Published 2026-09-25 · Last updated 2026-11-08 · 10 min read

Texas Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Plain-English Guide

Quick answer - Texas: Texas sets no cap on security deposits (Property Code §§ 92.101–92.113). Refund the balance with an itemized list on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders; bad-faith retention costs $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld and attorney's fees. There is no Texas entry-notice statute. The Landlord Starter Kit (free PDF) covers the paperwork side — screening, move-in/out documentation, and the monthly bookkeeping that keeps deposit deductions defensible. Every state's return deadline sits on one page in the Security Deposit Deadline Matrix (free PDF).

Texas runs one residential landlord-tenant system statewide, and it lives almost entirely in the Texas Property Code. Chapter 91 supplies the background tenancy rules, Chapter 92 is the substantive core for residential tenancies — deposits, repairs, security devices, smoke alarms, disclosure, utility cutoffs, and retaliation — Chapter 24 is the eviction procedure, new Chapter 24B (2025) is the sheriff-removal route for true squatters, and Chapter 301 is the Texas Fair Housing Act. Commercial tenancies sit in Chapter 93 and are governed mostly by the lease; Chapter 92 by its terms "applies only to the relationship between landlords and tenants of residential rental property" (§ 92.002). There is no county line to check, as in some states — but there are more penalty formulas in Chapter 92 than in almost any other state's code, and most of them run against the party who skipped a procedural step.

Six warnings, because the earlier version of this page — and most of the internet — gets them wrong or states them too loosely. First, the late-fee percentages are a safe harbor, not a cap: a fee is considered reasonable at up to 12% of the rent for the rental period in a structure of four or fewer units, or 10% in a structure of more than four (§ 92.019(a-1)) — the direction matters, and a fee above the harbor can still be reasonable if it does not exceed the landlord's uncertain damages, while a fee at any level is uncollectible unless it is in a written lease and rent has been unpaid two full days (§ 92.019(a)). Second, the deposit clock runs from surrender, not from the forwarding address: the refund is due "on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises" (§ 92.103(a)); the forwarding-address rule (§ 92.107) suspends the landlord's obligation to return until the written address arrives — it does not move the date in the bad-faith presumption, which is keyed to surrender (§ 92.109(d)). Third, Texas repair-and-deduct is not a general remedy: § 92.0561(d)(3) opens it only through four gateways — sewage backup or flooding, total cessation of potable water the landlord agreed to furnish, inadequate heat or cooling after written notice from a local official, or any health-and-safety condition a local official has flagged in writing — and the tenant's first repair notice need not even be in writing unless a written lease requires written notice (§ 92.052(d)). Fourth, the eviction notice rules changed on January 1, 2026: SB 38 (89th Leg., Ch. 960) repealed the old delivery subsections of § 24.005 — posting on the outside of the door is gone — and replaced them with a closed list (§ 24.005(f-3)), and a first-time-late tenant in a nonpayment case must now receive a notice to pay rent or vacate, not a bare notice to vacate (§ 24.005(a)). Fifth, "never change the locks" is too flat: Texas prohibits lockouts except by judicial process, but § 92.0081(b)(3) authorizes one narrow, heavily conditioned lock change against a rent-delinquent tenant — and the tenant must be given the new key at any hour regardless of payment (§ 92.0081(c)(2), (f)). Sixth, there is no Texas entry-notice statute — no 24-hour rule to cite; entry is governed by the lease, and any guide that quotes a statutory notice period for Texas is importing another state's law.

Texas landlords: compare your state's rules against all 50 at once — the 50-State Landlord Law Dataset (CSV + JSON) ($29) puts every state's deposit, eviction, and rent rules side by side.

Texas at a glance

The clocks table

Texas landlord-tenant law is mostly clocks — and note how many of them run against the landlord:

How the Texas stack is built

Six layers do the work. Chapter 91 is the general tenancy layer: § 91.001's termination rule, the landlord's lien provisions, and background rules that apply to residential and commercial tenancies alike. Chapter 92 is the residential core, organized by subchapter: A (general provisions, §§ 92.001–92.026, including late fees in § 92.019 and flood disclosure in § 92.0135), B (repairs, §§ 92.051–92.062), C (security deposits, §§ 92.101–92.113), D (security devices, §§ 92.151–92.170), E (disclosure of ownership and management, §§ 92.201–92.208), F (smoke alarms and fire extinguishers, §§ 92.251–92.264), G (utility cutoff, §§ 92.301–92.303), H (retaliation, §§ 92.331–92.335), and I (rental applications, §§ 92.351 et seq.). Chapter 93 governs commercial tenancies and leaves nearly everything to the lease — do not quote Chapter 92 numbers to a commercial tenant. Chapter 24 is procedure: forcible entry and forcible detainer in justice court, rewritten in large part by SB 38 for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. Chapter 24B, added by SB 1333 effective September 1, 2025, is the non-judicial sheriff-removal route for unauthorized occupants who were never tenants. Chapter 301 (the Texas Fair Housing Act) and the two Local Government Code provisions — § 214.902 (rent control) and § 250.007 (source-of-income preemption) — complete the state layer, on top of the federal Fair Housing Act and the lease itself.

Three construction points run underneath. Non-waiver: a landlord's duties and a tenant's remedies concerning security deposits, security devices, ownership disclosure, and utility cutoffs "may not be waived," the smoke-alarm installation duty may not be waived, and Subchapter B repair duties may be waived only through the narrow written agreements § 92.006(d)–(f) allows (§ 92.006(a)–(c)); the late-fee section likewise voids any lease provision purporting to waive it (§ 92.019(d)). The lease fills the gaps the code leaves open — deposit amounts, entry conventions, and (within § 24.005) the length of the eviction notice itself. Penalty symmetry: Chapter 92 prices procedural failures on both sides — a tenant who withholds last month's rent against the deposit is presumed to act in bad faith and faces three times the rent wrongfully withheld plus fees (§ 92.108), and a tenant who deducts for repairs in bad-faith violation of Subchapter B faces one month's rent plus $500 (§ 92.058) — but the landlord-side formulas are the ones litigated daily, and they are the ones this guide prices out.

How much can a Texas landlord charge as a security deposit, and when must it be returned?

The deposit rules are covered in full on the companion page: Texas security deposit law. This summary states the same rules from the same text. Prefer video? Watch the 30-day deposit deadline walkthrough on the Practical Landlord channel.

The cap: there is none

Subchapter C "applies to all residential leases" (§ 92.101), and a "security deposit" is "any advance of money, other than a rental application deposit or an advance payment of rent, that is intended primarily to secure performance under a lease" (§ 92.102) — which sweeps in pet deposits, cleaning deposits, and key deposits however the lease labels them. Nothing in the subchapter limits the amount: no one-month rule, no two-month rule, no reasonableness ceiling. The subchapter likewise imposes no separate-account requirement and no interest requirement — contrast the states that regulate custody; Texas regulates only the exit. With no cap and no custody rule, the entire compliance weight sits on the 30-day machinery below. One modern overlay: if a lease requires a deposit, the landlord may offer a fee in lieu of a deposit — but must also offer the deposit option, may not use the tenant's choice as a screening criterion, and must give the written disclosures § 92.111 requires, in a signed written agreement.

The 30 days: § 92.103, and what § 92.107 actually does

"Except as provided by Section 92.107, the landlord shall refund a security deposit to the tenant on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises" (§ 92.103(a)). Two precisions the old page blurred. First, the trigger the statute names is surrender — full stop. Second, § 92.107(a) provides that the landlord "is not obligated to return a tenant's security deposit or give the tenant a written description of damages and charges until the tenant gives the landlord a written statement of the tenant's forwarding address" — a suspension of the duty, not a second trigger that restarts a fresh 30 days, and § 92.107(b) adds that the tenant "does not forfeit" the refund or the accounting by failing to give the address. Read together: hold the money without penalty while you have no address; the moment the written address arrives, whatever remains of the surrender-anchored timeline is what you have — so the safe practice is to treat the address's arrival as an immediate-send event, not day one of a new month. Two related rules landlords miss: a lease clause conditioning the refund on advance notice of surrender "is effective only if the requirement is underlined or is printed in conspicuous bold print in the lease" (§ 92.103(b)), and the tenant's claim to the deposit "takes priority over the claim of any creditor of the landlord, including a trustee in bankruptcy" (§ 92.103(c)). Mailing counts: a landlord "is presumed to have refunded" or accounted if the refund or accounting "is placed in the United States mail and postmarked on or before the required date" (§ 92.1041). Keep accurate records of all deposits (§ 92.106).

Deductions and the itemized list: § 92.104

Before returning the deposit, the landlord "may deduct from the deposit damages and charges for which the tenant is legally liable under the lease or as a result of breaching the lease" (§ 92.104(a)) — and "may not retain any portion of a security deposit to cover normal wear and tear" (§ 92.104(b)), a term Chapter 92 defines as deterioration from the intended use of the dwelling, including breakage or malfunction due to age or deteriorated condition, excluding deterioration from negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse (§ 92.001(4)). If any portion is retained, the landlord must give the tenant "the balance of the security deposit, if any, together with a written description and itemized list of all deductions" (§ 92.104(c)). The single exception: no description or list is required if the tenant owes rent at surrender and "there is no controversy concerning the amount of rent owed" (§ 92.104(c)(1)–(2)). Do not stretch the exception — the moment any charge beyond undisputed rent is in the mix, itemize everything. One more trap, from § 92.110: if no deposit was collected and the tenant is liable for damages at surrender, the landlord must notify the tenant in writing of the claim before reporting it to a consumer reporting agency or third-party debt collector, and failure forfeits the right to collect — the exclusive remedy for that failure.

The penalty: § 92.109, in three moving parts

Section 92.109 is why Texas deposit cases are litigated as procedure, not as damage disputes:

• Bad-faith retention (§ 92.109(a)). "A landlord who in bad faith retains a security deposit in violation of this subchapter is liable for an amount equal to the sum of $100, three times the portion of the deposit wrongfully withheld, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees in a suit to recover the deposit."
• Bad-faith failure to itemize (§ 92.109(b)). A landlord who in bad faith does not provide the written description and itemized list "forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the security deposit or to bring suit against the tenant for damages to the premises" and is liable for the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees. The forfeiture is the sleeper: perfect damage documentation does not save a landlord who never sent the list.
• Burden and presumption (§ 92.109(c)–(d)). "In an action brought by a tenant under this subchapter, the landlord has the burden of proving that the retention of any portion of the security deposit was reasonable" — and "a landlord who fails either to return a security deposit or to provide a written description and itemization of deductions on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders possession is presumed to have acted in bad faith."

Worked deposit example. Rent is $1,600 and the deposit is $1,600. The tenant surrenders the premises and hands over a written forwarding address on Monday, March 2, 2026. The 30th day after surrender is Wednesday, April 1, 2026 — the refund and, if anything is kept, the itemized list must be postmarked or delivered by then. You deduct $350 for damage beyond normal wear and tear and refund $1,250 with the list. If instead the $350 were wrongfully withheld in bad faith, § 92.109(a) prices the error at $100 + (3 × $350 = $1,050) + the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees = $1,150 plus fees — on a $350 dispute. If no address had been given on March 2, § 92.107 would suspend the duty to send anything, but the tenant's right would survive intact. Run every move-out through our Security Deposit Deadline Finder and build the list from the deductions guide.

Transfer of the property: § 92.105

If the owner's interest ends "by sale, assignment, death, appointment of a receiver, bankruptcy, or otherwise, the new owner is liable for the return of security deposits according to this subchapter from the date title to the premises is acquired" (§ 92.105(a)) — a foreclosing mortgage lienholder excepted (§ 92.105(c)). The new owner "shall deliver to the tenant a signed statement acknowledging that the new owner has acquired the property and is responsible for the tenant's security deposit and specifying the exact dollar amount of the deposit" (§ 92.105(b)), and the former owner remains liable "until the new owner has received the deposit or has assumed the liability for the deposit, unless otherwise specified by the parties in a written contract" (§ 92.105(b-1)). Buyers: get the deposit ledger and the signed statements into the closing checklist. And a tenant-side rule that belongs in every move-out letter: the tenant "may not withhold payment of any portion of the last month's rent on grounds that the security deposit is security for unpaid rent" — a bad-faith violation costs the tenant three times the rent wrongfully withheld plus the landlord's fees (§ 92.108).

How much notice does a Texas landlord need to give for a rent increase or late fee?

Late fees: the three conditions and the safe harbor — § 92.019

A landlord "may not collect from a tenant a late fee for failing to pay any portion of the tenant's rent unless: (1) notice of the fee is included in a written lease; (2) the fee is reasonable; and (3) any portion of the tenant's rent has remained unpaid two full days after the date the rent was originally due" (§ 92.019(a)). Note the verb: the section regulates fees collected, and the 2019 amendment (SB 1414) replaced the old one-full-day trigger with two full days. Reasonableness is then defined by § 92.019(a-1): a fee "is considered reasonable if" it is not more than 12 percent of the rent for the rental period for a dwelling "in a structure that contains not more than four dwelling units," or 10 percent for a dwelling in a structure with more than four units — or it exceeds that percentage but "is not more than uncertain damages to the landlord related to the late payment of rent, including direct or indirect expenses, direct or indirect costs, or overhead associated with the collection of late payment." Three consequences. The percentages are a safe harbor, not a ceiling: above-harbor fees live or die on proof of uncertain damages. The harbor is measured against the rent for the rental period, and an "initial fee and a daily fee" combined "are considered a single late fee" for the test (§ 92.019(b)) — a daily accrual that carries the month's total past the harbor leaves the harbor. And the section "relates only to a fee" for late rent: paying it does not waive the tenant's remedies, and it "does not affect the landlord's right to terminate the lease or take other action" (§ 92.019(e)). A tenant may also demand a written statement of whether a late fee is owed and in what amount; the landlord must provide it by an established means of written communication, though failure to respond does not change liability (§ 92.0191).

The penalty (§ 92.019(c)). "A landlord who violates this section is liable to the tenant for an amount equal to the sum of $100, three times the amount of the late fee collected in violation of this section, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees." Because the multiplier runs on the fee collected, refunding an unlawful fee before suit is the cheapest exit — and a lease clause purporting to waive the section is void (§ 92.019(d)).

A clause that purports to waive § 92.019 is void, and it is not the only Texas clause with a statutory tripwire — the free Lease Clause Scanner checks a pasted lease against a plain-English clause checklist, entirely in your browser.

Worked late-fee example. Rent of $1,600 for a unit in a three-unit structure is due Sunday, March 1, 2026, and goes unpaid. The two full days are Monday, March 2 and Tuesday, March 3, 2026, so the earliest a compliant fee may be collected is Wednesday, March 4, 2026. The safe harbor for this structure is 12% of $1,600 = $192 for the rental period, however split between an initial fee and daily fees. The same rent in a six-unit structure would carry a 10% harbor: $160.

Rent control: the disaster-only exception — Local Government Code § 214.902

Texas has no standing rent control, and § 214.902 is the whole of the exception: "the governing body of a municipality may, by ordinance, establish rent control if: (1) the governing body finds that a housing emergency exists due to a disaster as defined by Section 418.004, Government Code; and (2) the governor approves the ordinance" — and the control must be continued or discontinued "in the same manner that the governor continues or discontinues a state of disaster" (§ 214.902(b)). Both conditions, plus a live disaster declaration: outside that narrow window, no Texas city may impose rent control at all, and no state statute caps the amount of an increase.

Raising rent, and the termination machinery underneath it

No Texas statute sets a notice period for a rent increase as such, and none caps the amount. What disciplines an increase is the tenancy structure. On a fixed term, the rent is the contract rent until the term ends, unless the lease itself authorizes an adjustment. On a month-to-month tenancy, an increase works through § 91.001: either party may terminate on notice, and the tenancy ends on the later of the date stated or one month after notice (below) — so an increase notice is, in substance, an offer to continue at the new rent from the termination date, and one month is the practical floor unless a signed agreement sets a different period. The retaliation section (§ 92.331) bars an increase within six months after a protected act, and fair-housing law bars discriminatory increases. The full walkthrough is on the companion page: Texas rent increase notice requirements, and the general method is in how to raise rent legally.

The lease itself: disclosure, flood notice, and the copy duty

Who owns and manages it: Subchapter E (§§ 92.201–92.208)

Texas disclosure is request-driven — there is no automatic move-in disclosure packet as in some states. The landlord must disclose, to a tenant or to a government official acting officially (§ 92.201(a)): (1) "the name and either a street or post office box address of the holder of record title, according to the deed records in the county clerk's office"; and (2) if an off-site entity is primarily responsible for managing the dwelling, "the name and street address of the management company." Disclosure to a tenant may be made by giving the information in writing within seven days after the request, by continuously posting it conspicuously in the dwelling or the on-site manager's office (or on its entry door), or by including it in the lease or in written rules given before the request (§ 92.201(b)); disclosure to an official must be in writing within seven days (§ 92.201(d)). An assumed name is permitted if an assumed-name certificate is on file (§ 92.201(f)). Liability under § 92.202 requires a second step: the landlord is liable if, after the request goes unanswered, the landlord still does not provide the information "before the eighth day after the date the tenant, official, or employee gives the landlord written notice" that remedies may be exercised if the landlord does not comply within seven days. The tenant's remedies (§ 92.205(a)) are a court order, actual costs of discovering the information, one month's rent plus $100, court costs and attorney's fees, and unilateral termination of the lease without a court proceeding; a parallel set, with a $500 judgment, runs to governmental bodies (§ 92.205(b)). Giving a wilfully incorrect name or address, or wilfully failing to correct one, is bad faith (§ 92.204) — and note the defense: rent delinquency on the date of the remedies notice defeats liability under §§ 92.202–92.203, but never under § 92.204 (§ 92.206). § 92.003 separately fixes who is the owner's agent for service of process — the management company, if its name and business street address have been given to the tenant in writing; otherwise the management company, on-premise manager, or rent collector, unless the owner's own name and business street address have been furnished in writing. And every tenant is entitled to the lease itself: the landlord must provide at least one complete copy "not later than the third business day after the date the lease is signed by each party," and a copy to any other tenant party within three business days of a written request (§ 92.024(a)–(b)).

Flood disclosure: § 92.0135

Since January 1, 2022, every Texas lease (short-term and sale-contract tenancies excepted, § 92.0135(a-1)) must carry two written notices, in the lease, an addendum, or a separate signed document given at or before execution, with both parties signing to evidence receipt (§ 92.0135(e)): (1) whether the landlord "is or is not aware that the dwelling you are renting is located in a 100-year floodplain" — with the statutory warning that an unchecked box means the tenant should assume the dwelling is in the floodplain, that flooding can occur outside mapped plains, and that most tenant insurance does not cover flood loss (§ 92.0135(b)); and (2) whether the landlord is or is not aware the dwelling "has flooded at least once within the last five years," where the landlord knows flooding damaged any portion of the dwelling at least once in the five years preceding the lease (§ 92.0135(d)). A landlord need not disclose floodplain status the landlord is aware of if the dwelling's elevation has been raised above the floodplain levels under federal regulations (§ 92.0135(c)). The sanction is tenant-side and severe: if the landlord violates the section and the tenant "suffers a substantial loss or damage" to personal property from flooding — defined as repair or replacement cost of 50 percent or more of the property's market value — the tenant may terminate by written notice not later than the 30th day after the loss, effective on surrender, with a refund of prepaid rent within 30 days after termination (§ 92.0135(f)–(g)). Use the statutory form language verbatim; paraphrasing the floodplain notice is how landlords lose this one.

Terms the lease cannot carry

Beyond the late-fee and Subchapter B waivers already noted, three lease-drafting rules recur in litigation. A surrender-notice condition on a deposit refund must be underlined or in conspicuous bold print (§ 92.103(b)). A clause authorizing deduction of turnover rekeying costs from the deposit of a tenant who vacated in breach must be underlined or in boldface (§ 92.156(e)). And any clause purporting to authorize a delinquency lock change must actually be in the lease — § 92.0081(d)(1) makes the lease provision a condition of the lockout exception itself. Texas leases are full of bold-print conditions because the code keeps imposing them; a form lease that buries them uniformly in plain type fails several at once.

Termination without a breach, and holdover: § 91.001

Section 91.001 is short and constantly misquoted as a flat "30 days." Its actual rule (§ 91.001(a)–(b)): "a monthly tenancy or a tenancy from month to month may be terminated by the tenant or the landlord giving notice of termination to the other," and if the rent-paying period is at least one month, "the tenancy terminates on whichever of the following days is the later: (1) the day given in the notice for termination; or (2) one month after the day on which the notice is given." If the rent-paying period is less than a month, the tenancy terminates on the later of the stated day or "the day following the expiration of the period beginning on the day on which notice is given and extending for a number of days equal to the number of days in the rent-paying period" (§ 91.001(c)) — one rent-paying period, in other words. If termination lands mid-period, "the tenant is liable for rent only up to the date of termination" (§ 91.001(d)). And the defaults in subsections (a)–(d) do not apply if "a landlord and a tenant have agreed in an instrument signed by both parties on a different period of notice to terminate the tenancy or that no notice is required," or if there is a breach of contract recognized by law (§ 91.001(e)). The 60-day move-out notice in most Texas form leases is therefore not a courtesy — it is a § 91.001(e) agreement that displaces the one-month default. The statute does not in terms require the § 91.001 notice to be written; give it in writing anyway, because the eviction section will ask you to prove the tenancy was terminated.

Holdover. A tenant who remains after the term or after a § 91.001 termination without the landlord's consent is a holdover, and possession is recovered only through Chapter 24: § 24.005(a) requires the three-day notice to vacate and compliance with § 91.001's termination requirements for a holdover filing. Accepting rent from a holdover tenant is a business decision with legal consequences — it can be characterized as consent to a new periodic tenancy — so accept any post-termination payment expressly, in writing, as use-and-occupancy pending suit, or not at all.

How does eviction work in Texas — the notice, then justice court (Chapter 24, as rewritten by SB 38)?

Every Texas eviction for possession runs the same course: a compliant notice to vacate, a forcible detainer suit in the justice court of the precinct where the property lies, a judgment for possession, and a writ of possession executed by a sheriff or constable. Nothing else moves a tenant out — the lockout and utility sections below exist precisely because self-help is not a shortcut. SB 38 (89th Leg., Ch. 960) rewrote the procedure for eviction suits in which the petition is filed on or after January 1, 2026: stricter venue and possession-only scope, a sworn petition in place of the old sworn complaint practice, diligent service deadlines, a fixed trial window, summary disposition for forcible-entry cases, and an appeal that must be sworn to be in good faith. Filings before that date proceed under the prior text. Full process: how to evict a tenant.

Step 1 — The notice to vacate: § 24.005

"If the occupant is a tenant under a written lease or oral rental agreement, the landlord must give a tenant who defaults or holds over beyond the end of the rental term or renewal period at least three days' written notice to vacate the premises before the landlord files a forcible detainer suit, unless the parties have contracted for a shorter or longer notice period in a written lease or agreement" (§ 24.005(a)). Three days is a default, in both directions: a lease may lawfully set one day or ten. Tenants at will or by sufferance likewise get at least three days (§ 24.005(b)), and a purchaser at a foreclosure sale under a lien superior to the lease must give a rent-current, non-defaulting residential tenant at least 30 days' written notice if the purchaser will not continue the lease (§ 24.005(b)).

SB 38 added a distinction that decides nonpayment cases. Where possession is terminated based solely on nonpayment of rent and the tenant "was not late or delinquent in paying rent to the landlord before the month in which the notice is given," the notice "shall be given in the form of a notice to pay rent or vacate." Where the tenant was late or delinquent before that month, the landlord "may" use either a notice to pay rent or vacate or a bare notice to vacate (§ 24.005(a)). Serving a bare notice to vacate on a first-time-late tenant is now a defective notice. Two overlays: a holdover filing must also satisfy § 91.001 (§ 24.005(a), last sentence); and where federal law requires a longer pre-vacate notice (the CARES Act 30-day notice is the common case), the federal period "is not a basis for a court to delay or abate" the suit and does not delay filing — it gates only service of the writ, which "may not be served on the tenant until the period between the delivery of the notice under this section and the service of the writ equals or exceeds the period prescribed by the federal requirement" (§ 24.005(c-1)). Where the lease or applicable law requires an opportunity to respond to a notice of proposed eviction, the § 24.005 notice period may run concurrently with the response period, and the two notices may be combined (§ 24.005(e)). Forcible entry cases are different: the person entitled to possession gives oral or written notice to vacate, which may demand vacatur immediately or by a stated deadline (§ 24.005(d)).

Step 2 — Delivery: the § 24.005(f-3) list (new January 1, 2026)

SB 38 repealed former subsections (f), (f-1), (f-2), and (g)–(i) of § 24.005 and substituted a closed delivery list. A notice required by § 24.005 "must be delivered using at least one of the following methods" (§ 24.005(f-3)):

1. Mail, "including first class mail, registered mail, certified mail, or a delivery service";

2. Delivery to the inside of the premises, in a conspicuous place;

3. Hand delivery to any tenant of the premises who is 16 years of age or older; or

4. Electronic communication, including e-mail or other electronic means — only "if the parties have agreed in writing."

And a savings clause: the list "does not apply if the tenant actually receives the notice" (§ 24.005(f-4)). The practice consequences are the point of the amendment. Posting on the outside of the front door — the old § 24.005(f)(2) workhorse — no longer appears in the statute; a notice taped outside the door and photographed is, standing alone, not a listed method (it will usually matter only if actual receipt is contested, which is exactly when you needed the statute). Delivery inside the premises revives the old inside-posting route, and it presupposes lawful access — use mail or hand delivery where entry is awkward. If your lease lacks a written electronic-notice agreement, e-mail delivery is not a listed method either: add the clause at the next renewal. Document the method used, the date, and the person served; notice is an element of the forcible detainer claim and is litigated as strict compliance.

Step 3 — Filing, service, and trial under SB 38

The suit is a forcible detainer action filed with a sworn petition in the justice court for the precinct where the property sits; the justice court decides possession — other claims travel separately, and an eviction suit "does not bar a suit for trespass, damages, waste, rent, or mesne profits" (§ 24.008). Nonlawyer representation is permitted: in justice-court eviction suits for nonpayment or holdover, parties may appear by authorized agents who need not be attorneys (§ 24.011). Under SB 38's timetable, the sheriff or constable must make a diligent effort to serve the citation and petition not later than the fifth business day after the petition is filed (if service is not made by then, the landlord may have it served by another trained law-enforcement officer), and the court must hold trial on a date not earlier than the 10th day or later than the 21st day after filing, and not earlier than the fourth day after the tenant is served; a trial may not be postponed more than seven days unless the parties agree in writing. SB 38 also authorizes summary disposition in forcible-entry and unauthorized-occupancy cases: where the landlord moves for it and no genuine dispute of material fact appears, the court may enter judgment without a trial if the occupant does not respond with evidence within four days after service — the citation in such a case must carry the prescribed English-and-Spanish warning in conspicuous bold print. Do not import summary disposition into an ordinary nonpayment case; by its terms it is a forcible-entry tool. Parties may appear by videoconference or teleconference if they agree.

Worked eviction timeline. Rent of $1,600 due Sunday, March 1, 2026 is unpaid, and the tenant was late once before, in January — so either notice form is available. You deliver a notice to pay rent or vacate by a listed method on Wednesday, April 1, 2026 (a fresh month chosen so the count is clean). The three days run Thursday, April 2, Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4, 2026; the first safe filing day is Monday, April 6, 2026. File that day, and the SB 38 trial window runs from Thursday, April 16 (the 10th day after filing) to Monday, April 27, 2026 (the 21st day), subject to the four-days-after-service floor. Had this tenant never been late before April, the April 1 notice would have had to be a notice to pay rent or vacate — a bare notice to vacate would not support the suit. To run these same dates for your own case — notice, filing, trial window, and writ — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

Step 4 — Judgment, appeal, and the writ: § 24.0061

"A landlord who prevails in an eviction suit is entitled to a judgment for possession of the premises and a writ of possession" (§ 24.0061(a)). The appeal window is short and, after SB 38, conditioned: an appeal must be perfected within five days after the judgment is signed, the appellant must swear the appeal is taken in good faith and not for delay, and a tenant appealing a nonpayment judgment must pay rent into the court registry as directed or the writ may issue notwithstanding the appeal. The writ itself "may not be issued before the sixth day after the date on which the judgment for possession is rendered," possession bond under the Rules of Civil Procedure aside (§ 24.0061(b)). Issuance is "a ministerial act not subject to review or delay," and the sheriff or constable "shall serve the writ of possession not later than the fifth business day after the date the writ is issued," with the same other-officer fallback if service slips (§ 24.0061(b-1)). On a default judgment (or a judgment under the summary-disposition procedure), the court must mail the tenant a copy of the judgment at the premises by first class mail within 48 hours (§ 24.0061(c)). Execution is choreographed by § 24.0061(d): the officer must post a written warning, at least 8-1/2 by 11 inches, on the exterior of the front door, stating the writ has issued and will be executed on or after a stated date and time not sooner than 24 hours after the warning is posted; at execution the officer delivers possession, directs everyone claiming under the tenant to leave (and physically removes those who refuse), and has the tenant's property placed outside the unit at a nearby location — not blocking a sidewalk, passageway, or street, and not while it is raining, sleeting, or snowing (a municipality may supply a portable closed container, § 24.0061(d-1)). The officer may use reasonable force (§ 24.0061(h)), may engage a bonded warehouseman at no cost to the landlord (§ 24.0061(e)), and "may not require the landlord to store the property" (§ 24.0061(f)); a landlord is not liable for damages resulting from enforcement of the judgment, including execution of the writ (§ 24.0061(i)).

Squatters and unauthorized occupants: Chapter 24B (SB 1333, 2025)

Before September 1, 2025, a Texas owner whose vacant house was occupied by a stranger generally had to run the stranger through the same Chapter 24 process as a tenant. SB 1333 (89th Leg.) changed that by adding Chapter 24B to the Property Code, effective September 1, 2025, and by creating companion criminal offenses for squatting-related fraud in the Penal Code (including presenting false documents to enter or remain on real property, and fraudulently offering property for sale or lease). Chapter 24B is deliberately narrow. "Notwithstanding any other law, an owner of residential real property or the owner's agent may request that the sheriff of the county in which the property is located immediately remove a person who unlawfully entered and is occupying a dwelling on the property without the owner's consent" only if (§ 24B.001):

1. The property was not open to the public when the person entered, and is not the subject of pending litigation between the owner and the person;

2. The owner or agent has directed the person to leave and the person has not done so; and

3. The person is not a current or former tenant of the owner under an oral or written lease, and not an immediate family member of the owner.

The owner or agent requests removal "by submitting to the sheriff of the county in which the property is located a complaint" in substantially the statutory form, made under oath or as an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, itemizing the § 24B.001 conditions and the complainant's ownership (§ 24B.002). After verifying record ownership, the sheriff or constable must, without delay, serve a notice to immediately vacate — by personal delivery or by posting on the front door — restore the owner to possession, and may stand by while the owner secures the dwelling (§ 24B.003); the chapter provides fee, immunity, and wrongful-removal provisions, including a civil action for a person wrongfully removed. The limits matter as much as the speed: a holdover tenant, an ex-tenant, a guest who overstayed into a claimed tenancy, and a family member are all outside Chapter 24B — each goes through § 24.005 and Chapter 24 (with SB 38's summary disposition available for genuine forcible-entry cases). Misclassifying a former tenant as a squatter is the fact pattern the wrongful-removal remedy was written for; when tenancy is genuinely disputed, file the eviction.

What repairs must a Texas landlord make? (Subchapter B, §§ 92.051–92.062)

Texas has no general warranty-of-habitability code chapter of the kind other states enact. What it has is Subchapter B: a conditional landlord duty, a two-notice liability machine, and a menu of priced remedies. The subchapter's duties and remedies are expressly "in lieu of existing common law and other statutory law warranties and duties of landlords for maintenance, repair, security, habitability, and nonretaliation" (§ 92.061) — Subchapter B is the system, not a supplement to one.

The landlord's duty: § 92.052

"A landlord shall make a diligent effort to repair or remedy a condition if: (1) the tenant specifies the condition in a notice to the person to whom or to the place where rent is normally paid; (2) the tenant is not delinquent in the payment of rent at the time notice is given; and (3) the condition: (A) materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant; or (B) arises from the landlord's failure to provide and maintain in good operating condition a device to supply hot water of a minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit" (§ 92.052(a)). Every element is a filter. Cosmetic conditions and conditions below the health-and-safety threshold are outside the duty. The landlord has no duty to repair a condition caused by the tenant, a lawful occupant, a family member, or a guest or invitee — normal wear and tear excepted (§ 92.052(b)) — and the subchapter does not require the landlord to furnish utilities whose lines are not reasonably available, or to furnish security guards (§ 92.052(c)). And the precision the old page missed: "the tenant's notice under Subsection (a) must be in writing only if the tenant's lease is in writing and requires written notice" (§ 92.052(d)). An oral complaint under an oral lease, or under a written lease with no written-notice clause, starts the duty. The tenant generally bears the burden of proof in an enforcement suit — unless the landlord fails to give a written explanation for delay by the fifth day after the tenant's written demand for one, in which case the burden shifts to the landlord to prove diligent effort and that a reasonable time had not elapsed (§ 92.053).

The duty is hard to contract around. It "may not be waived except as provided" in § 92.006(d)–(f): the parties may agree the tenant will repair at the landlord's expense (§ 92.006(d)); an agreement shifting repair cost to the tenant is valid only if, at the start of the term, the landlord owns only one rental dwelling, the dwelling is free of health-and-safety conditions, the landlord has no reason to believe such a condition is likely to occur or recur, and the agreement is written, underlined or boldfaced, specific and clear, and made knowingly, voluntarily, and for consideration (§ 92.006(e)); and a lease may assign the tenant the cost of three listed tenant-side conditions — wastewater stoppages from foreign or improper objects in lines exclusively serving the unit, damage to doors, windows, or screens, and damage from windows or doors left open — without touching the landlord's duty for stoppages caused by deterioration, breakage, roots, ground conditions, faulty construction, or malfunctioning equipment (§ 92.006(f)). A landlord who knowingly contracts to waive the duty faces actual damages, a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $2,000, and fees (§ 92.0563(b)).

Liability: the two notices and the seven-day presumption — § 92.056

Duty and liability are different sections, and liability is where cases are won. A landlord "is liable to a tenant as provided by this subchapter if" (§ 92.056(b)): (1) the tenant has given notice to repair to the person or place where rent is normally paid; (2) the condition materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant; (3) the tenant has given a subsequent written notice after a reasonable time to repair following the first notice — or the first notice was sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, registered mail, or another trackable mail method, which excuses the second notice; (4) the landlord has had a reasonable time after the notice(s); (5) the landlord has not made a diligent effort; and (6) "the tenant was not delinquent in the payment of rent at the time any notice required by this subsection was given." Notice is deemed received when the landlord or agent actually receives it or when the Postal Service attempts delivery (§ 92.056(c)). And the clock everyone quotes: "in determining whether a period of time is a reasonable time to repair or remedy a condition, there is a rebuttable presumption that seven days is a reasonable time," rebutted on the receipt date, the severity and nature of the condition, and the reasonable availability of materials, labor, and utilities (§ 92.056(d)). Seven days is a presumption to be rebutted with facts — parts on order, a disaster shortage — not a safe harbor and not a deadline; a sewage backup will not wait seven days in front of a justice of the peace, and a specialty part may justify more. One drafting duty sits on the landlord: "a lease must contain language in underlined or bold print that informs the tenant of the remedies available under this section and Section 92.0561" (§ 92.056(g)).

A tenant to whom the landlord is liable may terminate the lease, repair and deduct under § 92.0561, and obtain judicial remedies under § 92.0563 (§ 92.056(e)). A terminating tenant is entitled to a pro rata rent refund from the later of termination or move-out, and to deduct the security deposit from rent or recover it according to law — but not to stack the § 92.0561 and § 92.0563(1)–(2) remedies on top of termination (§ 92.056(f)).

Repair-and-deduct: the four gateways — § 92.0561

"If the landlord is liable to the tenant under Section 92.056(b), the tenant may have the condition repaired or remedied and may deduct the cost from a subsequent rent payment" (§ 92.0561(a)) — but only if all of § 92.0561(d) is satisfied: the landlord has a § 92.052 duty that was not validly waived; the § 92.056 notices were given, at least one of which states that the tenant intends to repair or remedy the condition and reasonably describes the intended repair; and one of four events has occurred (§ 92.0561(d)(3)):

• (A) the landlord has failed to remedy "the backup or overflow of raw sewage inside the tenant's dwelling or the flooding from broken pipes or natural drainage inside the dwelling";
• (B) the landlord agreed in the lease, expressly or impliedly, to furnish potable water, and water service "has totally ceased";
• (C) the landlord agreed to furnish heating or cooling equipment, the equipment produces inadequate heat or cooled air, and the landlord "has been notified in writing by the appropriate local housing, building, or health official" that the lack of heat or cooling materially affects health or safety; or
• (D) the landlord "has been notified in writing by the appropriate local housing, building, or health official or other official having jurisdiction that the condition materially affects the health or safety of an ordinary tenant."

A general health-and-safety defect with no official's writing and no sewage, water, or HVAC failure is not deductible — the tenant's routes for it are termination and § 92.0563, and a tenant who deducts anyway is short on rent (and, after the landlord's written warning, exposed under § 92.058). Timing is gateway-specific (§ 92.0561(e)): sewage and flooding repairs may begin immediately after the notice of intent; water-cessation and heat/cooling repairs after the landlord fails to repair within three days of the intent notice; and other official-flagged conditions after seven days. The deduction "may not exceed the amount of one month's rent under the lease or $500, whichever is greater," and total deductions in any one month are capped at the same figure (§ 92.0561(b)–(c)); for subsidized tenancies, "one month's rent" means the fair market rent. Repairs must be made "by an independent company, contractor, or repairman" — licensed where the municipality requires it — and, absent a § 92.0561(g) agreement, not by the tenant, the tenant's immediate family, the tenant's employer or its employees, or a company the tenant owns; no repairs may be made to the foundation or load-bearing structural elements of a building with two or more units (§ 92.0561(f)). The tenant may not contract beyond the deductible amount, the landlord is not liable to the tenant's repairers, and no lien arises (§ 92.0561(i)); on deducting, the tenant must furnish "a copy of the repair bill and the receipt for its payment" with the balance of the rent (§ 92.0561(j)). If the landlord repairs, or delivers a valid affidavit for delay, after the tenant has contacted a repairer but before work begins, the landlord owes the trip charge, deductible as a repair cost (§ 92.0561(k)). Section 92.0561 was amended by HB 2037 (89th Leg.), effective September 1, 2025 — the amendment conformed the section's cross-references and sits alongside HB 2037's new Subchapter C provisions on agents for notice and e-mail notice (§§ 92.112–92.113); the cap, gateways, and procedure above are the current text.

The landlord's pause button: § 92.0562. Before the tenant contracts for repairs, the landlord may deliver a sworn affidavit for delay summarizing the reasons for delay and the diligent efforts made, with dates, names, addresses, and telephone numbers of contractors, suppliers, and repairmen contacted. A valid affidavit delays tenant repair by 15 days for a parts delay not the landlord's fault, or 30 days for a general shortage of labor or materials after a natural disaster; affidavits on other grounds "are unlawful, and if used, they are of no effect," successive affidavits may not extend the total delay beyond six months from the first, and the landlord must keep making diligent efforts throughout (§ 92.0562(c)–(f)). A landlord who violates the section is liable for all § 92.0563 judicial remedies, with the civil penalty raised to one month's rent plus $1,000 (§ 92.0562(f)). Section 92.0562(g) also protects a good-faith new owner who acquires title by foreclosure or bona fide purchase without knowledge of the tenant's notice: termination and the emergency repair rights survive without new notice, other repair rights require a fresh written notice of intent and a reasonable time, and a new owner who violates the subsection faces one month's rent plus $2,000, actual damages, and fees.

Judicial remedies, casualty, and the landlord's counter-remedy

Section 92.0563(a) prices a proven Subchapter B case: "(1) an order directing the landlord to take reasonable action to repair or remedy the condition; (2) an order reducing the tenant's rent, from the date of the first repair notice, in proportion to the reduced rental value resulting from the condition until the condition is repaired or remedied; (3) a judgment against the landlord for a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500; (4) a judgment against the landlord for the amount of the tenant's actual damages; and (5) court costs and attorney's fees," personal-injury fees excluded. Justice, county, and district courts have concurrent jurisdiction; a justice-court hearing must be held between the 6th and 10th days after service of citation, and a justice court may not award relief exceeding $20,000, excluding interest and court costs (§ 92.0563(c)–(e)).

Casualty loss (§ 92.054). Where a condition results from an insured casualty — fire, smoke, hail, explosion, or similar — "the period for repair does not begin until the landlord receives the insurance proceeds." If the premises are "as a practical matter totally unusable for residential purposes" and the loss was not caused by the tenant side's negligence or fault, either party may terminate by written notice any time before repairs are completed, and the tenant is entitled only to a pro rata rent refund from move-out and a deposit refund as otherwise required. If the premises are partially unusable through no fault of the tenant side, the tenant is entitled to a rent reduction proportionate to the unusable extent — "but only on judgment of a county or district court," unless the parties agree otherwise in a written lease (§ 92.054(c)). A landlord may also close a unit altogether on the § 92.055 procedure (certified-mail notice to the tenant and to the local health officer and building inspector, termination as soon as legally possible, demolition or permanent non-residential use afterward), with the tenant's remedies curtailed as that section provides and moving-expense and refund duties if the unit is closed after a repair notice.

The landlord's counter-remedy (§ 92.058). If the tenant "withholds rents, causes repairs to be performed, or makes rent deductions for repairs in violation of this subchapter," the landlord may recover actual damages; and if, after written notice of the illegality and of the subchapter's penalties, the tenant persists in bad faith, the landlord may recover "a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500" — with the landlord bearing the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence, and the prevailing party recovering fees (§ 92.058(c)). Managing agents, leasing agents, and resident managers are the landlord's agents for Subchapter B notices (§ 92.060), and a landlord that lets a tenant relocate to another of its units after a natural disaster renders the first unusable may not require a lease term longer than the term remaining on the old lease (§ 92.062).

Worked repair example. Rent is $1,600. Raw sewage backs up into the dwelling. The tenant — current on rent — gives notice to the rent address on Monday, March 2, 2026, stating the condition and that the tenant intends to repair and deduct if it is not remedied, with a reasonable description of the work. Sewage is gateway (A): the tenant may have the repair made immediately following the notice of intent (§ 92.0561(e)(1)), by an independent licensed plumber, and deduct the invoiced cost from the next rent payment with the bill and receipt attached — capped at the greater of one month's rent or $500, here $1,600 for the month. Had the condition instead been a failed air conditioner in a unit where the landlord agreed to furnish cooling, the tenant would need the local official's written health-and-safety notice (gateway (C)) and a three-day wait after the intent notice before deducting. Had it been a broken handrail with no official involvement, there would be no deduction right at all: the remedies would be the § 92.056 notice sequence — first notice, the seven-day presumed reasonable time running to Monday, March 9, 2026, a subsequent written notice (excused if the first went by certified mail) — then termination or a § 92.0563 suit.

Security devices: the standard kit, at the landlord's expense (Subchapter D)

Subchapter D (§§ 92.151–92.170) is the most mechanical part of Chapter 92: a prescribed kit of hardware on every residential door and window, installed at the landlord's expense without any request from the tenant. "Without a request by the tenant, a landlord shall" equip (§ 92.153(a)):

1. A window latch on each exterior window;

2. A doorknob lock or keyed dead bolt on each exterior door;

3. A sliding door pin lock on each exterior sliding glass door;

4. A sliding door handle latch or a security bar on each exterior sliding glass door; and

5. A keyless bolting device and a door viewer on each exterior door (including a door leading from a bedroom and the garage, and the entry door of each living unit).

French doors get a split rule: one designated door must carry the full kit, and the other must have specified top-and-bottom bolts (a bolt with at least a one-inch throw, or edge bolts with at least a three-quarter-inch throw) (§ 92.153(b)). The devices are installed at the landlord's expense (§ 92.153(c)), the duty runs from the time the tenant is in possession (§ 92.153(d)), and a device required without request "must be installed and remain in proper operating condition" during the term and any renewal (§ 92.153(h)). Narrow exceptions exempt owner-occupied-equivalent and certain elderly/disabled-occupancy units from the keyless bolting device, on lease or notice-document conditions (§ 92.153(e)–(g)) — verify before relying on any of them. Dimensions are statutory: the keyless bolting device must sit between 36 and 48 inches above the floor (for post-September 1, 1993 installations), and the keyed dead bolt must extend at least one inch into the door frame (§ 92.154).

Rekeying (§ 92.156) is the deadline landlords most often miss: "a security device required by Section 92.153 or 92.157(a)(2) shall be rekeyed or changed by the landlord at the landlord's expense not later than the seventh day after each tenant turnover date" (§ 92.156(a)). Turnover date is the date the lease begins, or, for the landlord's own prior occupancy, the date all prior tenants moved out (§ 92.151(2)–(3)). During the term, a tenant-requested additional rekey is at the tenant's expense (§ 92.156(b)), and a landlord may pass rekeying costs to a tenant who vacates in breach of lease only if the lease carries the deduction right in underlined or boldface print (§ 92.156(e)). Tenant-requested added devices — an extra keyed dead bolt, a keyless bolt, a sliding-door lock, a door viewer, a security bar — are installed at the tenant's expense on written request (§ 92.157), and the landlord must repair or replace a device on the tenant's request or notification (§ 92.158). Timing has two gears: the landlord is presumed to have complied if the work is done by the seventh day after notice, and that presumption falls to 72 hours after the tenant's notice that an unauthorized entry occurred or another violent crime occurred at the facility where the unit is located (§ 92.161).

Remedies are layered (§§ 92.164–92.165). For failure to install or rekey devices required without request, the tenant may install or rekey the device and deduct the cost from rent; may unilaterally terminate the lease without court proceedings (§ 92.164(a)(2), with a post-request waiting period of three days, or seven if the lease carries the prescribed boldface or underlined rights notice, § 92.164(b)); and may sue for actual damages. Where the tenant pleaded and proved a violation after making a written request, the court may award punitive damages where authorized by law plus a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500. For other Subchapter D violations, § 92.165 adds a similar civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, with punitive damages available only if the violation was intentional, malicious, or grossly negligent. Defenses exist — notably rent still unpaid when the tenant demanded compliance (§ 92.166) — and a bad-faith or harassment suit under Subchapters B, D, E, or F draws its own sanction of one month's rent plus $100 and fees (§ 92.004).

Smoke alarms: bedroom, corridor, level (Subchapter F)

Where many states say "install smoke detectors," Texas specifies locations. "A landlord shall install at least one smoke alarm in each separate bedroom in a dwelling unit. If a dwelling unit is designed with a configuration of multiple bedrooms where the bedrooms are separated by a common corridor, at least one smoke alarm shall be installed in the corridor in the immediate proximity of the bedrooms and one smoke alarm in each of the separate bedrooms. In addition, at least one smoke alarm shall be installed in each multiple-occupancy unit or level" (§ 92.255(a)); a single-room unit needs one inside the room at initial occupancy. Units whose rentals began before September 1, 2011 may satisfy the section with a battery-powered alarm not connected to other alarms, with a replacement caveat for alarms installed earlier (§ 92.255(b)). The landlord must "determine that the smoke alarm is in good working order at the beginning of the tenant's possession" — by actually testing it (§ 92.258(a)–(b)); during the term, the landlord's duty to inspect and repair arises on the tenant's notice or request, and the landlord is not required to service, supply, or replace a battery once the alarm was working at possession (§ 92.258(c)–(d)). Tenant duties run the other way: a tenant must not disconnect or intentionally damage an alarm, and a landlord — after the prescribed boldface or underlined lease notice and a seven-day written cure notice — may pursue remedies including a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $100 for a disabling tenant (§ 92.2611).

Liability attaches where the landlord fails to install an alarm at initial occupancy, or fails to install, inspect, or repair by the seventh day after receiving the tenant's written notice under Subchapter F (§ 92.259). Remedies (§ 92.260): a court order directing compliance; damages based on the landlord's degree of liability for any resulting loss of life or personal injury; a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $100 — but only for the failure-to-act-after-written-notice category; court costs and attorney's fees (in the enumerated categories); and, for the after-notice category, unilateral termination of the lease without court proceedings. Defenses include the tenant's own delinquency in rent at the time of notice (§ 92.261).

Lockouts and utility cut-offs: the sharpest teeth in Chapter 92

Two sections do the work, and both forbid the instinctive landlord response to nonpayment. Section 92.008 bars interruption of utility service the tenant pays for directly to the utility — "except for temporary interruptions caused by a bona fide repair, construction, or an emergency" (§ 92.008(a)) — and, where the landlord furnishes water, wastewater, gas, or electric service, bars interruption in any case other than the same exceptions (§ 92.008(b)). A narrow submetered-electricity regime (§ 92.008(h)–(r)) allows interruption by a manager or agent only after a bill has been delinquent since the 12th day after issuance, a separate written "Electric Service Interruption Notice" and a disconnection-risk notice have been given, and a reconnection charge not exceeding $10 is the stated consequence — with summer/winter moratoria and occupancy conditions layered on; treat it as a specialist procedure, not a general license. A landlord who violates § 92.008 exposes itself to possession or termination plus "actual damages, one month's rent plus $1,000, reasonable attorney's fees, and court costs, less any delinquent sums owed by the tenant" (§ 92.008(f)); waiver is void (§ 92.008(g)). Where the landlord agreed to furnish and pay for water, gas, or electric service and the utility cuts service for the landlord's nonpayment, § 92.301 lets the tenant pay to reconnect or avert disconnection, terminate on the section's schedule, deduct the payments from rent, and recover the deposit, a pro rata refund, actual damages, costs, and fees — a reminder that the utility relationship is the landlord's problem, not the tenant's negotiating chip.

Section 92.0081 bars removing a door, window, lock, doorknob, or other furnishing — furnishing removal wholly apart — except for a bona fide repair or replacement, and except that a repair "that in good faith requires the removal of a door or window shall be completed promptly and be performed so as to avoid unreasonable risk of harm to persons or property in the unit" (§ 92.0081(a)). It then forbids a landlord to "intentionally prevent a tenant from entering" the unit "except by judicial process unless the exclusion results from: (1) bona fide repairs, construction, or an emergency; (2) removing the contents of premises abandoned by a tenant; or (3) changing the door locks of a tenant who is delinquent in paying at least part of the rent" (§ 92.0081(b)). That third exception is the Texas lockout: it exists, and it is fenced. A lock change is lawful only if (§ 92.0081(c)–(e), (k)):

• The lease grants the right to change locks for nonpayment (§ 92.0081(d)(1));
• The tenant is in fact delinquent in paying at least part of the rent (§ 92.0081(d)(2));
• Advance written notice of the lock change has been locally mailed not later than the fifth calendar day before, or hand-delivered or posted on the inside of the main entry door not later than the third calendar day before, stating the earliest date the locks may be changed, the amount of rent the tenant must pay to prevent the change, the name and street address of the individual or office from which the new key can be obtained (or an on-site management office location with hours), and — in underlined or bold print — that the landlord "must provide the tenant with a key to the changed lock on the dwelling regardless of whether the tenant pays the delinquent rent" (§ 92.0081(d)(3));
• The change does not occur on a day, or the day before a day, when the landlord or a designated agent is not available or the on-site management office is closed, so that the tenant can tender payment or obtain a key (§ 92.0081(e));
• After the change, a written notice is placed on the tenant's front door stating the 24-hour location of a new key or a 24-hour contact telephone number, that the landlord "must provide the new key to the tenant at any hour, regardless of whether or not the tenant has paid any of the delinquent rent," and the delinquent amount (§ 92.0081(c)). Where the key is available by telephone, it must be furnished within two hours of the tenant's call (§ 92.0081(c)(2));
• The lock change does not occur while the tenant or any other person is inside the dwelling, is made only once per rental payment period, and does not touch the common areas (§ 92.0081(k), (e-1)).

The point of the choreography is § 92.0081(f): "the tenant is entitled to receive a key to the new lock regardless of whether the tenant pays any of the delinquent rent." The device exists to force a conversation and a payment opportunity, never to strand a tenant's belongings or sleep. Price the noncompliance before attempting it: a landlord that violates § 92.0081 is liable for possession or termination plus "a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $1,000, actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees, less any delinquent sums" (§ 92.0081(h)), and a separate penalty of one month's rent attaches to refusing the key in violation of subsection (f) (§ 92.0081(i)). Locked out unlawfully, the tenant has two fast remedies: a writ of reentry from the justice court where the unit is located, issuable ex parte on sworn complaint, with a hearing the landlord may request between the first and seventh days after service, and contempt for disobedience (§ 92.009); and the parallel writ of restoration of utility service for § 92.008 violations (§ 92.0091). A tenant who procures either writ in bad faith owes the landlord actual damages plus the greater of one month's rent or $500, fees, and costs (§§ 92.009(k), 92.0091(j)).

How much notice must a Texas landlord give before entering the rental?

Say it plainly: Texas has no general landlord-entry statute. Chapter 92 prescribes when the landlord may change a lock, install and rekey security devices, repair on notice, and enter under a writ — it nowhere grants the landlord a right of entry on 24 hours' notice, or any notice, for showings, inspections, or routine access, and it nowhere imposes a statewide notice period for lawful entries. Entry rights in Texas are therefore lease law: the lease controls what access the landlord reserved, and a lease that reserves nothing leaves the tenant's right to exclusive possession intact, subject to the entry the statute itself authorizes (device installation and repair under Subchapters B and D, restoration of possession by writ, bona fide repairs and emergencies under § 92.0081(b)). Draft accordingly — a specific entry clause (notice method, hours, purposes, lockbox and showing terms) is the only entry statute most Texas landlords will ever have — and behave accordingly: entry outside the lease and the statutory exceptions is the fact pattern behind lockout, retaliation, and quiet-enjoyment claims. A tenant's parallel statutory right is affirmative: a landlord may not prohibit or limit a tenant's right to summon law enforcement or emergency assistance in response to family violence or other perceived emergency, and a violation draws actual damages, one month's rent, costs, injunctive relief, and fees (§ 92.015).

What counts as landlord retaliation in Texas, and how long is the window? (Subchapter H)

Sections 92.331–92.335 convert a landlord's timing into evidence. A landlord "may not retaliate against" a tenant by conduct described below "within six months after the date of the tenant's action" (§ 92.331(b)). The protected actions (§ 92.331(a)) are: (1) in good faith exercising or attempting to exercise rights or remedies granted by lease, ordinance, or federal or state statute; (2) giving a landlord a notice to repair or exercising a remedy under Chapter 92; (3) complaining in good faith to a governmental entity responsible for enforcing building or housing codes, a public utility, or a civic or nonprofit agency, claiming a violation of building or housing codes or a utility problem the tenant reasonably believes is valid; and (4) establishing, attempting to establish, or participating in a tenant organization. The prohibited retaliation (§ 92.331(b)) is: (1) filing an eviction proceeding against the tenant (except as § 92.332 provides); (2) depriving the tenant of use of the premises except as authorized by law; (3) decreasing services to the tenant; (4) increasing the rent or terminating the tenant's lease; or (5) engaging in bad faith in a course of conduct that materially interferes with the tenant's rights under the lease.

The exceptions in § 92.332 are what keep the section workable. Increases under a pre-existing escalation clause tied to rising operating costs are not retaliation, nor are increases or service reductions impacting an entire residence under a pattern of similar increases or reductions (§ 92.332(a)). And filing in the enumerated grounds is never retaliation: the tenant's rent delinquency at the time of the notice or filing; intentional property damage or threats by the tenant side; material lease breach involving serious misconduct or criminal acts; holdover after the tenant's own termination notice; holdover after the landlord's end-of-term termination notice where the tenant's protected act post-dates it; and holdover where the termination was motivated by a desire to stop substantial interference with quiet enjoyment, or to abate health, safety, or property-damage conditions (§ 92.332(b)). Remedies: "if a landlord retaliates against a tenant in violation of this subchapter, the tenant may recover from the landlord a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees … less any delinquent sums owed by the tenant" (§ 92.333) — with fair market rent substituted where rent is government-subsidized. Retaliation is also a defense in an eviction suit; other Chapter 92 actions may not be joined as claims or counterclaims in the eviction itself, and a lawful rent deduction is a defense to a nonpayment allegation (§ 92.335). A tenant who files a retaliation action in bad faith owes possession plus one month's rent plus $500, costs, and fees (§ 92.334). Practically: document the business reason for every rent increase, nonrenewal, and service change within six months of any repair demand or code complaint — the six-month window makes your paper file the case.

Early termination rights tenants hold against you

Several tenants hold statutory exit rights that override the lease, and the landlord's penalty clauses in them are worth knowing before you argue. Family violence (§ 92.016): a victim (or a parent or guardian of a victim) under a qualifying protective order, or a family-violence protection condition certified by specified professionals, may terminate and vacate without liability for future rent or lease-break sums by delivering the order or certification and written notice, on the section's effective-date schedule. Certain sex offenses and stalking (§ 92.0161): victims or parents of victims of enumerated sexual offenses, aggravated sexual assault, or stalking by a person present at the premises may terminate without liability, delivering specified evidence (a final protective order, or — after notifying the perpetrator and the conditions the section sets — law-enforcement, documentary, or provider evidence), with termination effective 30 days after compliance. A landlord that violates § 92.016 or § 92.0161 is liable for a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, and attorney's fees (§ 92.016(e); § 92.0161(f)); the rights are non-waivable in substance — a tenant may not waive them (§ 92.016(g); § 92.0161(h)). Death of a sole occupant (§ 92.0162): a representative may terminate where the sole occupant dies, on written notice and removal of property, effective on the later of 30 days after the notice or the date all conditions are met; lease-break penalty against the estate is unenforceable, and security deposits are handled under Subchapter C. Military service (§ 92.017): a servicemember (or dependent, for lesser deployments) receiving orders for 90+ days or a change of station may terminate on delivery of the orders, effective 30 days after the next rent payment is due (or earlier where orders are received less than 30 days before deployment); liability stops at unpaid rent through the effective date, and refunds of prepaid rent and deposits are due not later than the 30th day after the effective date. Parallel federal-law rights under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act run alongside. In each case the landlord's compliant move is the same: verify the qualifying document, honor the statutory effective date, and process the deposit under Subchapter C.

Fair housing: Chapter 301 tracks the federal seven

The Texas Fair Housing Act is Property Code Chapter 301. Subchapter B prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of "race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin" (§ 301.021 and following) — the same seven classes as the federal Fair Housing Act. Chapter 301 adds no Texas-specific protected class: no creed, no age, no marital status, and no source-of-income classification appears in the Act. Definitions track federal law, including the Act's definition of disability as a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits at least one major life activity, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having one — with current illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance excluded (§ 301.003(6)) — and its definition of familial status covering households with children under 18, pregnant persons, and persons securing custody of children (§ 301.004). Complaints go to the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division (the Act's administrative enforcement has sat with the Commission since September 1, 2015), HUD, or court, under the Act's subchapters on administrative enforcement, civil action, and criminal penalties. Federal exemptions (owner-occupied small buildings, single-family sales or rentals without a broker, religious and private-club housing, and the housing-for-older-persons exemption) run through the Act's definitions and prohibitions; where a Texas statute and federal law both apply, the practical ceiling is set by whichever rule is stricter for the conduct in question — and local ordinances may add classes where state law has not preempted them, which is the subject of the next paragraph.

Source of income. There is no statewide source-of-income protection for Texas renters — and since 2015 there cannot be a local one. The operative statute is Local Government Code § 250.007 (enacted by SB 267, 84th Leg., effective September 1, 2015): "a municipality or county may not adopt or enforce an ordinance or regulation that prohibits an owner, lessor, or managing agent … from refusing to lease or rent … to a person based on the person's lawful source of income to pay rent, including funding from a federal housing assistance program." That is why Austin's source-of-income ordinance — adopted in 2014 over the same ground — has been unenforceable since September 1, 2015. Two statutory carve-outs survive: municipalities and counties with source-of-income ordinances applying only to veterans are untouched (§ 250.007(b)), and a local government may still condition incentive, contract, or density-bonus benefits on voluntary voucher acceptance (§ 250.007(c)). A landlord therefore remains free under Texas law to decline Housing Choice Voucher holders — subject always to the Fair Housing Act's disparate-impact doctrine and to any voluntary commitments (an incentive agreement, a tax-credit regulatory agreement) the landlord has itself accepted. Do not cite a "Texas Property Code" section for this rule; § 250.007 lives in the Local Government Code, and the distinction is the difference between a correct citation and a confident error.

Read the statute yourself

Every rule above is checkable in minutes, and the checking is the habit that keeps a portfolio compliant when the Legislature meets again in 2027:

• Property Code Chapter 92 — Residential Tenancies (the whole landlord-tenant stack: deposits, late fees, repairs, devices, lockouts, retaliation);
• Property Code Chapter 91, § 91.001 — Termination of Monthly Tenancy;
• Property Code Chapter 24 — Forcible Entry and Detainer (including § 24.005 as amended by SB 38 and § 24.0061);
• Property Code Chapter 24B — Removal of Unauthorized Occupant (SB 1333);
• Property Code Chapter 301 — Texas Fair Housing Act;
• Local Government Code § 214.902 — Rent Control and § 250.007 — Source of Income ordinances;
• SB 38 (89th Leg., Ch. 960) — eviction procedure and SB 1333 (89th Leg.) — squatter removal: read the enrolled text and its effective-date article before relying on any 2026 procedure summary.

Amendment check, 2023–2026. This page was re-verified in October 2026 against the enrolled bills and history lines. Enacted and reflected above: SB 38 (eviction rewrite; operative for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026), SB 1333 (Chapter 24B; effective September 1, 2025), HB 2037 (§ 92.0561 conforming amendment and new §§ 92.112–92.113; effective September 1, 2025), and SB 2349 (§ 92.0135(a-1) flood-notice exemptions; effective September 1, 2025). No 2023–2026 enactment changed the deposit clock (§ 92.103), the deposit penalty (§ 92.109), or the late-fee safe harbor (§ 92.019 — last amended by SB 1414 in 2019): if a summary tells you the late-fee percentages or the 30-day deposit rule changed in 2025, it is inventing law.

The bottom line

Texas is sometimes described as a landlord-friendly state. The statute book supports a narrower conclusion: Texas is a procedure-friendly state. It gives the landlord no deposit cap, no rent control, no entry-notice statute, and a fast justice-court possession track that SB 38 made tighter still — and it prices procedural error with formula penalties that do not require the tenant to prove anything beyond the landlord's own paper: $100 plus treble the wrongfully withheld deposit, one month's rent plus $1,000 for a bad lockout, one month's rent plus $500 for retaliation, one month's rent plus $100 for a bad smoke-alarm file. The landlords who win in Texas are the ones whose leases carry the bold-print clauses the statute keeps demanding, whose notices travel by the § 24.005(f-3) methods, whose deposit files close inside 30 days of surrender, and whose clocks are counted before — not after — the complaint arrives.

Texas landlord compliance checklist

1. Lease contains the bold-print machinery. Underlined or bold print: the Subchapter B remedies notice (§ 92.056(g)); the lock-change right with the key-regardless-of-payment statement (§ 92.0081(d)(3)); any rekey-cost deduction right (§ 92.156(e)); any surrender-notice condition (§ 92.103(b)); the written-notice requirement if you intend to rely on § 92.052(d); and an electronic-communication agreement if you ever intend to deliver a § 24.005 notice by e-mail (§ 24.005(f-3)(4)).

2. Flood disclosure delivered and signed at or before execution (§ 92.0135): 100-year-floodplain notice and the five-year flooding notice, in the lease, an addendum, or a separate signed document.

3. Owner/manager identity disclosed (§ 92.201): record-title holder's name and address, and any off-site management company's name and street address, by lease, posting, or writing within seven days of request.

4. Lease copy in the tenant's hands by the third business day after signing (§ 92.024).

5. Deposit clock diarized at surrender, not at forwarding address — refund and itemization by the 30th day after surrender (§ 92.103(a)); itemization excused only where rent is owed and uncontested (§ 92.104(c)); never deduct normal wear and tear (§ 92.104(b)); keep the records (§ 92.106); never take the last month's rent against the deposit (§ 92.108).

6. Late fee engineered to the statute (§ 92.019): notice of the fee in the written lease; no collection until rent is unpaid two full days after the due date; fee at or below the safe harbor — 12% (not more than four units) or 10% (more than four units) of the rent for the period — or documented as no more than your uncertain damages; never collect an excess fee (penalty: $100 + 3× the fee collected + fees).

7. Rent increases only on the § 91.001 timetable for month-to-month tenancies (later of stated date or one month after notice), and only where no lease term forbids; remember rent control exists in Texas only inside § 214.902's disaster-plus-gubernatorial-approval window.

8. Repair system runs the § 92.056 machine: log every notice (date, method, recipient); calendar the seven-day presumed reasonable time; answer delay demands in writing by the fifth day (§ 92.053); use the affidavit for delay (§ 92.0562) only for genuine parts or disaster-shortage delays; never deduct-block beyond § 92.0561's gateways — and never accept a deduction outside them without a § 92.058 written warning.

9. Security devices complete and rekeyed: full § 92.153 kit at your expense; rekey by the seventh day after each turnover (§ 92.156(a)); 72-hour response after a reported break-in (§ 92.161).

10. Smoke alarms verified at possession — bedroom, corridor, and every level (§ 92.255) — tested and documented; seven days to act on any tenant notice (§ 92.259).

11. No self-help, ever. Locks changed only inside § 92.0081's full procedure — lease right, delinquency, advance notice, front-door key notice, key regardless of payment; utilities never cut (§ 92.008); possession changes only by Chapter 24 judgment and § 24.0061 writ; squatters removed only through Chapter 24B's sworn complaint — and never against anyone who is or was your tenant.

12. Six-month retaliation cooling-off: within six months of any repair notice, code complaint, or tenant-organization activity, no eviction filing, rent increase, lease termination, or service decrease without a documented § 92.332 ground (§§ 92.331–92.333).

Frequently asked questions

Is there a cap on security deposits in Texas?

No. Subchapter C of Chapter 92 (§§ 92.101–92.113) imposes no maximum deposit, no separate-account requirement, and no interest rule. The deposit amount is set entirely by the lease; what the subchapter regulates is custody consequences — refund by the 30th day after surrender (§ 92.103), itemized deductions (§ 92.104), and bad-faith liability of $100 plus three times the portion wrongfully withheld plus attorney's fees (§ 92.109). Check a planned deposit against Texas's no-cap rule with the Security Deposit Max Checker, which returns a compliant or over-the-limit verdict for the amount and state you enter. Deeper guide: Texas security deposit law.

When exactly does the 30-day deposit clock start?

It is anchored to surrender: the landlord must refund "on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises" (§ 92.103(a)). The forwarding-address rule in § 92.107 suspends the landlord's obligation to refund or itemize until the tenant provides a written forwarding address — it does not move the statutory anchor, and failure to return or itemize by the 30th day after surrender is presumed bad faith under § 92.109(d). Give and get the address in writing at move-out, and diarise the clock from the surrender date.

What is the maximum late fee in Texas?

There is no hard cap. Section 92.019 makes a fee collectible only if the written lease gives notice of it, the rent has been unpaid two full days after the due date, and the fee is reasonable. A fee is considered reasonable at or below the safe harbor: 12% of the rent for the period where the structure has not more than four units, 10% where it has more than four units (§ 92.019(a-1)(1)). Above the harbor, the fee stands only if it does not exceed the damages that "may be reasonably anticipated" and that are difficult to estimate — and collecting a fee in violation draws $100 plus three times the late fee collected plus attorney's fees (§ 92.019(c)).

Can my tenant repair a problem and deduct the cost from rent?

Only through § 92.0561's gateways, and only after the § 92.056 notice sequence establishes the landlord's liability: one of (A) unremedied raw-sewage backup or flooding from broken pipes or natural drainage inside the dwelling, (B) total cessation of agreed potable water service, (C) inadequate agreed heating or cooling plus a written notice from a local housing, building, or health official, or (D) a written official notice that a condition materially affects health or safety — with at least one notice stating the intent to repair, an independent repairer, and a monthly deduction capped at the greater of one month's rent or $500. For other defects the tenant's remedies are termination (§ 92.056(e)) and the judicial remedies of § 92.0563.

How much notice must I give to end a month-to-month tenancy?

One month, by operation of § 91.001(b): the tenancy terminates on the later of the date stated in the notice or one month after the notice is given, where the rent-paying period is one month or longer. A signed instrument can agree a different period — or no notice — under § 91.001(e). A holdover eviction filing must satisfy § 91.001 as well as the § 24.005 notice to vacate. Companion guide: Texas rent increase notice requirements.

Can I change the locks when my tenant stops paying rent?

Yes — but only inside § 92.0081's procedure, and never as an exclusion device. The lease must grant the right; the tenant must be delinquent in at least part of the rent; advance written notice must go out (locally mailed by the fifth calendar day before, or hand-delivered or posted inside the main door by the third calendar day before) stating the earliest change date, the amount that prevents it, and — in underlined or bold print — that the tenant is entitled to a key regardless of payment; a front-door notice after the change must give a 24-hour key location or phone number; and the key must in fact be provided at any hour regardless of payment (§ 92.0081(c)–(f)). Not while anyone is inside, not more than once per rental period, and the penalty for a violation is one month's rent plus $1,000, actual damages, costs, and fees, less delinquent sums (§ 92.0081(h)).

Can I post the notice to vacate on the front door?

Not on the outside of it, as a standalone method, for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. SB 38 repealed the old delivery subsections of § 24.005 and substituted § 24.005(f-3): mail (including first class, registered, certified, or a delivery service); delivery to the inside of the premises in a conspicuous place; hand delivery to a tenant aged 16 or older; or electronic communication only where the parties agreed in writing. The list does not apply where the tenant actually receives the notice (§ 24.005(f-4)) — but do not build a filing on proving receipt when a listed method was available.

How fast can I evict under the new SB 38 rules?

For petitions filed on or after January 1, 2026: at least three days' written notice to vacate first (§ 24.005(a), or longer if the lease so provides — and a notice to pay rent or vacate is mandatory where the tenant was never late before the month of the notice); diligent service effort by the sheriff or constable by the fifth business day after filing; trial between the 10th and 21st days after filing and not earlier than the fourth day after service; appeal within five days, sworn to be in good faith, with rent into the registry in a nonpayment appeal; and the writ of possession no earlier than the sixth day after judgment, served within five business days of issuance, executed only after a warning posted on the front door at least 24 hours ahead (§ 24.0061).

Can a squatter be removed without an eviction suit?

Yes, since September 1, 2025, through Chapter 24B (SB 1333): the owner or agent files a sworn complaint with the county sheriff confirming the § 24B.001 conditions — property not open to the public at entry, no pending litigation between the parties, the occupant directed to leave and refusing, and the occupant neither a current or former tenant nor an immediate family member — and the sheriff or constable, after verifying ownership, serves a notice to immediately vacate and restores possession without delay. Anyone who is or was a tenant goes through Chapter 24 instead; misclassification exposes the owner to the chapter's wrongful-removal action.

Does Texas law require the landlord to give notice before entering the unit?

No general statute does. Chapter 92 contains no entry-notice period and no general landlord right of entry; access is governed by the lease, supplemented by the specific statutory entries (security-device installation and repair, lock changes under § 92.0081, restoration under a writ). Put the entry terms — notice, hours, purposes — in the lease; without a clause, the tenant's exclusive possession controls.

Is source of income a protected class in Texas?

No — and a city may not make it one. Local Government Code § 250.007 (SB 267, 2015) forbids municipalities and counties to prohibit refusing a tenancy based on lawful source of income, including federal housing assistance; Austin's ordinance has been unenforceable since September 1, 2015. Exceptions: veteran-only local ordinances (§ 250.007(b)) and voluntary voucher participation tied to local incentives or contracts (§ 250.007(c)). The Texas Fair Housing Act (Property Code ch. 301) likewise tracks the federal seven classes and adds no source-of-income class.

What if my tenant complains to the city about repairs and I non-renew a month later?

That is the retaliation fact pattern. Within six months of a protected act — a repair notice, a Chapter 92 remedy, a good-faith code complaint, tenant-organization activity — § 92.331(b) bars increasing rent, terminating the lease, decreasing services, depriving use, or filing an eviction, except on § 92.332's grounds (rent delinquency, intentional damage, material breach, specified holdovers, project-wide patterns, and bona fide escalation clauses). Exposure under § 92.333 is one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees, less delinquent sums — and retaliation is a defense in the eviction suit itself (§ 92.335).

More landlord-tenant law guides

• Landlord-tenant law by state — all 50 state guides
• Tennessee landlord-tenant law — $1,000 deposit penalty, 30-day abandonment window, no local rent control
• Utah landlord-tenant law — 3-day pay-or-vacate, Fit Premises Act, $75 service-of-notice fee
• South Dakota landlord-tenant law — two-month deposit cap, 30-day return, $200 penalty
• Vermont landlord-tenant law — no deposit cap, 14-day return, treble damages
• New Mexico landlord-tenant law
• Louisiana landlord-tenant law
• Oklahoma landlord-tenant law

This article is general information about Texas landlord-tenant law, not legal advice. Statutes change and local ordinances and court rules vary; for a specific situation, consult a Texas attorney.