Texas tenant rights are set by the Texas Property Code and layered with federal fair housing and lead-paint rules. Your landlord must keep the unit safe and habitable, return your security deposit on a strict timeline, follow specific steps before any eviction or lockout, and refrain from retaliating when you exercise a legal right. A lease clause that tries to waive these protections is generally void.
Getting Repairs Made
Your landlord must fix any condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant. That covers broken plumbing, pest infestations, faulty wiring, a nonfunctional heater, and the failure to keep hot water at a minimum of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Cosmetic issues and minor annoyances are not covered.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 92 – Residential Tenancies
Two conditions have to be met before the duty kicks in. You must be current on rent, and you must give written notice describing the problem, sent to the person or place where you normally pay rent. The law recognizes two ways to prove proper notice: a single notice sent by certified mail with return receipt requested (or another trackable service), or two separate written notices with a reasonable gap between them. Certified mail is the stronger option because the green card is undeniable proof if the case ends up in court.2State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.056 – Landlord Liability and Tenant Remedies
Once the landlord receives notice, seven days is presumed to be a reasonable time to make a diligent effort at a fix. That presumption can shift with the severity of the problem and the availability of materials and labor, but seven days is the default.1State of Texas. Texas Property Code Chapter 92 – Residential Tenancies
If the landlord ignores the notice or lets it drag past a reasonable deadline, you have real options. You can terminate the lease and receive a pro rata rent refund plus your deposit back. You can hire someone to fix the problem and deduct the reasonable cost from your next rent payment. Or you can sue in justice court for a repair order, a rent reduction backdated to your first notice, a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $500, actual damages, and attorney’s fees. Repair-and-deduct fits urgent problems like a broken water heater in winter; the court route makes more sense for ongoing neglect. Either way, keep every notice, receipt, and photograph.3Texas Property Code. Texas Property Code Subchapter B – Repair or Remedy
Security Deposits
Texas does not cap the amount a landlord can charge as a deposit. That’s a negotiation, not a legal limit.
Getting your money back starts with something tenants often skip: you must give the landlord a written statement with your forwarding address after you move out. Until you do, the landlord owes you nothing and doesn’t have to send an accounting.4State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.107 – Tenant’s Forwarding Address
Once you’ve surrendered the unit and given that address, the landlord has 30 days to return the full deposit or send the balance with a written, itemized list of deductions. Deductions can cover damage beyond normal wear and tear. They cannot cover ordinary aging like faded paint or worn carpet.5State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.103 – Obligation to Refund6State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.104 – Retention of Security Deposit and Accounting
A landlord who keeps your deposit in bad faith owes you $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and your attorney’s fees. A landlord who fails in bad faith to provide the itemized list forfeits the right to withhold anything at all and owes attorney’s fees on top. That second penalty is where many landlords get caught: legitimate deductions can exist, but skipping the paperwork wipes out the whole claim.7State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.109 – Liability of Landlord
Late Fees
A late fee is only allowed if the lease provides for it and your rent has been unpaid for at least two full days past the due date. The fee also has to be reasonable, which the statute defines. In buildings with four or fewer units, the cap is 12 percent of the monthly rent. In buildings with more than four units, the cap is 10 percent. Charging more than the cap or violating these rules exposes the landlord to $100, three times the improper fee, and your attorney’s fees. Any lease provision trying to waive these limits is void.8State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.019 – Late Payment of Rent and Fees
Lockouts
A landlord cannot remove your doors, windows, locks, or fixtures except for a genuine repair or replacement, and cannot physically block you from entering the unit except through a court-ordered eviction. There’s one narrow exception: locking out a tenant who is behind on rent.9State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.0081
That exception has strict rules. The lease must specifically authorize lockouts for delinquent rent. The landlord must give written notice at least three days ahead if hand-delivered, or five if mailed locally, stating the earliest lockout date, the amount owed, and where to pay. After changing the locks, the landlord must post a notice with a 24-hour phone number and deliver a new key within two hours of your call. And here’s the part landlords often get wrong: you get the new key whether or not you’ve paid any of the back rent. A lockout that skips any of these steps is illegal.
Security Devices the Landlord Must Install
Before you move in, the unit must already have specific security hardware at no extra cost to you:
- A window latch on each exterior window
- A doorknob lock or keyed deadbolt on each exterior door
- A keyless bolting device and a peephole on each exterior door
- A pin lock on each exterior sliding glass door
- A handle latch or security bar on each exterior sliding glass door
You don’t have to ask; the landlord has to have them installed before you take possession.10Texas Public Law. Texas Property Code 92.153 – Security Devices Required
If any device is missing, send a written request. If the landlord doesn’t act within a short statutory window, you can install the device and deduct the cost, terminate the lease without going to court, or sue for damages, a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $500, and attorney’s fees.11Texas Public Law. Texas Property Code 92.164 – Tenant Remedies for Landlord’s Failure Landlords must also supply smoke detectors, and tenants cannot disconnect or disable them.12Texas Attorney General. Renter’s Rights
How Eviction Has to Work
Every eviction starts with a written notice to vacate. The landlord must give at least three days’ notice before filing suit, unless the lease sets a different period. This applies whether the reason is nonpayment or a holdover after the lease ends.13State of Texas. Texas Property Code 24.005 – Notice Required Before Filing Certain Eviction Suits
If you don’t leave, the landlord files a forcible detainer suit in the justice court for the property’s location. A constable or sheriff serves you with a citation for a hearing, and the judge decides who has the right to possession. You have five days after judgment to appeal to county court. Appeal usually requires a bond or cash deposit; tenants who cannot afford it can file a sworn statement of inability to pay, but on a nonpayment case, you then have to deposit rent into the court registry within five days and keep depositing it as it comes due during the appeal.
If no appeal is filed, the landlord can request a writ of possession. A constable must post a warning on your door at least 24 hours before executing the writ, and only then can they physically remove you and your belongings. A landlord cannot skip this process with self-help eviction.
Retaliation Is Prohibited
For six months after you exercise a right under your lease or state law, the landlord cannot retaliate. Protected activities include requesting repairs in good faith, filing a complaint with a building code or housing authority, and participating in a tenant organization. Retaliatory actions the statute names include filing an eviction, cutting services, raising rent, and terminating the lease.14State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.331 – Retaliation by Landlord
During that six-month window, adverse action is presumed retaliatory. The landlord can try to prove a legitimate independent reason, but the burden falls on them. This is one of the strongest enforcement tools tenants have, because a landlord who punishes you for asking for a repair can end up owing damages on top of making the fix.
Early Lease Termination for Family Violence
A tenant or occupant who is a victim of family violence can terminate the lease early and walk away from future rent. You need to provide the landlord with either a copy of a protective order or documentation of the violence from a licensed health care provider, mental health professional, or family violence advocate. You also need to give 30 days’ written notice, though that requirement is waived when the abuser is a co-tenant or occupant of the same unit. A landlord who violates these provisions owes actual damages, a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $500, and attorney’s fees. Rent you already owed before termination doesn’t disappear.15State of Texas. Texas Property Code 92.016
Servicemember Protections
Active-duty servicemembers have separate federal protections under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A landlord cannot evict a servicemember or their dependents from a primary residence without a court order when the monthly rent falls below the annually adjusted threshold (originally $2,400 in 2003, adjusted each year for housing price inflation). Knowingly evicting a protected servicemember without a court order is a federal crime punishable by fines and up to one year in prison.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3951 – Evictions and Distress
Federal Fair Housing and Lead Disclosure
Federal law prohibits landlords from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. That covers every stage of the rental process: advertising, screening, lease terms, and services. A landlord cannot refuse to rent to families with children (outside qualifying senior housing), charge higher deposits because of national origin, or refuse reasonable accommodations for a disability. Complaints go to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development within one year of the discriminatory act.17Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
If the rental was built before 1978, the landlord must disclose any known lead-based paint hazards before you sign, provide any available reports on lead conditions in the unit, and give you an EPA-approved lead hazard pamphlet.18Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 4852d – Disclosure of Information Concerning Lead Upon Transfer of Residential Property
Landlord Entry and Privacy
Texas does not have a statute setting a specific notice period before a landlord can enter your unit. The common-law right to quiet enjoyment protects you from unreasonable interference, and most leases fill the gap by writing in notice requirements for non-emergency entry. If your lease is silent, a landlord should still give reasonable notice before entering for inspections or showings. Genuine emergencies like a burst pipe or fire are the recognized exception.