Texas Landlord-Tenant Laws: The Complete 2026 Overview

Texas sets no cap on the deposit amount, but section 92.103 locks down the return: a landlord must refund the deposit within thirty days after the tenant surrenders the unit and provides a written forwarding address. Any amount withheld requires a written itemized statement under section 92.104. The teeth are in section 92.109 – a landlord who withholds in bad faith owes three times the wrongfully kept amount, a one hundred dollar civil penalty, and the tenant’s attorney’s fees, with bad faith presumed after day thirty. The written forwarding address is a condition precedent, so the clock never starts until the tenant supplies it. Disputes go to Justice of the Peace Court, which hears claims up to twenty thousand dollars.

Read the full Texas security deposit laws guide for permitted deductions, the wear-and-tear line, and the move-out timeline.

Texas is not a just-cause state – a landlord may decline to renew a lease for almost any lawful reason. To evict for nonpayment or a lease violation, the landlord must first serve a written notice to vacate giving the tenant at least three days to move out, unless the lease specifies a different period, under Property Code section 24.005. If the tenant stays, the landlord files a forcible-detainer suit in Justice of the Peace Court; either side may appeal the judgment within five days to the county court. Self-help evictions – changing locks, removing doors, or shutting off utilities – are illegal under section 92.0081 and expose the landlord to penalties. Only a constable or sheriff acting on a writ of possession may physically remove a tenant.

Read the full Texas eviction notice laws guide for the filing steps, the hearing timeline, and the appeal window.

Texas has no statute setting a fixed notice period before a landlord enters an occupied unit. Instead, courts apply a reasonable-notice standard grounded in the tenant’s common-law right to quiet enjoyment. In practice, the accepted norm is twenty-four hours’ written notice for non-emergency entry during normal business hours – roughly eight in the morning to six in the evening. Genuine emergencies such as fire, flooding, or a gas leak permit immediate entry without notice. A landlord who repeatedly enters without reasonable notice can face damages, an injunction, and in severe cases lease termination. Because the rule is a standard rather than a bright line, spelling out the entry procedure in the lease is the single best way to avoid a dispute.

Read the full Texas landlord entry laws guide for the permitted-entry reasons and how to write a compliant notice.

Texas has no rent control. The state banned local rent regulation in 1993, and a city may adopt it only during a declared disaster-driven housing emergency with the governor’s approval – a virtually theoretical exception. That means there is no statutory cap on how much a Texas landlord may raise the rent and no statutory advance-notice requirement. During a fixed-term lease the rent is locked at the agreed figure; an increase takes effect only at renewal or on a month-to-month tenancy. For month-to-month tenancies, landlords customarily give at least thirty days’ written notice, the same period used to change the tenancy. The limits that do apply are anti-retaliation and anti-discrimination: a landlord may not raise rent to punish a tenant for a good-faith code complaint or exercising a legal right, and may not raise it on a discriminatory basis.

Read the full Texas rent increase laws guide for the notice mechanics and the retaliation window.

Texas Property Code section 92.019 governs residential late fees. There is no fixed dollar cap, but the fee must be a reasonable estimate of the uncertain damages the landlord suffers from a late payment, and it must be stated in a written lease. In practice, reasonable late fees run about five to ten percent of the monthly rent, or a modest flat amount. Texas sets no statutory grace period, so any grace window is purely contractual – most leases allow three to five days. Daily late fees are permitted only if the lease provides for them and the total stays reasonable, and a returned-check fee is likewise enforceable only when the lease sets it, typically in the twenty-five to thirty dollar range. A fee that operates as a penalty rather than a genuine damages estimate is unenforceable.

Read the full Texas late fee laws guide for the reasonableness test and grace-period practice.

Under section 92.052, a Texas landlord must make a diligent effort to repair any condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant. The tenant triggers the duty by giving written notice – certified mail with return receipt is best – and the landlord must act within a reasonable time, presumed to be about seven days. If the landlord fails, section 92.0561 lets the tenant arrange the repair and deduct the cost from rent, capped at the greater of five hundred dollars or one month’s rent, with strict notice steps first. Landlords must also install statutory security devices – deadbolts, window latches, keyless bolts, and door viewers – under section 92.153. Retaliation against a tenant who asserts these rights is barred by section 92.331, and the prevailing party can recover attorney’s fees under section 92.0563.

Read the full Texas habitability laws guide for the repair-request procedure and the security-device requirements.

Texas codifies several protected reasons a tenant may end a fixed-term lease early without owing the balance. These include family violence under section 92.016, certain sex offenses or stalking under section 92.0161, the death of a sole-occupant tenant under section 92.0162, and military service under section 92.017, mirrored by the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Each requires written notice – generally at least thirty days – plus statutory documentation such as a protective order or military orders. A tenant may also terminate when the landlord fails to repair a serious habitability defect after proper notice. For a tenant who simply leaves without a statutory ground, section 91.006 imposes a duty on the landlord to mitigate damages by making a reasonable effort to re-rent, so the departing tenant owes only the vacancy gap, not the entire remaining term, and any clause waiving that duty is void.

Read the full Texas breaking lease laws guide for each statutory ground and the notice-and-proof steps.

Ending a Texas tenancy depends on its type. A month-to-month tenancy is terminated by written notice of at least one month under section 91.001, from either party. A fixed-term lease generally runs to its end date and cannot be cut short without a statutory ground or mutual written agreement. Texas does not require just cause to decline to renew a lease, and automatic-renewal clauses are enforceable under Chapter 91 when the lease discloses them properly. A tenant who stays past the lease end date becomes a holdover, liable for rent through the holdover period plus any damages, and the landlord must pursue possession through an eviction suit rather than self-help. When any tenancy ends, the deposit rules of section 92.103 still apply to the move-out.

Read the full Texas lease termination laws guide for notice by tenancy type and holdover liability.

For an actual pet, Texas imposes no cap on pet deposits, pet fees, or pet rent, so a landlord may charge a reasonable amount if the lease provides for it. Assistance animals are treated completely differently. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, a service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet – a landlord may not charge any pet deposit, fee, or rent, and may not apply a breed or weight restriction or a no-pet policy to it. When the disability or the animal’s role is not obvious, the landlord may request reliable documentation from a licensed professional, but may not demand certification or registration. The tenant remains liable for any actual damage the animal causes. Misrepresenting a pet as a specially trained service animal is a misdemeanor under Texas Human Resources Code section 121.006, and House Bill 4164 raised the penalty in 2023 to a fine of up to one thousand dollars plus up to thirty hours of community service.

Read the full Texas pet and ESA laws guide for accommodation requests and documentation limits.

Texas leaves most of tenant screening to the landlord, so the binding rules are largely federal. With the applicant’s written authorization, a landlord may pull a consumer report covering credit, rental history, income, and criminal convictions – the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a permissible purpose and consent first. Texas does not cap application or screening fees, but they should be reasonable, tied to the actual cost, and charged consistently. If a denial, a higher deposit, or a co-signer requirement rests in any part on a consumer report, the FCRA requires an adverse action notice naming the reporting agency. Blanket criminal-record bans are risky under HUD’s 2016 disparate-impact guidance, so an individualized assessment is safer. Source of income is not a protected class under the Texas Fair Housing Act, and Texas restricts cities from forcing landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers.

Read the full Texas tenant screening laws guide for the FCRA steps and the fair-housing baseline.