voucher acceptance; but § 250.007 does not preempt protections tied to other lawful income, so apply those consistently where a valid ordinance reaches them.
• Failing to update screening practices. HUD withdrew its 2016 criminal-records guidance in 2025, but Fair Housing Act disparate-impact liability survives, and fair-housing and source-of-income rules keep changing. Screening practices that were defensible 10 years ago may not be today.