LSLA’s Deborah Concepcion Helps Beaumont Client Keep Her Home After Wrongful Eviction Attempt

For Lesonna Lester, a renter in East Texas, the place she called home had been stable ground in an uncertain world — until it wasn’t. 

Ms. Lester had been renting a townhouse on a one-year lease. A new owner purchased the property and introduced new demands. The new owner’s property manager and attorney appeared with a simple message: they wanted Ms. Lester out. The landlord stated that they sent a notice to vacate just weeks before the December 2025 deadline. But Ms. Lester knew the opposing party may have overlooked something: the law sets specific requirements for how and when a tenant must receive notice.

Her year-long lease had ended in late 2024. With no written month-to-month agreement in place after the lease expired, Ms. Lester had continued to pay her rent early each month. The landlord claimed they brought the notice to vacate to her apartment door, but they did not properly hand-deliver it, place it in her mailbox, or seal it in an envelope. They also never sent a subsequent notice to treat the case as a holdover tenancy. Ms. Lester had no vicious animals on the premises that could have prevented proper delivery. There was simply no valid excuse.

She attended a pre-trial hearing in early 2026, and then came the day of her jury trial. She walked into that courtroom without an attorney by her side — she did not make enough money to hire one, though she was not on a fixed income. She faced a corporate property owner represented by both a property manager and legal counsel. Even with the odds stacked against her, she won at trial, and the jury awarded the landlord no damages.

That same day, Ms. Lester reached out to Lone Star Legal Aid. She had won her jury trial, but she knew the fight might not be over. Deborah Concepcion at Lone Star Legal Aid spoke with her at length, advising her on her legal options and the procedural steps that might follow. Concepcion carefully walked through the appeal process with Ms. Lester, explaining the notice requirements and the proofs that the opposing party had failed to establish — arguments that could serve as a strong foundation if the matter continued. Concepcion explained the deadlines for filing a Notice of Appeal and a Statement of Inability to Pay Costs, and the requirement to pay rent into the court’s registry to preserve her rights.

Concepcion committed: if Ms. Lester sent in her pleadings, judgment, lease, and proofs, Lone Star Legal Aid would help her draft a Notice of Appeal and provide the documents she needed to move forward. If she paid rent into the court registry, Lone Star Legal Aid would extend further assistance with the appeal.

On a follow-up call, Ms. Lester confirmed the details of her case — that the notice she found had been lying on the ground, not properly served, and that after the lease ended, the opposing party had continued to accept her rent payments, further establishing the month-to-month tenancy she believed they shared. Concepcion again explained the full appeal process, answered Ms. Lester’s questions, and made sure she understood exactly what she would need to present and argue if the matter moved forward.

Ms. Lester thanked the team for their help and said she is sharing her story so others know legal help is available. With Lone Star Legal Aid’s support, she was able to stay in her home. “God bless you all,” she said.

Lone Star Legal Aid (LSLA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy for low-income populations by providing free legal education, advice, and representation. LSLA serves millions of people at 125% of the federal poverty guidelines, who live in 72 counties in the eastern and Gulf Coast regions of Texas, and 4 counties in Southwest Arkansas. To learn more about Lone Star Legal Aid, visit our website at www.LoneStarLegal.org.

Media contact: media@lonestarlegal.org