Texas Landlord-Tenant Laws

Verified October 1, 2026

Texas at a glance

Rule	Texas	Cited to
Max security deposit	No statutory cap	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103 +8 more
Deposit return deadline	30 days	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103 +8 more
Rent-increase notice (month-to-month)	No statute — derived from termination notice	Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001 +1 more
Statewide rent control / rent cap	No	Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001 +1 more
Late-fee cap	Safe harbor: a late fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than 12% of the rent for the rental period (structure with 4 or fewer dwelling units) or 10% (more than 4 units); a higher fee is considered reasonable if it is not more than the landlord's uncertain damages related to the late payment, including direct or indirect expenses, costs, or overhead associated with collecting late payment (§ 92.019(a-1)). Initial + daily fees combine into a single fee for the cap.	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019 +1 more
Entry notice	No fixed statutory period	Texas State Law Library, Can my landlord enter my rental property without permission? +2 more
Eviction notice (nonpayment)	3 days	Tex. Prop. Code § 24.005 +8 more
Application fee cap	No statutory cap	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.351 +24 more
Interest owed on deposits	No — no statute addresses it	Tex. Prop. Code ch. 92, subch. C (Security Deposits, §§ 92.101 through 92.113) +3 more
Repair deadline after tenant notice	7 days	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.051 (application of subchapter B) +16 more
Repair and deduct	Yes — authorized by statute	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.051 (application of subchapter B) +16 more
Landlord notice to end a month-to-month tenancy	One calendar month, under a later-of rule	Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001 +19 more
Owner and agent identity disclosure	On the tenant's request only	Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.001, 92.002 +33 more
In-force state hazard disclosures beyond the federal lead-paint rule	None in force	Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.001, 92.002 +33 more
Pet deposit	No statute, no cap	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.102 +27 more
Assistance animals: the state instrument	Housing right, no documentation rule	Tex. Prop. Code § 92.102 +27 more

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Texas Landlord-Tenant Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/texas/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Texas statute it comes from on the linked topic page.

Local rent regulation in Texas

Texas law allows a city to adopt rent control only in a declared housing emergency caused by a disaster and only with the governor's approval of the ordinance, which must end when the disaster declaration ends.

Cited to Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 214.902 · Verified October 1, 2026 · Full Texas rent-increase rules →

Texas landlord-tenant laws by topic

Texas security deposits

Texas places no cap on how much a landlord can charge as a security deposit, but the return rules have real teeth: the deposit (less lawful, itemized deductions — never normal wear and tear) is due within 30 days of surrender, once the tenant has provided a written forwarding address.

Texas rent increase notice

Texas has no statute requiring a specific notice period for a rent increase in a rented home; for month-to-month tenancies the practical rule comes from the termination statute — unless the landlord and tenant have agreed on a different notice period in a document both of them signed, a month-to-month tenancy can be ended with a month's notice, so an increase is effectively a month's-notice proposition the tenant can accept or leave on.

Texas late fees

Texas allows a residential late fee only if it is in the written lease and rent has remained unpaid for two full days after the due date — rent due on the 1st cannot draw a fee before the 4th.

Texas entry notice

Texas has no statute requiring landlords to give advance notice before entering a rented home — entry rights come from the lease, and the tenant's right to quiet enjoyment, which Texas courts treat as an implied term of every lease, can be breached by a landlord who enters more often than necessary, at unreasonable times, or in violation of the lease.

Texas eviction process

Texas evictions start with a written notice to vacate whose statutory default is three days — but the lease can shorten or lengthen that period.

Texas application & screening fees

Texas puts no dollar limit on a residential rental application fee and instead regulates the paperwork around it.

Texas deposit interest

Texas requires no interest on a residential security deposit — nothing in the Property Code's security-deposit subchapter mentions interest at all.

Texas habitability & repairs

Texas law requires a landlord to make a diligent effort to repair or remedy any condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, once a tenant who is current on rent gives notice at the place where rent is paid.

Texas lease termination

In Texas either the landlord or the tenant may end a month-to-month tenancy by giving one month's notice, and no reason is required.

Texas lease disclosures

A Texas lease must carry underlined or bold repair-remedy language, two early-termination sentences, and, at or before signing, two flood notices that the landlord and the tenant both sign.

Texas pets & assistance animals

Texas sets no limit on a pet deposit or pet rent, because it caps no security deposit at all and has no pet statute of any kind.

Texas mobile home park laws

Texas regulates manufactured home community tenancies in chapter 94 of the Property Code, which covers a resident who owns the home and rents a lot in a community of four or more lots, and its strength is paperwork rather than tenure: the lease must be written and signed, must carry sixteen specified items including the grounds for eviction and the change-of-land-use disclosure, and the community owner must offer a first term of at least six months and hand every applicant a disclosure statement whose wording the statute prints.

Texas Fair Market Rents (FY 2027) — HUD's benchmark rents for every Texas metro area and county.

Editable Texas deposit kit · Editable Texas disclosure packet — editable documents built on the verified Texas rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

How this record was verified: Web verification against the Texas State Law Library landlord-tenant guides (guides.sll.texas.gov, official state source summarizing Prop. Code ch. 92) and full statute text of Prop. Code §§ 92.019, 92.103, 92.104, 92.107, 92.109 via legal databases; statutes.capitol.texas.gov URLs cited for the official text. September 5, 2026 addendum: statutes.capitol.texas.gov stopped serving section text (it returns an application shell), so every statute citation on this record was re-pointed to the Texas Legislative Council's host at tcss.legis.texas.gov, and the eviction figures were re-read there the same day; the earlier reads stand as recorded. October 1, 2026: every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee and entry answers rest on was read again on the Texas Legislative Council's host, tcss.legis.texas.gov, current through the 89th Legislature's 2nd Called Session (no session has met in 2026): Property Code section 91.001, chapter 92 (including sections 92.0081, 92.019, 92.0191, 92.101 to 92.113 and 92.351), sections 94.003, 94.004 and 94.055, and Local Government Code section 214.902. Rule 510 of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure was read in the rules as the Supreme Court of Texas publishes them (last amended July 1, 2026).