Guadalupe County Texas Landlord-Tenant Law: Renting in Schertz, Cibolo, Seguin, and the San Antonio I-35 Corridor
Guadalupe County is one of the most consequential growth counties in the San Antonio metropolitan area — a 711-square-mile swath of south-central Texas that stretches from the San Antonio metro’s northeastern fringe to the historic Guadalupe River Valley east of the city. Founded in 1846 and named for the river that has defined the region’s geography and culture since before Texas statehood, the county has experienced sustained population growth that has transformed it from a rural agricultural county into a complex suburban landscape with distinct sub-markets in different parts of its territory. The northwestern I-35 corridor communities of Schertz and Cibolo are among the most economically dynamic and fastest-growing communities in the greater San Antonio MSA. The county seat of Seguin, with its deep German immigrant heritage and manufacturing economy, maintains a distinct identity rooted in the region’s pre-suburban history. And the southwestern corner of the county, near New Braunfels, participates in the Hill Country tourism and lifestyle economy that drives one of Texas’s strongest short-term rental markets.
For landlords, Guadalupe County presents both significant opportunity and notable operational complexity. The opportunity is a consistently growing population, strong regional employment anchored by Randolph Air Force Base and the broader San Antonio military and healthcare economy, and a suburban lifestyle profile that attracts stable professional families. The complexity includes a county whose boundaries are shared by multiple cities across multiple counties — requiring careful attention to county and precinct verification before any eviction filing — and a court system where three of four JP courts are closed on Fridays, a scheduling detail that affects filing timelines in practical ways.
Four Courts, Four Precincts: Filing Correctly Across Guadalupe County
Guadalupe County operates four Justice of the Peace courts distributed across the county’s geography. Precinct 1, presided over by Judge Darrell Hunter, is located at 2405 E. US Highway 90 in Seguin and serves the east and central Seguin area. Precinct 2 operates from 2611 N. Guadalupe Street in Seguin and serves western and northern Seguin portions. Precinct 3, the county’s most active court for the high-growth northwestern corridor, is located at 1101 Elbel Road, Suite 6, in Schertz, and serves the Schertz, Cibolo, and Randolph AFB-area properties that fall within Guadalupe County. Precinct 4 serves the rural eastern county from 11144 FM 725 in the Seguin area.
An important scheduling note: Precincts 1, 2, and 4 are all closed on Fridays — their operating hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM only. Only Precinct 3 in Schertz operates Monday through Friday. This Friday closure affects filing deadlines and scheduling for landlords with properties served by the Seguin-area courts. Plan eviction notice delivery timing with awareness that you cannot file or follow up on Fridays at those courts. Verify current hours directly with the courts before relying on any scheduled visit.
Schertz: Texas’s Rarest Geographic Situation
Schertz occupies a genuinely unusual position in Texas geography: it is one of a very small number of cities in the state that spans three counties simultaneously. The City of Schertz extends across Guadalupe, Bexar, and Comal counties. From a landlord-tenant perspective, this creates the same operational challenge that the Burleson/Tarrant-Johnson split creates in the DFW area, but multiplied: a landlord with a rental property in Schertz cannot assume the property is in Guadalupe County without verification, because it might equally well be in Bexar County (served by Bexar County JP courts) or Comal County (served by Comal County JP courts). Filing an eviction in the wrong county results in mandatory dismissal, requiring the entire notice-to-filing process to restart.
For Schertz properties in Guadalupe County, Precinct 3 at 1101 Elbel Road is the correct filing court. But the first step, always, is confirming county. Use the Guadalupe County online precinct map and address lookup tool, or contact the JP clerk directly at (210) 945-6685. For the Bexar County portions of Schertz, check the Bexar County appraisal district property search at bcad.org. For Comal County portions, use the Comal County appraisal district records. The property tax statement will also clearly identify which county the property is in. Make this verification a standard step in your pre-eviction checklist for any Schertz property.
Randolph Air Force Base: The Military Tenant Market
Randolph Air Force Base, technically located in Universal City but bordered by Schertz and serving the broader northeastern San Antonio metro, is one of the most significant employers in Guadalupe County’s rental market. The base hosts the Air Education and Training Command’s headquarters and numerous flying and support units, generating a constant rotation of active-duty military personnel, civilian Department of Defense employees, contractors, and military retirees who seek housing in the surrounding communities. Many of these individuals and families choose to live in Guadalupe County’s Schertz and Cibolo communities for the school district quality, suburban amenities, and housing options that align with military housing allowances (BAH).
The military tenant market in Guadalupe County requires landlords to understand the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The SCRA provides active-duty servicemembers with the right to terminate a residential lease early, with 30 days’ written notice and a copy of military orders, when they receive permanent change of station (PCS) orders or are deployed for 90 or more days. This right cannot be waived by lease language. A landlord who receives a proper SCRA early termination notice is required to honor it; attempting to enforce a lease or charge early termination fees against an SCRA-protected servicemember can expose a landlord to federal liability. Build SCRA awareness into your standard lease review process for any property in the Randolph AFB corridor, and have a plan for managing the vacancy that a PCS-triggered early termination creates.
On the positive side, military tenants tend to pay rent reliably (military pay is direct-deposited and predictable), take care of their homes (military culture emphasizes orderliness and maintenance), and have clean credit profiles built over years of background-checked federal employment. The BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) that military personnel receive is often calibrated to local rental market rates and makes rental assistance structurally embedded in military compensation. Many military families have rented in dozens of markets across their careers and are experienced, low-drama tenants who understand leases and expectations.
Cibolo: The Single-Family Rental Premium
Cibolo is one of the most owner-occupied cities in Guadalupe County — approximately 84% of households own their homes, leaving a relatively small but valuable rental market that is dominated by single-family homes rather than apartments. The Cibolo ISD has an excellent reputation that drives significant demand from families who want school district access before committing to homeownership. Average one-bedroom apartment rents in Cibolo run $1,276–$1,313, and three-bedroom single-family rental homes command substantially more, reflecting the premium that families pay for school district quality and suburban amenity access. Landlords with single-family rental homes in established Cibolo neighborhoods near Cibolo ISD campuses typically see long tenancies, low turnover, and professional-family tenant profiles.
Seguin: Manufacturing Heritage and the Guadalupe River Economy
Seguin is one of the oldest and most historically significant cities in Texas, founded in 1838 by veterans of the Texas Revolution and named for Juan Nepomuceno Seguín, the only native-born Texan to command troops at the Battle of San Jacinto. The city developed a distinctive manufacturing economy shaped by its large German immigrant community, and that heritage persists in a robust industrial sector that includes automotive parts, electronics manufacturing, and food processing. Seguin is home to significant manufacturing facilities that provide stable blue-collar employment, and Texas Lutheran University adds a modest educational economic presence. Average rents in Seguin of approximately $1,264/month overall reflect a market that is more affordable than the northwestern county communities while still benefiting from San Antonio metro proximity.
Security deposits in Guadalupe County typically run one month’s rent, ranging from approximately $1,100 in Seguin-area properties to $1,300–$1,600 in premium Cibolo single-family homes. Texas law requires return with itemized accounting within 30 days of surrender. The bad-faith penalty applies regardless of submarket. Document unit conditions thoroughly, and process deposits with the same urgency in a county where courts are efficient and experienced with landlord-tenant matters generated by a consistently growing suburban population.
This page is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Texas landlord-tenant law changed significantly on January 1, 2026. Confirm current procedures with the appropriate Guadalupe County Justice of the Peace Court before filing. Schertz spans Guadalupe, Bexar, and Comal counties — confirm your property’s county before filing any eviction. Precincts 1, 2, and 4 are closed on Fridays. Military tenants may have SCRA early termination rights. Consult a licensed Texas attorney for specific guidance. Last updated: March 2026.
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