Texas Property Code Chapter 94: Manufactured Home Tenancies

If you own a manufactured home in Texas and rent the lot it sits on, Texas Property Code Chapter 94 is the law that governs your lease. It requires a written lease of at least six months, sets strict notice periods for renewal and nonrenewal, limits how community rules can change, and funnels every eviction through a court process with a built-in delay so you have time to move the home. The chapter does not apply if you rent the home itself from the same landlord who owns the lot; that arrangement falls under Chapter 92, the general residential landlord-tenant law.¹

Who the Chapter Covers

Section 94.002 limits the chapter to one specific setup: the tenant owns the manufactured home, and the landlord owns and leases the lot. It does not apply when the landlord owns the home and rents it to you, when the lot holds personal property other than a manufactured home, or when the tenant is an employee or agent of the landlord.¹

“Manufactured home” has a precise federal meaning under 42 U.S.C. § 5402: a structure built on a permanent chassis, transportable in one or more sections, at least eight feet wide or forty feet long (or 320 square feet when set up on-site), and designed as a dwelling when connected to utilities.² Modular homes built to state or local building codes are not manufactured homes under this definition, and neither are self-propelled recreational vehicles. If your home does not fit the federal definition, Chapter 94 is not your law.

What the Lease and Pre-Signing Disclosures Must Include

Every lot lease in a Texas manufactured home community must be in writing. When you submit your application, the landlord must give you three documents: the proposed lease, the current community rules, and a separate written disclosure statement printed in at least 10-point type. The disclosure has to tell you about your right to an initial lease term of at least six months, the 60-day notice required before a nonrenewal, and the 180-day notice required when the community’s land use is changing.³

Section 94.053 lists 16 items the lease itself must contain. The ones most worth checking before you sign:

The lot’s address or number, and the number and location of any parking spaces.
The rent amount, pay period, and specific due date.
Any late charge, service fee, or facility charge.
The exact security deposit amount.
A description of what the landlord is responsible for maintaining.
A phone number for emergency maintenance.
The grounds for eviction set out in Subchapter E of Chapter 94.
Disclosure of the landlord’s right to decline renewal if the community’s land use changes.
A statement that Chapter 94 of the Property Code governs certain rights and obligations under the lease.⁴

If a fee or late charge is not written into the lease, the landlord will have a hard time collecting it later over your objection. Keep the signed copies and the pre-signing disclosure together.

For homes built before 1978, federal law adds a lead-based paint disclosure under 24 CFR Part 35. The landlord must tell you about any known lead-based paint or hazards, give you an EPA-approved pamphlet, and include a specific lead warning in the lease. The landlord keeps those records for at least three years. Leases of 100 days or fewer are exempt, as are homes certified lead-free.⁵

Lease Length, Renewal, and Nonrenewal

You have a statutory right to an initial lease term of at least six months. You can agree to something longer, but a landlord cannot push you below the six-month floor on your first lease.³

The Automatic Renewal Trap

When the landlord wants to renew with a rent increase or other new terms, Section 94.055 requires a written offer spelling out the proposed rent and any changes. The notice must warn you that if you do not reject the offer within 30 days of the current lease’s expiration, the lease renews automatically on the new terms.⁶ Silence binds you. If you want out, or want to negotiate, you have to tell the landlord in writing before that 30-day window closes.

Nonrenewal by the Landlord

If the landlord simply chooses not to renew, Section 94.052 requires at least 60 days’ written notice before the lease ends. You still owe rent and other charges through that period.⁷

A longer timeline applies when the landlord is changing the community’s land use. In that case, the notice period is at least 180 days before the use change takes effect. Notice must go to the tenant, to the home’s owner if that is someone else, and to any lienholder on the home, and the landlord must also post a conspicuous notice inside the community.⁸ The longer window reflects what it actually takes to relocate a manufactured home; professional moves for a single-wide run anywhere from $700 to $8,000 depending on distance and setup.

Rule Changes and Rent Increases

A landlord can add or amend community rules at any time, but a new rule does not take effect until 30 days after every tenant has received a written copy. If complying with the new rule will cost you more than $25, you get at least 90 days from the written notice to bring your lot into compliance.⁹ A rule requiring new skirting or a specific storage shed is the kind of change that triggers the 90-day window.

Rent is different. Because rent is fixed in the lease, the landlord cannot raise it mid-term. Rent increases happen only at renewal, through the Section 94.055 offer-and-rejection process, and Chapter 94 sets no cap on how much the proposed increase can be.⁶

Rules also have to comply with the federal Fair Housing Act, which Chapter 94 does not displace. A landlord cannot enforce rules that discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin, and tenants with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodations in community rules and policies.¹⁰ A blanket ban on exterior ramps, for example, would likely need an exception for a resident who uses a wheelchair.

Who Maintains What

Section 94.151 gives the landlord a warranty of suitability for the lot, meaning the community must be kept in a condition that does not endanger a tenant’s physical health or safety. That duty cannot be waived by the lease.¹¹ Common areas, roads, walkways, shared facilities, and utility connections up to the boundary of your lot are the landlord’s responsibility.

Section 94.153 sets out the landlord’s repair obligations, but it does not reach conditions inside or on your own manufactured home. You own the structure, so you maintain it.¹² You are also responsible for the lot itself: exterior upkeep, trash, and any landscaping or appearance standards the lease describes. Letting the lot fall out of a clean and sanitary condition can become a lease violation.

Grounds for Eviction

Chapter 94 lists specific grounds that let a landlord end the lease and move to eviction. The common ones:

Nonpayment of rent. The landlord can terminate if you owe at least one month’s rent in the aggregate, gives you written notice of the delinquency, and you fail to pay in full within 10 days of receiving that notice.¹³
Lease violations, including breaches of community rules. The lease has to disclose these grounds under Section 94.053.
Change in land use, subject to the 180-day notice already described.⁸

The 10-day cure period for nonpayment is short. Do not confuse it with the 30-day post-judgment delay described below; they belong to different stages of the process.

The Eviction Process and Time to Move the Home

A landlord cannot lock you out or order you off the lot without going to court. Under Section 94.203, the landlord may only block your entry, evict you, or require removal of the home after obtaining a writ of possession through a Chapter 24 court proceeding.¹⁴ Self-help eviction is not allowed.

After the cure period expires or a violation goes uncorrected, the landlord files an eviction suit in the local justice court. If you disclosed a lienholder on your home under Section 94.054, the landlord must notify that lienholder within three days of filing. The judge will check whether every notice requirement was followed; courts are strict about procedural compliance, and a missed step can defeat the landlord’s case.

If the landlord wins, there is still a built-in delay before the writ issues. The court cannot issue the writ of possession until at least 30 days after judgment, provided you pay the rent owed for that 30-day period.¹⁴ That window exists because moving a manufactured home takes real logistics: hiring a transporter, disconnecting utilities, obtaining permits, and lining up a new lot. If you do not remove the home after the writ issues, the landlord can arrange removal at your expense.

Retaliation as a Defense

Section 94.251 lets you raise retaliation as a defense when a landlord files for eviction in response to your exercise of a legal right under Chapter 94. It is a shield against eviction being used as punishment for a legitimate complaint or lawful action.

Servicemember Protections

Active-duty military members and their dependents get extra federal protection under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A landlord cannot evict a servicemember from a residential home during military service without a court order, even if Texas law would otherwise allow a faster path. If the servicemember cannot appear, the court must appoint a guardian to represent their interests, and the judge may delay the proceedings by up to 90 days.¹⁵

1
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.002 – Applicability
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 5402 – Definitions
3
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.051 – Information to Be Provided Before Lease Is Signed
4
Texas Public Law. Texas Property Code Section 94.053 – Lease Requirements and Disclosures
5
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 35 Subpart A – Disclosure of Known Lead-Based Paint Upon Sale or Lease of Residential Property
6
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.055 – Notice of Lease Renewal
7
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.052 – Term of Lease
8
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.204 – Nonrenewal of Lease for Change in Land Use
9
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.008 – Manufactured Home Community Rules
10
eCFR. 24 CFR Part 100 – Discriminatory Conduct Under the Fair Housing Act
11
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.151 – Warranty of Suitability
12
State of Texas. Texas Property Code Section 94.153 – Landlord’s Repair Obligations
13
Justia Law. Texas Property Code Chapter 94 – Manufactured Home Tenancies – Section 94.206
14
Justia Law. Texas Property Code Chapter 94 – Manufactured Home Tenancies – Section 94.203
15
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights