Sec. 366.167.  POSSESSION OF PROPERTY.  (a)  Immediately on the filing of a declaration of taking, an authority shall serve a copy of the declaration on each person possessing an interest in the condemned property by a method prescribed by Section 21.016(d), Property Code.  The authority shall file evidence of the service with the clerk of the court.  On filing of that evidence, the authority may take possession of the property on the same terms as if a commissioners hearing had been conducted, pending the litigation.
(b)  If the condemned property is a homestead or a portion of a homestead as defined by Section 41.002, Property Code, an authority may not take possession before the 31st day after the date of service under Subsection (a).
(c)  A property owner or tenant who refuses to vacate the property or yield possession is subject to forcible entry and detainer under Chapter 24, Property Code.
Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1171, Sec. 7.24, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.