Texas landlord rules that trip up North Texas owners: deposits, repairs and locks

The rules that cause the most trouble, in brief

If you rent out a house in Texas, the rules that catch owners most often are these: refund the security deposit or send an itemized list of deductions within 30 days after the tenant moves out; make a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect a tenant's health or safety once you have proper notice, with seven days presumed to be a reasonable time; equip the home with the security devices the Property Code requires and rekey within seven days after each tenant turnover; put any late fee in a written lease; and remove a tenant only through the courts. On top of state law sit your HOA's rules and, in some cities, local rental rules.

I am a broker, not an attorney, so treat this as general information from our experience managing rentals and from the statutes listed below, and talk to a licensed Texas attorney about your specific situation. But in my experience, owners rarely get into trouble for something exotic. They get into trouble on these basics.

Security deposits: 30 days and a written list

The deposit is the most common source of landlord-tenant disputes in Texas, and the deadline is strict. Under Section 92.109 of the Texas Property Code, a landlord who fails to return the deposit, or to provide a written, itemized list of deductions, by the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the home is presumed to have acted in bad faith. A landlord found to have kept a deposit in bad faith can be liable for $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees. Failing in bad faith to give the itemized list forfeits the right to keep any of it.

Deductions are for damage beyond normal wear and tear, and for unpaid amounts the lease allows you to collect. A worn path in the carpet after three years is wear; a pet-stained, torn carpet is damage. The tenant also has a role: Texas ties the refund to the tenant providing a forwarding address in writing, so ask for one at move-out.

Your best protection is the move-in record. A dated, room-by-room photo report, acknowledged by the tenant, decides most deposit disputes before they start. Without it, a move-out deduction is your word against theirs.

Repairs: what the law asks of you, and how fast

Texas does not require a landlord to fix everything immediately. Under Section 92.056 of the Property Code, a landlord becomes liable for failing to repair when a set of conditions are met: the tenant gave notice to the person or place where rent is normally paid; the condition materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant; the tenant gave a later written notice, or sent the first notice by certified, registered or other trackable mail; the landlord had a reasonable time to repair and did not make a diligent effort; and the tenant was not behind on rent when the notice was given.

The statute creates a rebuttable presumption that seven days is a reasonable time to repair. That can shift depending on when the notice was received, how severe the condition is, and whether materials, labor and utility service are reasonably available. Conditions caused by the tenant, their family or guests, other than normal wear and tear, fall outside the landlord's duty during the lease.

The legal minimum is not a management standard. The statute speaks of health and safety, but in a North Texas August we treat a failed air conditioner as an emergency, along with active leaks, no heat in winter, electrical hazards and burst pipes. Fast repairs keep good tenants and keep you well clear of the statute.

Locks, door viewers and rekeying between tenants

Section 92.153 lists security devices a rental home must have without the tenant asking: window latches on exterior windows, a keyed dead bolt or doorknob lock and a keyless bolting device and door viewer on exterior doors, and a pin lock plus a handle latch or security bar on exterior sliding glass doors. These are installed at the landlord's expense, and it is worth walking the house with this list before every move-in, because older homes often miss one or two.

Section 92.156 then requires the landlord to rekey a key, card or combination device no later than the seventh day after each tenant turnover, at the landlord's cost. There is a narrow exception: if a tenant breaks a written lease by moving out early, the reasonable rekeying cost can come out of the deposit, but only if the lease includes an underlined or bold provision allowing it. Working smoke alarms are required as well, and the move-in inspection is the right moment to test every one of them.

Late fees, notices and removing a tenant

Texas lets you charge a late fee only if it is written into the lease, is reasonable, and the rent has been unpaid for two full days after the due date. When rent goes unpaid, the path to possession runs through a written notice to vacate and an eviction suit in Justice Court, never through a lockout or a utility shutoff. Our step-by-step guide to how late rent becomes a Texas eviction covers the timing and the notices in detail.

The lease itself carries much of the legal weight. A template downloaded from the internet often says nothing about Texas notice periods, late-fee timing, who maintains the yard, or how the tenant must request repairs, and those gaps tend to surface at the worst possible moment. Use a current Texas lease form, add property-specific addenda, and give the tenant a signed copy.

Consistency is the thread through all of it. Charge the fee the same way to every tenant, send notices on the same schedule, and keep a written record of every contact. A court looks at the paper trail, and so does any tenant who decides to challenge you.

Your HOA's rules sit on top of state law

Many rental houses sit inside a homeowners association, and the association's recorded documents can restrict leasing. Common examples are minimum lease terms that rule out month-to-month or short-term rentals, whole-home-only rules that bar renting individual rooms, requirements that tenants be registered with the association within a set number of days, and lease language binding the tenant to the association's rules.

The association bills the owner, not the tenant, because the owner is the member. A lease can require the tenant to follow HOA rules and allow you to charge back fines the tenant causes, but missed tenant registrations and exterior violations such as trash cans, lawns and parked trailers are among the most common sources of rental fines. Get current copies of the rules before you list, since boards adopt new leasing rules more often than they amend the original covenants, and attach them to the lease as an addendum the tenant signs. If the association runs a gate or amenity system, registration often controls whether your tenant can even get in, so handle it before move-in day.

City rules change from one suburb to the next

Local rules vary. In Fort Worth there has generally been no citywide rental registration or pre-leasing inspection requirement for a single-family house; the city's registration program targets apartment communities. The city's minimum property standards still apply to every dwelling, rented or not, and permits are generally required for work such as replacing a water heater, an HVAC system, an electrical panel or a fence. Some of the smaller cities nearby do run registration or inspection programs for single-family rentals, and those programs change more often.

Check before you lease. Confirm which city the house is actually in using the Tarrant Appraisal District record, since a mailing address can differ from the taxing city. Then search the city's website and code of ordinances for rental registration and inspection, call Code Compliance to confirm, and write down the date and the name of the person who answered.

Fair housing starts before the first showing

Federal fair-housing law applies to how you advertise, how you answer inquiries and how you choose a tenant. In practice, that means written selection criteria applied the same way to every applicant, and Texas adds its own requirement to make those criteria available when you hand out an application. Our guide on screening a tenant in Texas explains how to set up that process and what to verify.

Inconsistency is the usual problem, not intent. Asking one applicant for extra documents, waiving a standard for someone you like, or describing an ideal tenant in a listing can all create exposure, even for an owner who never meant to treat anyone differently.

How we keep owners on the right side of these rules

At Perpetual Property Management, the rules above are built into the routine rather than left to memory. Leases are current Texas-compliant documents with property-specific addenda for HOA rules, pets and pools. Every move-in and move-out gets a 360-degree condition inspection, deposits are held and accounted for under the Texas Property Code and itemized on the statutory timeline, and repair requests come in through a portal that time-stamps the notice.

Many rule problems start as maintenance problems left too long, which is why our guide to a year of upkeep on a North Texas rental house is a good companion to this one. We manage homes in Keller, North Richland Hills, Fort Worth and across Tarrant County. If you self-manage and are unsure whether your lease, deposit handling or locks meet the rules, ask for a free rental analysis and we will point out what we would change.

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