Collecting Unpaid Rent in Plano, Frisco & McKinney, TX: A Property Manager's Guide to Collin County

Collin County's Four Justice Courts

File where the rental physically sits, and in Plano that can be either of two courts.

Collin County has four justice of the peace precincts, each with its own clerks and docket, according to the county's JP local rules. The county constable FAQ describes how the cities divide.

Don't pick a court from the mailing city. Properties near McKinney, Frisco and city-limit edges can fall on either side of a JP line, so check the official JP precinct map first. Once you know the court, the filing itself is routine.

Filing an Eviction in Collin County

Collin is on eFileTexas for its justice courts, and the court, not you, serves the citation.

A complete filing package normally includes the sworn petition with the full street and unit address, the lease and addenda, the notice to vacate with proof of delivery, a current rent ledger, the military-status affidavit, and a service copy and fee for each defendant. The court issues the citation and the precinct constable serves it; a landlord or manager can't serve it personally.

Texas's revised 2026 eviction rules set the hearing 10 to 21 days after filing, require service at least four days before trial, keep the five-day appeal window, and generally bar a writ of possession until six days after judgment (Texas Register, January 2026). The officer then has five business days to make a diligent effort to execute, and the physical move-out can't happen until 24 hours after the warning is posted. Put together, a clean, uncontested case runs roughly 18 to 33 days from filing to possession. That's a rule-based range: Collin publishes no median, and service problems, bad notices, bankruptcy or an appeal stretch it. An appealed case goes to county court, which generally has to try it within 21 days of getting the record. The money case after move-out runs on a different track.

Collecting After Move-Out: Small Claims, Not Debt Claims

Once possession isn't at issue, a landlord's balance belongs in a small-claims case.

Collin County's small-claims guide puts the JP limit at $20,000, not counting interest and court costs. Some older forms still on the county's website show a $10,000 limit; use the current guide. Don't file a Rule 508 debt claim: that category is for banks, collection agencies, debt buyers and lenders, and an original landlord suing on its own lease ordinarily uses small claims (Collin County debt-claim guide).

Venue for the money case usually follows where the former resident lives or where the lease was performed, not automatically the precinct where the apartment sits, and the wrong venue can mean a transfer and more fees. The defendant has 14 days after service to answer, and then the case waits for the JP's docket, so budget at least two months after service. That slow money track is why many Collin managers place balances with an agency early. Either way, the costs are predictable.

How Much Does an Eviction Cost in Collin County?

Filing and service run $134 for one defendant, and the writ adds about $230.

Two cautions. The constable schedule is still labeled effective January 1, 2025, and no 2026 replacement was posted when we checked. And county pages quote both $225 and $230 for the writ; the best reading is $225 for the constable plus about $5 for the clerk, so budget around $230 and confirm before paying. Those are court costs. Some of the local rules carry costs of their own.

Plano, Frisco, McKinney and Allen Rules

No Collin city adds a separate eviction procedure, but several add property rules that can surface in a dispute.

• Plano registration. Multifamily complexes at least five years old with five or more units must register every year by October 31, at $11 per unit, with inspection and recordkeeping duties (Plano Code of Ordinances). An unregistered property or open code violation can hurt your credibility when a resident raises a repair defense.
• Allen inspections. Allen inspects multifamily communities of three or more units every year, and in March 2025 adopted a Crime-Free Multi-Housing framework that's mandatory for new communities and properties over its crime-risk threshold. These are compliance duties, not extra notice rules.
• Frisco assistance. Frisco's 2026 social-services grants can pay up to three consecutive months of rent or utilities directly to the landlord, and the file needs the lease, an arrears statement and the notice to vacate (Frisco grant manual, 2026).
• Plano assistance. Plano's 2026-27 plan funds $132,500 in homelessness prevention through the Assistance Center of Collin County and $150,000 in tenant-based assistance through Catholic Charities (City of Plano action plan).
• McKinney. The city's tenant-based rental assistance isn't taking applications. Its LIFT program, opened October 5, 2026, helps with a new security deposit, not an old landlord's balance (City of McKinney).

Countywide help is thin: All Community Outreach in Allen says assistance depends on funding and takes four to six weeks, which is longer than an uncontested eviction. If you hold off for an application, get a written payment or forbearance agreement tied to actual payment. The bigger local factor, though, is who's renting.

Corporate-Relocation Renters and Lease Breaks

An employer transfer is a foreseeable event in Collin County, but it doesn't end a lease on its own.

Legacy West puts Toyota's North American headquarters, JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual and FedEx Office next to retail and apartments. JPMorgan Chase said in June 2026 it still employed more than 12,500 people in Plano even after announcing 244 call-center layoffs (CBS Texas, 2026). That's a deep but mobile renter pool. The current Texas Apartment Association sample lease lets a resident use the early-termination option only after giving notice, paying the option fee, staying out of default and repaying concessions. That produces three different balances:

• Compliant buyout: rent through the agreed termination date, the stated fee, valid concession repayment and ordinary move-out charges. Don't also bill future rent.
• Default or abandonment: unpaid rent, contract charges and rent loss until the earlier of reletting or lease end, minus deposits, credits and replacement rent. Document every marketing step.
• Employer-paid relocation: get the relocation company's written undertaking before treating it as a guarantee. Paying for movers isn't assuming the lease.

A reletting fee pays for finding a replacement; it isn't a release from future rent, as TAA's lease-termination guidance explains. The concession side of that math is where most disputes land.

Concessions, Supply and the Balance You Can Collect

DFW's heavy supply means concessions are common, and every concession you claw back needs paper behind it.

Yardi Matrix counted about 37,000 DFW deliveries in each of 2024 and 2025, with 45,498 units underway in May 2026 and stabilized occupancy at 92.3% in April (Yardi Matrix, 2026). Transwestern put Q1 2026 occupancy at 93.9% in West Plano and 92.7% in both Frisco and Allen/McKinney (Transwestern, Q1 2026). These are metro and submarket figures, not Collin County averages.

A concession chargeback holds up best when the addendum states the concession's dollar value, makes it conditional on completing the lease, says whether repayment is full or prorated, and doesn't double-count rent for the same period. It must also exclude protected terminations: the U.S. Department of Justice has treated concession repayment as an illegal early-termination charge when a servicemember lawfully ends a lease under the SCRA (DOJ consent decree). If you relet with six weeks free, keep the replacement lease and the competing-property evidence showing the discount was reasonable. Those same records are what an agency needs to collect the balance, and they're what make the Collin-versus-Dallas comparison mostly about cost.

Collin County vs. Dallas County

Same state law, same filing fee, same timetable. The writ is the real difference.

Dallas figures come from the county's 2026 eviction fee sheet. Collin's writ is about $175 cheaper, but there's no official evidence that Collin evictions are faster. For the Dallas side, see our Dallas guide; for Tarrant County, the Fort Worth guide; and for turning a judgment into money, eviction judgment collection. If you're weighing an outside agency, our Texas property manager's collection agency guide covers what to look for.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Which court handles evictions in Plano?

  It depends on the address. Collin County JP 3 in Plano generally covers east Plano and JP 4 in Frisco generally covers west Plano. Check the county's JP precinct map before filing.

• How much does it cost to file an eviction in Collin County?

  The filing fee is $54 and constable service is $80 per defendant, so $134 for one defendant. A writ of possession adds roughly $230 under the county's current posted schedule.

• How long does an eviction take in Collin County?

  Texas's 2026 rules set the hearing 10 to 21 days after filing, and a writ can't issue until six days after judgment. A clean, unappealed case reaches possession in roughly 18 to 33 days.

• Can I file a debt claim for a former resident's unpaid rent?

  Usually not. Texas debt claims are for lenders, collection agencies and debt buyers. A landlord suing on its own lease normally files a small claim, which in Collin County covers up to $20,000.

• Does a job relocation let a resident break the lease?

  Not by itself. Unless the lease has an early-termination option the resident follows, or a statutory right applies, the resident still owes rent until the unit is relet or the lease ends, minus credits.

• Can I charge back concessions when a resident breaks the lease?

  Yes, if the lease or addendum clearly makes the concession conditional on finishing the lease. You can't charge a concession clawback on a valid SCRA military termination.

• Is Collin County cheaper than Dallas County for evictions?

  On the writ, yes. Filing and service match at $134 for one defendant, but a Dallas County writ of possession is $405 against roughly $230 in Collin.

Related: Rent Collection Laws in Texas · Collecting Unpaid Rent in Dallas · Collecting Unpaid Rent in Fort Worth · Texas Property Manager's Collection Agency Guide · Eviction Judgment Collection · Collection Agency for Property Managers