Texas Landlord-Tenant Law Guide

Last reviewed: October 2026. Statute text checked against the Texas Legislature’s official Property Code (Chapters 24, 91 and 92), including the eviction changes made by S.B. 38 that took effect January 1, 2026.

Texas leaves a lot to the lease, but the parts it does regulate are strict and penalty-backed. There is no cap on security deposits and no statewide rent control, yet a deposit must be refunded or itemized within 30 days, late fees are capped by statute, lockouts and utility cutoffs follow a precise procedure, and evictions run through justice court on short, fixed deadlines.

This guide walks through each rule with the section number so you can read the source yourself. Most of the residential rules sit in Texas Property Code Chapter 92; eviction suits are governed by Chapter 24 and Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 510.

Lease requirements and required disclosures

Texas recognizes both written and oral leases, but most of the landlord protections in Chapter 92 only work if they are written into the lease, often in underlined or bold print. Several duties also apply whatever the lease says.

Duties that apply to every lease

• Copy of the lease. Give at least one tenant a complete copy within three business days after everyone signs (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.024). Until you do, a court must abate a suit to enforce the lease, other than one for nonpayment of rent, if the tenant raises it.
• Repair-remedy language. The lease must contain underlined or bold language telling the tenant about the repair remedies in §§ 92.056 and 92.0561 (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.056, subsection (g)).
• Ownership and management. Disclose the record owner’s name and address, and any off-site management company, either in the lease or written rules, or within seven days of a tenant’s request (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.201).
• Floodplain notice. For leases of 30 days or more, give the statutory notice stating whether you are aware the dwelling is in a 100-year floodplain and whether you know it flooded in the last five years. It must be signed by both parties at or before signing the lease (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0135). If you skip it and the tenant suffers a substantial flood loss, the tenant may terminate.
• Emergency number. Provide a phone number for reporting emergencies; landlords with an on-site office must provide one answered 24 hours a day (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.020).
• Tenant selection criteria. When you hand out an application, make printed selection criteria available and get a signed acknowledgment; if you reject an applicant without having done so, you must return the application fee (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.3515). An applicant is deemed rejected if you do not accept within seven days (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.352).
• Lead-based paint. For housing built before 1978, federal rules require the EPA pamphlet and disclosure of known lead hazards before the tenant is obligated under the lease (40 C.F.R. § 745.107).
• Security devices and smoke alarms. Window latches, keyed dead bolts or doorknob locks, keyless bolting devices and door viewers on exterior doors, and sliding-door pin locks and bars, at your expense (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.153); rekey within seven days after each tenant turnover (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.156); and a smoke alarm in each bedroom, in the hall serving bedrooms, and on each level (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.255).

Clauses that only work if the lease includes them

• A late fee (§ 92.019) and the right to change locks for nonpayment (§ 92.0081(d)).
• A requirement that the tenant give advance notice of move-out as a condition of the deposit refund, which must be underlined or in conspicuous bold print (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103).
• A deduction from the deposit for rekeying when the tenant leaves in breach, underlined or bold (§ 92.156(e)).
• A shorter or longer notice-to-vacate period than three days (§ 24.005(a)).
• Any agreement shifting specific repairs to the tenant, which is allowed only in the narrow cases in Tex. Prop. Code § 92.006 and must be underlined or bold.

A few other rules are worth knowing when drafting: adults may not exceed three per bedroom except where fair housing law requires otherwise (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.010); you must accept timely cash rent and give a receipt unless the written lease requires another payment method (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.011); and you may not prohibit a tenant from lawfully keeping a firearm in the unit or vehicle (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.026). If you need a starting point, see our lease agreement template and have a Texas attorney adapt it.

Security deposits

Texas sets no maximum deposit and no interest requirement. Subchapter C instead controls what you do at the end of the tenancy, and its penalties are steep. These duties cannot be waived in the lease (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.006).

• 30-day deadline. Refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103). A refund or accounting postmarked by the deadline is presumed timely (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.1041).
• Forwarding address. You are not obligated to refund or itemize until the tenant gives a written forwarding address, but the tenant does not forfeit the deposit by failing to give one (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.107).
• Itemization. You may deduct damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for, but not normal wear and tear. Any deduction requires a written description and itemized list, except where the tenant owes rent and there is no dispute about the amount (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104).
• Penalty. Bad-faith retention costs $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld and the tenant’s attorney fees. Missing the 30-day deadline creates a presumption of bad faith, and failing to itemize in bad faith forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.109).
• Records and last month. Keep accurate deposit records (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.106). A tenant may not withhold the last month’s rent on the theory that the deposit covers it; doing so is presumed bad faith (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.108).
• Email. Since September 1, 2025, deposit notices may be sent by email if you and the tenant have previously communicated by email (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.113).

If you offer a fee in lieu of a deposit, Tex. Prop. Code § 92.111 sets disclosure rules for it. To check your numbers before move-out, use the security deposit calculator, and document condition at move-in with the move-in/move-out inspection checklist.

Rent increases and late fees

Rent increases

Texas has no statewide rent control, and cities generally cannot adopt it: a municipality may impose rent control only after finding a housing emergency caused by a disaster, and only with the governor’s approval (Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code § 214.902). Chapter 92 does not set a notice period for rent increases. In practice, rent is fixed for a lease term unless the lease allows changes, and a month-to-month increase is usually handled by giving the notice required to end the tenancy (see the notices section) and offering new terms. One limit applies everywhere: you may not raise rent within six months of a tenant’s protected action, such as a repair request, as retaliation (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331). Our rent increase templates can help with wording.

Late fees under § 92.019

A landlord may charge a late fee only if all three conditions are met (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019):

1. notice of the fee is in a written lease;
2. the fee is reasonable; and
3. some portion of the rent has remained unpaid two full days after the date it was originally due.

A fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than 12 percent of the monthly rent for a dwelling in a building with four or fewer units, or 10 percent in a building with more than four units. A higher fee is allowed only if it does not exceed the landlord’s uncertain damages from late payment. An initial fee and daily fees are combined and treated as a single late fee for the cap. A violation costs $100, three times the improper fee and attorney fees, and lease clauses waiving the section are void. Tenants can also ask for a written statement of late fees owed (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0191).

Landlord entry

Unlike Florida and many other states, Texas Property Code Chapter 92 contains no general rule on when or with how much notice a landlord may enter. Your rights come from the lease, so spell them out: the purposes (repairs, inspections, showings), the notice you will give, the hours, and emergency access. Two statutory limits still matter. Entering or using access to disrupt the tenancy after a repair request or complaint can be a “course of conduct that materially interferes” with the lease under the retaliation statute (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331). And entry for bona fide repairs or emergencies is one of the few situations in which a landlord may temporarily keep a tenant out (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081).

Repairs and habitability

Subchapter B replaces the common-law warranty of habitability with a defined procedure (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.061). Getting the steps right matters to both sides, because the tenant’s remedies only switch on after specific notices.

When the duty to repair arises

You must make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant (or a failure to supply hot water of at least 120°F) once the tenant gives notice to the place rent is normally paid, provided the tenant is current on rent when the notice is given (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.052). You have no duty during the lease to repair damage caused by the tenant, household members or guests, other than normal wear and tear. Notice has to be written only if a written lease requires it. If the tenant asks in writing for an explanation of a delay and you do not give one within five days, the burden of proof shifts to you (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.053). Repairs after an insured casualty can wait for the insurance proceeds (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.054).

Tenant remedies and the timeline

1. Notice. The tenant gives notice, then a second written notice after a reasonable time, unless the first notice went by certified, registered or another tracked mail (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.056).
2. Reasonable time. Seven days is presumed reasonable, rebuttable based on the severity of the problem and the availability of labor, materials and utilities (§ 92.056(d)).
3. Remedies. If you are then liable, the tenant may terminate the lease, repair and deduct, or seek court remedies (§ 92.056(e)).

Repair and deduct is limited (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0561). A deduction may not exceed the greater of one month’s rent or $500 in any month, and it is available only for raw sewage backup or flooding inside the unit (immediately after notice of intent), a total loss of landlord-supplied water (after three days), inadequate landlord-supplied heat or cooling that a local official has certified in writing as a health or safety problem (after three days), or another condition that a local official has certified in writing (after seven days). The work must be done by an independent, licensed-where-required contractor, and the tenant must give you the bill and receipt with the reduced rent payment.

You can delay a tenant’s repair by delivering a sworn affidavit for delay before the tenant contracts for the work, but only for two reasons: 15 days for parts delayed through no fault of yours, or 30 days for a general labor or materials shortage after a natural disaster (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0562). Judicial remedies include a repair order, a rent reduction, a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $500, actual damages and attorney fees, and a justice court may award up to $20,000 (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0563). The protection runs both ways: a tenant who withholds rent or deducts in bad faith after your written warning owes one month’s rent plus $500 (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.058).

Retaliation

For six months after a tenant in good faith exercises a legal right, gives a repair notice, complains to a code enforcement agency or utility, or joins a tenant organization, you may not retaliate by filing an eviction, depriving the tenant of the premises, decreasing services, raising rent or terminating the lease, or engaging in bad-faith interference (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.331). Eviction for delinquent rent, intentional damage, threats to safety, a material lease breach or certain holdovers is not retaliation (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.332), and neither are rent increases under an escalation clause for utilities, taxes or insurance, or project-wide increases. The tenant’s remedy is one month’s rent plus $500, damages and attorney fees (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.333), and retaliation is a defense to an eviction suit (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.335). A tenant who sues in bad faith faces the same penalty in reverse (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.334).

Lockouts and utility cutoffs

A landlord may not keep a tenant out except by judicial process, with three exceptions: bona fide repairs, construction or emergencies; removing contents of an abandoned unit; and a lockout for unpaid rent that follows every step of Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081. For a rent lockout:

• the right must be in the lease and the tenant must be delinquent;
• written notice must be mailed at least five calendar days, or hand-delivered or posted inside the main entry door at least three calendar days, before the change, stating the date, the amount due, where to pay, and in bold or underlined text the tenant’s right to a key at any hour;
• you must post a notice on the door saying where to get a key 24 hours a day (or a number that gets a key delivered within two hours), and hand over the key whether or not rent is paid;
• no lockout while the tenant or another occupant is inside, more than once per rental period, or on (or the day before) a day when nobody is available to accept the rent.

Violations allow the tenant to recover possession or end the lease, plus one month’s rent plus $1,000, damages and attorney fees, with an extra month’s rent for refusing a key. The tenant can also get an ex parte writ of reentry from the justice court (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.009). Removing doors, locks or landlord-supplied appliances, except for prompt bona fide repair, is likewise prohibited.

Utilities. You may not interrupt utilities the tenant pays directly, or water, wastewater, gas or electricity you furnish, except for bona fide repairs, construction or an emergency (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.008). The narrow exception is submetered or allocated electricity, which may be cut for an unpaid electric bill only after the detailed lease, notice, weather and medical-hardship rules in § 92.008(h)–(r). Penalties mirror the lockout rule (one month’s rent plus $1,000), and tenants can seek a writ of restoration (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0091). If utilities you agreed to pay are cut off for your nonpayment, the tenant may pay the utility and deduct it from rent or terminate the lease (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.301).

Notices to vacate and ending a tenancy

• Default or holdover. Give at least three days’ written notice to vacate before filing, unless the written lease sets a shorter or longer period (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005). If the only problem is unpaid rent and the tenant was not late before the month in which you give notice, the notice must be a notice to pay rent or vacate; if the tenant has been late before, it may be either that or a plain notice to vacate.
• Delivery. Deliver by mail (first class, certified, registered or a delivery service), inside the premises in a conspicuous place, by hand to any tenant aged 16 or older, or electronically if the parties agreed in writing (§ 24.005(f-3)).
• Counting days. Chapter 24 periods exclude the day of the triggering event, include weekends and holidays, and roll forward if the last day is a weekend or holiday (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0042).
• Month-to-month. Either side may end a monthly tenancy with notice; it ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after notice is given, unless both parties signed an agreement on a different period (Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001). A holdover eviction must also satisfy this section.
• Attorney fees. To recover attorney fees when the lease does not provide for them, send a separate demand by registered or certified mail at least 10 days before filing, warning that fees may be recovered if the tenant does not leave before the 11th day (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.006).

Tenants have their own early-termination rights that cannot be waived, including for family violence, certain sex offenses or stalking, and military service (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.016, Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0161, Tex. Prop. Code § 92.017).

The Texas eviction process, step by step

Evictions are filed in the justice court for the precinct where the property is located (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.004, Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0041). S.B. 38 rewrote much of Chapter 24 for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, and the Supreme Court of Texas rewrote Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 510 as a standalone eviction rule effective the same date (the order was issued with a public comment period, so check for later revisions). Parties may represent themselves or use a non-attorney agent in justice court (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.011).

1. Notice to vacate (or to pay or vacate), usually three days, as described above.
2. Sworn petition filed in justice court (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.00505). You can include unpaid rent up to $20,000 under Rule 510.1, and you may attach a sworn motion for summary disposition (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005106).
3. Service. The sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve within five business days; after that you may use another trained officer (§ 24.0051(f)).
4. Trial set 10 to 21 days after filing, not earlier than the fourth day after service, with postponements over seven days only by written agreement (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0051). If you moved for summary disposition and the tenant files no response showing a genuine dispute within four days of service, the court may rule without trial.
5. Appeal window. Either party may appeal to county court within five days after the judgment is signed (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005107). A tenant who appeals must pay the rent set in the judgment into the court registry within five days, and each period after that, or the court must issue a writ without a hearing (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0053, Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0054).
6. Writ of possession. It may not issue before the sixth day after judgment (Tex. Prop. Code § 24.0061), and under Rule 510.18 not later than 60 days after judgment (extendable to 90 for good cause). The officer must serve it within five business days and post a warning at least 24 hours before executing it.

Self-help is not an alternative: no lockouts outside § 92.0081, no utility shutoffs, no removing doors or belongings. Use the eviction cost calculator to estimate what a case will cost you in lost rent and fees.

Worked example: late fee, deposit and an uncontested eviction

Hypothetical. You own a duplex in Texas and rent one side for $1,600 a month, due on the 1st, under a written lease with a late-fee clause and a $1,600 deposit.

Fair housing: federal and Texas law

The federal Fair Housing Act bars discrimination in renting because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability (42 U.S.C. § 3604). The Texas Fair Housing Act mirrors those classes (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.021) and, for disability, requires reasonable accommodations in rules and reasonable modifications at the tenant’s expense (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.025). Ads may not state a preference based on any protected class (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.022). Some small owner-managed rentals are exempt from parts of both laws, but the advertising rule still applies, so treat the exemption as narrow and talk to counsel before relying on it.

Practical rules: apply the same written criteria to every applicant, do not ask about children, ages or national origin, and handle service and assistance animal requests as accommodation requests. Cities and counties may not require landlords to accept federal housing assistance as a source of income, except for military veterans (Tex. Loc. Gov’t Code § 250.007), but local programs encouraging voucher acceptance remain allowed. See our fair housing cheat sheet and tenant screening checklist.

Local considerations

State law preempts a lot in Texas, but not everything. Many Texas cities enforce their own building, property-maintenance and housing codes, and some require rental registration or inspections; a code complaint by a tenant also starts the six-month retaliation clock. Local fire, building and housing codes can add smoke alarm requirements (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.252), and a city security-device ordinance adopted before January 1, 1993 can require earlier installation (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.170). Homeowners associations may restrict leasing. Before you lease, check your city’s code department and any HOA rules, because they can add costs that never show up in the Property Code.

Selling a Texas rental with tenants in place

If you are weighing whether to keep or sell, the tenant situation shapes both your price and your timeline. A sale does not, by itself, end a residential lease: the buyer generally takes the property subject to the existing lease, so a tenant with eight months left stays for eight months unless they agree to leave. Chapter 92 builds on that continuity. A buyer who takes title by a bona fide purchase inherits pending repair obligations under the procedure in § 92.0562(g), with penalties if the new landlord ignores them.

Deposits must follow the property. Under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.105, the new owner is liable for returning deposits from the date title passes and must give each tenant a signed statement acknowledging the purchase, accepting responsibility and stating the exact dollar amount of the deposit. The seller remains liable for deposits received during their ownership until the buyer has received them or assumed the liability, unless a written contract provides otherwise. In practice: list every deposit in the purchase contract, credit them to the buyer on the closing statement, and keep a copy of the buyer’s acknowledgment letters. Foreclosure works differently; a lender who forecloses is not bound by § 92.105(a), and a foreclosure purchaser who will not continue a lease must give a paying tenant 30 days’ notice (§ 24.005(b)).

Showings. Texas has no statutory entry rule, so your lease’s entry clause governs showings; cooperation is easier if you schedule ahead and keep visits short. Selling occupied often means selling to an investor who values the lease; selling vacant may need you to wait out the term or offer a move-out agreement. Run both scenarios in the keep-or-sell rental property calculator, and if you plan to reinvest, compare a 1031 exchange.

Common mistakes Texas landlords make

• Charging a late fee on the 2nd or 3rd of the month, or letting daily fees run past the 10% or 12% cap.
• Missing the 30-day deposit deadline, which flips the burden and presumes bad faith.
• Using a lease without the bold or underlined repair-remedy, lockout, rekey or move-out-notice language the statute requires.
• Serving a plain notice to vacate on a first-time late payer when a notice to pay rent or vacate is required.
• Changing locks without the advance notice, or refusing to hand over the new key until rent is paid.
• Raising rent or non-renewing right after a repair request without a documented, non-retaliatory reason.
• Closing a sale without transferring deposits and the § 92.105 acknowledgment.

Landlord checklist for Texas

Related resources

• All state legal guides, including Florida
• Keep-or-sell rental property calculator
• Eviction cost calculator
• Security deposit calculator
• How to handle problem tenants legally
• Tenant communication templates