Tenants’ Rights Attorney in Texas

Tenants/renters in Texas have several rights under the law, including:

1. Right to Habitable Premises: A landlord must provide a rental unit that is safe, sanitary, and fit for human habitation. The unit must also comply with all applicable building codes and housing laws.
2. Right to Privacy: A landlord cannot enter a rental unit without the tenant’s consent, except in emergencies or with prior notice.
3. Right to Security Deposit: A landlord may require a security deposit, but it must be returned to the tenant within 30 days after the tenant moves out, minus any deductions for damages.
4. Right to Non-Discrimination: A landlord cannot refuse to rent to a tenant based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
5. Right to Quiet Enjoyment: A tenant has the right to peaceful and quiet enjoyment of their rental unit, without interference from the landlord.
6. Right to Fair Housing: A landlord cannot refuse to rent to a tenant based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.
7. Right to Notice of Eviction: A landlord must provide a tenant with proper notice before filing an eviction lawsuit.
8. Right to Repairs: A tenant has the right to request repairs to the rental unit, and the landlord is responsible for making necessary repairs.
9. Right to Withhold Rent: A tenant may be able to withhold rent or repair and deduct if the landlord fails to make necessary repairs.
10. Right to Terminate Lease: A tenant may have the right to terminate the lease if the rental unit becomes uninhabitable due to the landlord’s failure to make necessary repairs.

These are just some of the basic tenant rights in Texas, and there may be additional rights and protections depending on the specific circumstances of each tenancy.

Security Deposits and Tenants’ Rights in Texas

The landlord can only deduct damages and charges from the security deposit for which you are legally liable under the lease agreement, or for physical damage to the property for which you are responsible. Your landlord cannot retain part of your security deposit to cover normal wear and tear. Normal wear and tear means deterioration or damage that occurs based upon the normal, intended use of the premises and not due to your negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse. For example, the landlord cannot withhold part of your security deposit for worn carpet, small nail holes, scratches on the sink or countertops, or fingerprints on the walls. A landlord may be able to deduct for large, permanent stains on the carpet and pen marks on the walls caused by you or your guests. Even in these cases, the landlord may not be entitled to replace all of the carpet or paint the entire house at your expense.

Landlord Must Refund or Explain Within 30 Days

Your security deposit must be refunded to you within 30 days after you move out of the apartment or house, if you provided a written forwarding address to your landlord. You can provide your forwarding address at any time; however, the landlord’s duty to refund does not exist until you do so. If your landlord has cause to retain all or a portion of your security deposit, the landlord must provide you with a refund of the balance of the security deposit, if any, together with a written description and itemized list of all deductions within 30 days of your move out (or within 30 days of you providing your forwarding address in writing).
A landlord is presumed to have refunded a security deposit or provided you with an itemized description of the security deposit deductions if on or before the 30th day from your move or date of your written notice of your forwarding address, whichever is later, the refund or itemization is placed in the United States mail and postmarked. If a landlord who has the tenant’s forwarding address fails either to return the security deposit or to provide a written list of deductions on or before the 30th day after the tenant moves or the date of the tenant’s written notice of forwarding address, whichever is later, then the landlord is presumed to have acted in bad faith. If your landlord retains all or part of your security deposit in bad faith, you may sue him or her and recover $100 plus three times the amount of the security deposit that was wrongfully withheld, plus attorney’s fees and court costs. If your landlord, in bad faith, fails to provide a written description and itemized list of damages and charges to you for a portion of your security deposit that has been withheld, he or she has forfeited all rights to withhold any portion of the security deposit or to bring suit against you for damages to the premises. Tenants who wish to sue for their deposits can do so without an attorney in a Justice of the Peace Court. In these courts, you can be awarded up to $10,000 plus court costs.

Exceptions and Miscellaneous

The landlord is required by law to keep accurate records of all security deposits; however, the landlord is not obligated to keep the funds in a separate account. The landlord is also not required to pay interest on the security deposit. The landlord is not required to furnish a description or itemized list of deductions, as described above, if any rent is due and unpaid at the time you move out and there was no dispute that the rent was due. If the lease requires you to provide advance notice of termination, you should. However, advance notice of termination may not be a condition for a refund of your security deposit unless the requirement of advance notice is underlined or printed in bold print in the lease agreement. Even if you fail to provide notice, as specified in the lease, and the provision is signed and underlined, the landlord may have to show how he or she was damaged by your failure to provide advanced written notice before he or she can keep the deposit. If the house or apartment is sold or otherwise transferred to a new owner, the new owner is responsible for returning the deposit unless the new owner purchased the property at a foreclosure sale. In this case, the old owner remains responsible for the security deposit unless the new owner provides a written notice to you stating that he or she is responsible for the deposit.

Security Deposit of a Deceased Tenant

Unless your lease specifically provides otherwise during the term of your lease, your landlord can ask you to provide the name, address, and telephone number of a person to contact upon your death and a signed statement authorizing that person to receive your refunded security deposit. If your landlord does not request this information, you can volunteer it at any time. Upon your death, that person will be entitled to receive the balance of the security deposit from your landlord (minus any allowable deductions, including any costs of removing and storing your property after your death). If you provide your landlord this information and you also give your landlord a copy of the Property Code section governing this matter, your landlord will be liable for the actual damages that result from failure to comply with these requirements.

Hold Deposits

Sometimes people place a deposit on an apartment or house so a landlord will not lease the unit to anyone else. This deposit is not a “security deposit” and does not become a “security deposit” unless that is specified in an agreement between the landlord and the tenant. Rather, this deposit is part of an agreement (often a rental application) between the landlord and the depositor that guarantees the depositor will be able to rent the dwelling and assures the landlord that if the depositor decides not to sign a lease, the landlord will be able to keep the money. In other words, if a person puts down a deposit to hold an apartment or house, that person cannot change his or her mind in a week or so and expect the landlord to refund the entire deposit. The amount the landlord can lawfully keep will depend on the agreement between the parties, the length of time the depositor took to change his or her mind, and the actual damage suffered by the landlord. In addition, a landlord must refund an application deposit to an applicant if the applicant is rejected as a tenant. An applicant is deemed rejected by the landlord if the landlord does not provide notice of acceptance on or before the seventh day after the applicant submits a completed rental application to the landlord, or on or before the seventh day the landlord accepts an application deposit if the landlord does not furnish the applicant an applicant form. A landlord who in bad faith fails to refund an application deposit is liable in court for $100, three times the amount of the application deposit, and reasonable attorney’s fees.

Don’t Use Deposit as Last Month’s Rent

You must not withhold any portion of the last month’s rent on grounds that the security deposit serves as security for the unpaid rent. [There are exceptions if you lawfully terminated the lease because of a landlord’s failure to repair or pay the utility bills.] If you fail to abide by this requirement, you can be liable to the landlord for three times the amount of the rent that was wrongfully withheld and for reasonable attorney’s fees.

If You Have Problems with Repairs

If the landlord won’t make repairs needed to protect your health, safety, or security, and you follow the procedures required by law, you may be entitled to:

• End the lease;
• Have the problem repaired and deduct the cost of the repair from your rent; or
• File suit to force the landlord to make the repairs.

§§ 92.056 and 92.0561. To recover under one of the methods above, you MUST follow these steps:

1. Send the landlord a dated letter by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by registered mail, outlining the needed repairs. You may also deliver the letter in person. Keep a copy of the letter. Be sure that your rent is current when the notice is received.
2. Your landlord should make a diligent effort to repair the problem within a reasonable time after receipt of the notice. The law presumes seven days to be a reasonable time, but the landlord can rebut this presumption. If the landlord has not made a diligent effort to complete the repair within seven days and you did not have the first notice letter delivered to your landlord via certified mail, return receipt requested, or via registered mail, you will need to send a second notice letter regarding the needed repairs
3. If the landlord still has not made diligent efforts to repair the problem within a reasonable time after receipt of the notice letter sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, or by registered mail, you may be entitled to terminate the lease, repair the problem and deduct the cost from your rent, or get a court to order that the repairs be made. You should consult with an attorney before taking any of these actions.
   Under Texas law, it is illegal for a landlord to retaliate against you for complaining in good faith about necessary repairs for a period of six months from the date you made such a complaint. §§ 92.331-92.335. Of course, you can always be evicted if you fail to pay your rent on time, threaten the safety of the landlord, or intentionally damage the property.

You do not have a right to withhold rent because the landlord fails to make repairs when the condition needing repair does not materially affect your physical health or safety. If you try this method, the landlord may file suit against you. § 92.058.

Recovering Your Deposit.

Most landlords require you to pay a security deposit to cover any repairs needed when you move out or to cover your failure to pay the last month’s rent. By law, landlords cannot refuse to return the deposit without a valid reason. §§ 92.101-92.109.

Deductions for damages.

Under Texas law, you must give the landlord a forwarding address in order to receive your returned security deposit. The landlord must return your deposit — less any amount deducted for damages — within 30 days. If the landlord withholds part or all of your deposit, they must give you an itemized list of deductions with a description of the damages.

Normal wear and tear.

The landlord may not charge you for normal wear and tear on the premises and may only charge for actual abnormal damage. For example, if the carpet simply becomes more worn because you and your guests walked on it for a year, the landlord may not charge you for a new carpet. If your water bed leaks and the carpet becomes mildewed as a result, you may be charged.

Advance notice requirements.

You should check your rental agreement to see if it requires you to give the landlord advance notice that you are moving. Many leases require a 30-day notice as a condition of returning your deposit.

If you give your landlord your new address in writing and you do not receive your deposit or an explanation within 30 days of your departure, contact the landlord. If you cannot resolve the problem satisfactorily, you may wish to consult an attorney. You can also contact the Better Business Bureau or your local tenants’ council. You can also file a complaint with this office.

The following article answers frequently asked questions about your tenant rights when renting an apartment or home with mold in Texas. You must follow specific steps—which are explained here—to preserve your legal rights when there is mold in a rented residence.

Mold Problems in Rental Apartments

Does a landlord have to remove mold from a rental property in Texas?

The law says that landlords in Texas have a duty to remove conditions that “materially affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant” if all of the following are true:

• The condition was not caused by the tenant (renter), the tenant’s family, or the tenant’s guests; and
• The landlord has proper written notice of the condition; and
• The tenant is not delinquent in rent at the time of giving the landlord notice to repair or remedy.

Read the law here: Texas Property Code 92.056.

How much time does a landlord have to remove mold from my apartment or house?

It depends on how you send notice to the landlord to repair or remedy the problem, and on the circumstances of the condition and its repair.

The landlord has a reasonable amount of time to remove the mold after receiving the tenant’s notice if:

• The tenant sent the notice by certified mail, return receipt, or other method with tracking; or
• The tenant sent a second written notice after waiting a reasonable amount of time after sending the first written notice.

Tip: If you send your first notice by certified mail, return receipt, or other method with tracking, you are not required to send a second notice to your landlord.

Note: You should try getting the problem fixed as quickly as possible by talking with or calling the landlord. However, to protect your rights to repair under Texas law, it is very important that you give the landlord written notice, preferably by certified mail, return receipt, or another method with tracking.

What is considered a reasonable amount of time to make a repair or remedy a problem?

Seven days is generally considered a reasonable amount of time. However, the court can consider a different length of time to be reasonable based on:

• The date the landlord received the notice,
• The severity and nature of the condition, and
• The reasonable availability of materials and labor and of utilities access.

Note: Exceptions apply to the timing to complete a repair if the damage to the rental property was an insured casualty loss. If the mold problem is a covered condition, the landlord has a reasonable amount of time after receiving the insurance proceeds to complete the repairs. Talk with a lawyer about your right to end your lease before the problem is corrected or receive a rent reduction if the property becomes totally unusable during the time your landlord is waiting for insurance proceeds to make a repair.

What options do I have if my landlord refuses to remove the mold from my apartment or house?

• End your lease and move.
• File (turn in) a lawsuit against the landlord in court.
• Hire a contractor to repair the mold and deduct the repair cost from your rent. You can only do this under very specific circumstances (see below).

Important: Talk with a lawyer before you move forward with the above options if the landlord refuses to repair a hazardous mold condition.

Can I just remove the mold myself and reduce the amount I pay my landlord in rent that month?

No. The repair and deduct method is not automatic and only reduces a future rent payment (if allowable). This method is not recommended without the advice of a lawyer.

If you want to have the mold removed (and the landlord is refusing to remove it), you must either (1) get a court order requiring the landlord to remove the mold or (2) follow the repair and deduct rules in Texas Property Code 92.0561 that, for example:

• limit the rent deduction for the cost of repair in any given month to the greater of one month’s rent or $500 (for non-subsidized rent),
• limit the rent deduction for the cost of repair in any given month to the greater of the fair market value of one month’s rent or $500 (for subsidized rent),
• only allow a tenant to repair and deduct if the landlord has a duty to fix the problem, and
• only allow the tenant to repair and deduct if the tenant did not waive his or her right to the repair in an enforceable provision in the lease agreement.  Read Texas Property Code 92.006 (e), (f).

Note: An exception exists if you and your landlord agreed in writing for you to repair a condition at the landlord’s expense. Read the law here: Texas Property Code 92.0561(d), (e).

Do I have to have the property inspected for the mold removal to be covered by the landlord?

Not always. Mold removal can be covered without an inspection where:

• Your landlord agreed to the mold removal; or
• Without an agreement, a court finds that the mold condition materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant and lets you:
  • end your lease, or
  • get a court order requiring mold removal.

If, however, you want to use the repair and deduct remedy, you must have the appropriate local housing, building, or health official (or other official having jurisdiction) provide the landlord with written notice that the mold condition materially affects the health or safety of an ordinary tenant. This official might be a city health inspector, for example.

What if my health has been harmed by hazardous mold?

If you feel your health has been harmed due to hazardous mold exposure, talk with an experienced personal injury lawyer immediately. Owners of property (such as your landlord) could potentially be held responsible for health effects you are able to prove you suffered due to exposure to hazardous conditions on the property. A personal injury lawyer can help you determine if you have a “toxic mold” claim that is connected to your mold exposure.

Note: Since gathering evidence and environmental testing is critical to a toxic mold claim, you should talk with a lawyer quickly so you may begin to prepare evidence for your potential claim.

For more information on mold and toxins, see the Center for Disease Control’s site: Indoor Air Pollutants and Toxic Materials.

Where can I find more information about the renter’s rights in Texas?

For detailed information on renter’s rights to repairs in Texas, see the following links:

• Office of the Attorney General: Renters’ Rights
• The Texas Apartment Association: Helpful Info for Renters
• Austin Tenant’s Council:Repair Rights
• Texas Young Lawyer’s Association (TYLA): Tenants’ Rights Handbook

Tip: The Austin Tenant’s Council has do-it-yourself forms for sending notices to your landlord to request repairs on your rental property. It also has do-it-yourself forms for ending your lease and filing a lawsuit. Get forms here from Austin Tenant’s Council Self-Help Repair Packet.

Read the law here: Texas Property Code 92.051 through 92.062.

How to Break a Lease with No Penalty Fees in Texas

Breaking a lease with no penalty fees in Texas can be difficult, as landlords are entitled to compensation for the financial losses resulting from a tenant’s early termination of a lease. However, there are certain circumstances under which a tenant may be able to break a lease with no penalty fees in Texas. Here are a few options:

1. Find a Replacement Tenant: One way to avoid penalty fees is to find a replacement tenant to take over the remainder of the lease term. In Texas, landlords are required to make reasonable efforts to re-rent the property in the event of an early termination. If the tenant can find a replacement tenant who meets the landlord’s screening criteria and is willing to take over the lease, the tenant may be able to avoid paying penalty fees.
2. Negotiate with the Landlord: Another option is to negotiate with the landlord to reach an agreement on early lease termination. This could involve offering to pay a portion of the remaining rent or agreeing to forfeit the security deposit. Landlords may be willing to work with tenants who are facing financial hardship or extenuating circumstances.
3. Documented Legal Reasons: As mentioned earlier, tenants may be able to break a lease with no penalty fees if they have a documented legal reason, such as military service, domestic violence, or health and safety concerns. It’s important to gather all necessary documentation and present it to the landlord in writing, as well as provide proper notice and follow all legal requirements.
4. Early Termination Clause: Some lease agreements may include an early termination clause, which outlines the conditions under which a tenant can break a lease with no penalty fees. Tenants should review their lease agreement carefully to determine if such a clause exists.

It’s important to note that breaking a lease without legal justification can result in serious consequences, including legal action and damage to one’s credit score. Before taking any action, tenants should carefully consider their options and seek legal advice to ensure that they understand their rights and obligations under the law.

Legal reasons for early lease termination in Texas

There are several legal reasons for early lease termination that would allow a tenant to break a lease without incurring penalties. Some of the most common legal reasons for early lease termination include:

1. Military Service: Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), military service members who receive orders for a permanent change of station (PCS) or deployment for at least 90 days may terminate their lease without penalty.
2. Constructive Eviction: A tenant may terminate a lease if the landlord fails to maintain the premises in a habitable condition, and the problems are serious enough to make the property uninhabitable. Examples of such conditions include lack of heat or water, infestations, or unsafe living conditions.
3. Domestic Violence: Texas law provides that a tenant may terminate a lease early without penalty if they are a victim of domestic violence. The tenant must provide the landlord with a written notice and proof of the abuse, such as a protective order or police report.
4. Landlord’s Breach of Lease: If a landlord violates the lease agreement in a significant way, such as by failing to make repairs or failing to provide essential services, a tenant may have grounds to terminate the lease early.
5. Health and Safety Concerns: A tenant may have the right to terminate a lease early if the rental property is deemed unsafe or poses a threat to their health. This could include situations where there is toxic mold, lead-based paint, or other hazardous conditions.
6. Illegal Activity: If a landlord is found to be engaged in illegal activity on the property, such as drug manufacturing or trafficking, a tenant may be able to break their lease early.
7. Discrimination: A tenant may have the right to terminate a lease early if they believe they are being discriminated against on the basis of their race, religion, national origin, or other protected characteristic.

It’s important to note that breaking a lease without a legal reason can result in penalties and potential legal action by the landlord. Therefore, tenants should consult with an attorney or legal aid organization to determine the best course of action if they need to terminate a lease early.

Can I terminate my lease early if I have allergies?

In Texas, you generally cannot terminate your lease early due to allergies unless your allergies are related to a condition in the rental unit that the landlord has failed to address. For example, if there is mold or other environmental factors that are exacerbating your allergies and the landlord has not taken steps to address the issue, you may have grounds to terminate your lease early. However, in order to terminate your lease early, you must follow the proper legal procedures and provide notice to your landlord.

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