Texas Landlord Law
Texas gives landlords more room than most states, but the Property Code still sets firm rules on leases, deposits, repairs, fees and evictions. This guide walks through the rules Houston owners run into most, with the statute behind each one.
Most Texas landlord-tenant law lives in Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code (residential tenancies), with evictions in Chapter 24 and month-to-month notice and mitigation in Chapter 91. Your lease fills the gaps, but many tenant protections cannot be waived. The biggest recent change is SB 38, which rewrote eviction procedure for cases filed on or after January 1, 2026.
Texas has no single landlord-tenant code. The rules Houston owners deal with come from a few places, and it helps to know which one governs a given problem before you act.
Local rules matter less in Texas than in many states, because the Legislature preempts a lot of city action. Houston cannot, for example, stop landlords from declining housing vouchers, and it cannot suspend eviction procedures on its own. Houston does require multifamily properties with three or more units to register under its habitability ordinance, so apartment and small multifamily owners should confirm that registration is current.
One rule runs through all of it: a lease cannot waive most tenant rights in Chapter 92. A clause that tries to is usually void, and some illegal waivers carry their own penalties. When a lease and the statute disagree, plan on the statute winning.
Texas does not require a written lease for every rental. The statute of frauds only requires a signed writing for a lease longer than one year (Business & Commerce Code §26.01). In practice, a written lease is the only way to use several landlord rights, because the Property Code makes them depend on specific lease language.
These are the lease terms and disclosures Houston owners most often miss:
| Requirement | Statute | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Repair remedies notice | §92.056(g) | The lease must describe the tenant’s repair remedies in bold or underlined print. |
| Early termination rights | §92.016(f), §92.017(g), §92.0161(g) | Specific sentences about family violence, military deployment and certain sexual offenses or stalking. Leaving them out can release the tenant from rent owed at termination. |
| Flood disclosure | §92.0135 | Notice of whether you know the unit is in a 100-year floodplain and whether it flooded in the last five years. For leases signed or renewed on or after September 1, 2025, both parties sign the notice. |
| Owner and manager disclosure | §92.201 | Name and address of the record owner and any off-site management company, in the lease or within seven days of a request. |
| Tenant selection criteria | §92.3515 | Give applicants your written screening criteria. Without a signed acknowledgment, a rejected applicant can get the application fee back. |
| Emergency phone number | §92.020 | Tenants need a way to report emergencies. Properties with an on-site office must provide a 24-hour number. |
| Landlord’s lien | §54.043 | The lien is only enforceable if the lease states it in bold or underlined print. |
If you use an older lease form, compare it against this table. The flood disclosure and early termination language have both changed within the last few sessions, and a form that was fine in 2020 may not be today.
Texas does not cap the amount of a security deposit, but it is strict about what happens at move-out:
Since September 1, 2025, deposit notices can go by email if you and the tenant have already communicated by email (§92.113). For deductions, wear and tear, and the full penalty rules, see our Texas security deposit laws guide.
You can charge a late fee in Texas only if three things are true: the fee is in a written lease, it is reasonable, and rent has stayed unpaid two full days after the due date (§92.019). If rent is due on the 1st, the earliest a fee can apply is the 4th.
A fee is presumed reasonable if it does not exceed 12% of monthly rent in a building with four or fewer units, or 10% in a building with more than four. Charging an unlawful fee exposes you to $100, three times the improper fee and attorney’s fees. Our Texas late fee law guide has examples.
Texas also gives residential landlords a lien on a tenant’s nonexempt property for unpaid rent (§54.041). It is narrower than it sounds. The lease must state it in conspicuous bold or underlined print, many categories of property are exempt, seizure must happen without a breach of the peace, and a sale requires at least 30 days’ notice by both first-class and certified mail (§54.045). Most owners never use it, but it matters when a tenant leaves belongings behind.
A Texas landlord must make a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant once the tenant gives notice and is current on rent (§92.052). Seven days is presumed to be a reasonable repair time, though severity and parts availability can change that. If you do not act, tenants have statutory remedies, including repair-and-deduct in specific situations.
The same chapter requires specific security devices at your expense and requires you to rekey exterior locks within seven days after each tenant turnover (§92.156). It also requires working smoke alarms in each bedroom, in hallways serving bedrooms and on each level, tested at the start of each tenancy.
The details, including notice rules and penalties, are in our Texas landlord repair laws guide.
Texas has no general statute requiring a landlord to give notice before entering a rental. Entry is governed by the lease. That gives owners flexibility, but it does not mean anything goes: repeated or unreasonable entry can still create claims based on the tenant’s right to quiet enjoyment, and some entries overlap with lockout and property removal rules.
The practical answer is to put a clear entry clause in the lease and follow it. See can a landlord enter without permission in Texas for what that clause should cover.
Texas allows some self-help that other states ban, such as changing locks for nonpayment, but only under tight rules. Owners get into trouble most often with:
Most of these violations carry a penalty of at least one month’s rent plus a set dollar amount, plus actual damages and attorney’s fees. The full list is in what a landlord cannot do in Texas.
How a tenancy ends depends on why it is ending:
SB 38 is the largest change to Texas eviction procedure in years. For eviction petitions filed on or after January 1, 2026:
For the court process itself, filing costs and writs of possession in Harris County, see our Texas eviction process guide and Atlas eviction services.
The federal Fair Housing Act and Property Code Chapter 301 prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. Texas law also treats discrimination based on hair texture or protective hairstyles as race discrimination (§301.0045).
Source of income is not a protected class in Texas. Under Local Government Code §250.007, cities and counties cannot require landlords to accept federal housing vouchers, with an exception for ordinances protecting veterans’ lawful source of income. You may choose to accept vouchers, but no Houston ordinance can require it.
Whatever criteria you use, write them down, apply them to every applicant and give them to applicants before they apply (§92.3515). Consistency is what protects owners in a fair housing complaint. Atlas handles this as part of tenant placement and screening.
By most measures, yes. Texas has no statewide rent control, no cap on deposits, no statutory entry notice, relatively fast evictions and preemption of many local tenant ordinances. The trade-off is that the protections it does have are specific and come with fixed penalties, so small procedural mistakes can be expensive. We cover both sides in is Texas a landlord-friendly state.
A lot of landlord advice online is outdated or borrowed from other states. These are the claims we see most often that do not match the current Texas statutes:
| Myth | What the law actually says |
|---|---|
| You can charge a late fee on the 2nd or 3rd. | Rent must stay unpaid two full days after the due date (§92.019). With rent due on the 1st, the earliest fee is on the 4th. |
| Month-to-month tenants get 30 days’ notice. | The tenancy ends one month after notice is given, or on a later date in the notice (§91.001). A month and 30 days are not always the same. |
| Every exterior door needs a keyed deadbolt. | The requirement is a doorknob lock or keyed deadbolt, plus a keyless bolting device and door viewer (§92.153). A tenant can request a keyed deadbolt at their own expense. |
| Tape the notice to vacate inside the front door. | SB 38 repealed the old delivery rules for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. Use mail, delivery inside the unit in a conspicuous place, hand delivery to a tenant 16 or older, or agreed electronic delivery. |
| Abandoned belongings must be stored for 60 days. | The 60-day certified mail rule applies to commercial leases (§93.002). Residential abandoned property is governed by the lease, and any sale for unpaid rent follows the landlord’s lien rules in Chapter 54. |
| Tenants can withhold rent until repairs are made. | Texas has no general rent-withholding right. The statutory remedies are repair-and-deduct in specific situations, termination or a lawsuit, and the repair duty only applies to tenants who are current on rent. |
| Houston can require landlords to accept Section 8. | Local Government Code §250.007 prevents cities and counties from requiring landlords to accept federal housing vouchers, apart from protections for veterans. |
The pattern behind most of these myths is the same: a rule that used to be true, or that is true somewhere else, repeated long after Texas changed. When a template or article does not cite a current section of the Property Code, check it before you rely on it.
If you would rather not track all of this yourself, full-service property management from Atlas covers leases, notices, repairs, deposits and evictions for rentals across the Houston area.
This guide is general information for Texas landlords, not legal advice. Laws change and every lease is different, so talk to a Texas real estate attorney about your situation.
Our property managers keep Houston rentals compliant, from leases and notices to repairs and evictions.
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Only for leases longer than one year, under the statute of frauds. Shorter tenancies can be oral, but many landlord rights, including late fees, the landlord’s lien and rekey deductions, only work if they are in a written lease.
Mostly no. The Property Code voids most lease clauses that waive Chapter 92 rights, and some illegal waivers carry penalties. There are narrow exceptions, such as limited repair shifting by landlords who own only one rental dwelling, but they have strict conditions.
SB 38 rewrote eviction procedure for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. HB 2037 allowed deposit notices by email and updated repair-and-deduct contractor rules, SB 2349 requires signed flood disclosures for leases signed or renewed on or after September 1, 2025, and HB 47 broadened early termination rights for sexual assault survivors.
Houston requires multifamily properties with three or more units to register under its multifamily habitability ordinance. Single-family rentals are not part of that program.
Yes. Source of income is not protected under Texas or federal law, and Local Government Code §250.007 prevents cities from requiring landlords to accept federal housing vouchers. Landlords still cannot use voucher status as a cover for discriminating against a protected class.
Leases, notices, repairs and evictions handled by a Houston property management team.
