§ 15.091.Rents

The money half of the landlord-tenant pair, sitting beside the eviction provision.

A suit to recover rents may be brought in the county and precinct in which all or part of the rented premises is located.

Note the verb. This section says may; the eviction provision says shall. Possession of the premises is mandatory in the property's precinct; a claim for the money is not.

That distinction is deliberate. An eviction decides who occupies a specific piece of land and produces a writ the local court must enforce. A rent claim is an ordinary debt, and there is no reason to forbid a landlord from suing where the tenant now lives.

Because it is permissive, the option provision applies — the landlord may instead sue in the tenant's county of residence, which is often the practical choice once a tenant has moved out and the arrears are the only issue left.

"All or part" covers premises straddling a precinct line, resolving it in the plaintiff's favour.

Read the three provisions together. This subchapter sends possession to the property's precinct and allows rent there or at the tenant's home; the landlord-tenant provision earlier in the chapter sends lease disputes generally to the property's county. Between them, a landlord and tenant can almost always litigate near the property.