▶

Free Texas Notice of Intent to Change Locks

▶ Watch overview

Texas Notice of Intent to Change Locks — the advance notice a landlord must give before changing the door locks on a delinquent tenant under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081. The tenant keeps the right to a new key at any hour.

Change-Locks Notice Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081 Texas Free PDF

A Texas notice of intent to change locks is the advance written warning a landlord must give a residential tenant before locking the tenant out for nonpayment of rent. Under Texas Property Code § 92.0081, a landlord may change the door locks on a delinquent tenant only if the written lease expressly allows it, the tenant is delinquent, and the landlord delivers this notice — locally mailed at least five calendar days before the proposed lockout, or hand-delivered or posted on the inside of the main entry door at least three calendar days before. Even then, the tenant is entitled to a new key at any hour, on demand, whether or not the delinquent rent is paid. This is a narrow, temporary remedy — not an eviction.

Complete the fields below to generate a Texas advance notice of intent to change locks. Deliver it under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0081(d) — locally mailed five calendar days before, or hand-delivered or posted three calendar days before, the proposed lockout date — and retain proof of delivery.

Texas Property Code § 92.0081, titled “Removal of Property and Exclusion of Residential Tenant,” is one of the most tenant-protective self-help provisions in Texas landlord-tenant law. It sits within the broader rule that a landlord may not lock a tenant out except through the courts, and it carves out a single, tightly-regulated exception for a tenant who is delinquent in paying rent. The statute is written to make sure that even a proper lockout never actually keeps a paying-or-not tenant out of a home: the tenant may demand a new key at any hour, day or night, and the landlord must hand it over. The notice on this page is the advance warning § 92.0081(d) requires before that lockout may happen. It is governed by the Texas landlord-tenant statutes, and the guide below explains exactly what the law allows and forbids.

The default rule in Texas is strict: under § 92.008, a landlord may not intentionally deprive a tenant of the use of the premises — including by removing a door, window, or lock, or by shutting off utilities the landlord pays for or controls — except for bona fide repairs, construction, or a genuine emergency. Self-help exclusion to pressure a tenant is otherwise unlawful. § 92.0081 then creates one narrow exception: a landlord may change the door locks on the tenant’s individual unit when the tenant is delinquent in paying at least part of the rent. Three conditions must all be met before a single lock is touched.

• The lease must authorize it in writing. The landlord may change the locks only if the written lease contains a provision permitting a lock change for rent delinquency. If the lease is silent, the landlord has no lockout right and must instead pursue eviction.
• The tenant must actually be delinquent. The remedy applies only to a tenant delinquent in paying at least part of the rent — not to a lease dispute, a holdover, or any other alleged breach.
• The advance notice must be delivered. The landlord must give the tenant the § 92.0081(d) notice, on time and containing the required elements, before the proposed lockout date.

Because this remedy overrides the ordinary bar on self-help, Texas courts read it narrowly. A landlord who changes the locks without lease authority, without delinquency, or without the notice has committed an unlawful exclusion — and the penalties fall on the landlord, not the tenant. Many Texas landlords skip the lockout entirely and go straight to the Texas eviction notice process, because a lockout does not recover the unit and a misstep is costly.

The advance notice under § 92.0081(d) is where most landlords go wrong, because it has both a timing rule and a content rule and both must be satisfied. The notice must be delivered by one of three permitted methods:

• Locally mailed to the tenant not later than the fifth calendar day before the date the locks are changed; or
• Hand-delivered to the tenant not later than the third calendar day before; or
• Posted on the inside of the main entry door of the tenant’s dwelling not later than the third calendar day before.

The count is in calendar days, and the safest practice is to use the longest window and keep dated proof of delivery. The notice itself must state, at a minimum, four things: (1) the earliest date the locks may be changed; (2) the amount of rent the tenant must pay to prevent the lock change; (3) the name and street address (or on-site management office) where the tenant may go, during that person’s normal business hours, to pay the rent or discuss the delinquency; and (4) in underlined or bold print, a statement that the tenant is entitled to receive a new key at any hour, regardless of whether the tenant pays the delinquent rent. Omitting the underlined key-right statement, or understating the tenant’s rights, defeats the notice.

The heart of § 92.0081 is the tenant’s unconditional right to a new key. Even after a lawful lock change, the landlord must provide the tenant a new key at any hour, on the tenant’s demand, regardless of whether the tenant has paid any of the delinquent rent. The landlord cannot make payment a condition of the key, cannot delay until business hours, and cannot use the lock change to keep the tenant out. This is what distinguishes a Texas lockout from an eviction: it is designed to prompt contact and payment, not to remove the tenant. If the landlord refuses or fails to provide the key promptly, the exclusion becomes unlawful.

To make that right real, the statute requires a second notice at the moment of lockout, described in the next section. Between the advance notice and the door notice, a tenant always has written instructions on exactly where and how to get back in. A landlord who treats the key as leverage — “pay first, then I will let you in” — has misunderstood the statute and exposed themselves to the full civil penalty.

When the landlord actually changes the locks, § 92.0081(c) requires a separate written notice posted on the tenant’s front door. That door notice must state three things:

• Where to get the new key, 24 hours a day. Either an on-site location the tenant may go to 24 hours a day to obtain the new key, or a telephone number that is answered 24 hours a day and from which the landlord will deliver the key within two hours of the tenant’s call.
• The unconditional key right. A statement that the landlord must provide the new key to the tenant at any hour, regardless of whether the tenant pays any of the delinquent rent.
• The amount owed. The amount of rent and other charges for which the tenant is delinquent.

The advance notice (subsection d) and the door notice (subsection c) are two different documents at two different moments. The form on this page generates the advance notice and also captures the 24-hour key-access details so the landlord has them ready; the door notice is posted only when the locks are physically changed. A tenant who never receives clear 24-hour key instructions has grounds to claim an unlawful exclusion.

The remedies in § 92.0081(h) are deliberately strong, and they run to the tenant. A tenant who is unlawfully locked out, denied a key, or excluded without the required notice may either recover possession of the premises or terminate the lease, and in addition may recover from the landlord a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus one thousand dollars, actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees, less any delinquent rent or other sums the tenant owes the landlord. Texas also gives a locked-out tenant a fast judicial remedy: under § 92.009, the tenant may file a sworn complaint for a writ of re-entry and have a court order the landlord to restore access, often the same or the next day.

Because these penalties stack and include attorney’s fees, an improper lockout frequently costs a Texas landlord far more than the delinquent rent it was meant to collect. That is a large part of why experienced landlords treat the lock change as a rarely-used prompt and rely on the eviction process to actually recover a unit — and why careful tenant screening up front is a cheaper form of protection than any lockout.

• Locking out with no lease authority. If the written lease does not expressly permit a lock change for delinquency, there is no lockout right at all — only eviction.
• Short or missing advance notice. Fewer than five calendar days for mail, or three for hand-delivery or posting, voids the notice.
• Dropping the underlined key-right statement. The tenant’s right to a key at any hour without paying must appear in underlined or bold print in the notice.
• Changing locks before a closed-office day. Never on a day, or the day before a day, the on-site office is closed for a key; never more than once per rental payment period.
• Failing to post the § 92.0081(c) door notice with 24-hour key-access information when the locks are actually changed.
• Refusing or delaying the key until the tenant pays — the key is unconditional and immediate.
• Shutting off utilities or removing a door to force the tenant out — barred by § 92.008 and treated as an unlawful exclusion.
• Treating the lockout as an eviction. It does not remove the tenant or end the lease; recovering the unit requires the justice-court process.

• Read the lease first. Confirm, in writing, that it authorizes a lock change for delinquency before doing anything.
• Use the longest notice window. Mailing five calendar days out is safer than posting three, and it builds in slack for delivery.
• Include all four required elements in the notice, and put the key-right statement in underlined or bold print.
• Schedule around office hours. Never change locks on or the day before a day the on-site office is closed, and only once per rent period.
• Have the door notice and keys ready before you change the locks, so the 24-hour key access is real from the first minute.
• Hand over the key immediately on request — no conditions, no waiting for payment.
• Keep proof of everything — the mailing receipt or a dated photo of the posted notice, and a log of key requests.
• Screen tenants up front. Verifying income, rental history, and prior evictions before signing prevents most delinquency in the first place.

Once the advance notice is delivered, calendar the earliest lockout date carefully — five calendar days out for mail, three for hand-delivery or posting — and confirm that date is not on, or the day before, a day the on-site office is closed for a key. If the tenant pays the stated amount before the date, the matter is resolved and the landlord must not change the locks. If the deadline passes without payment and the landlord proceeds, the locks may be changed only once in the rental payment period, and the § 92.0081(c) door notice with 24-hour key access must go up at the same moment.

Keep in mind what the lockout does and does not accomplish. It is a prompt for payment, not a removal; the tenant can return at any hour by asking for the key. If the delinquency is serious or ongoing, the more durable path is the lease terms and the eviction process rather than repeated lockouts. Retain the signed notice, proof of delivery, a copy of the door notice, and a log of any key requests and how quickly each was answered — that record is the landlord’s defense if the tenant later claims an unlawful exclusion, and it is what a court reviews on a writ-of-re-entry complaint.

Published by Tenant Screening Background Check

Established 2004 · 20+ Years · All U.S. States & Territories · Statute-Based · Attorney-Reviewed

A Private Eye Reports™ service trusted by landlords, property managers, and attorneys.