Texas Residential Lease Agreement
Texas sets no statutory cap on a residential security deposit and does not require interest on it, but it is strict about refunds: 30 days after the tenant surrenders the premises, with penalties for bad faith. Chapter 92 of the Property Code also limits late fees and requires specific lease language, some of it underlined or in bold. A Texas city cannot adopt rent control except in a disaster-related housing emergency with the governor's approval.
What Texas law does to this document
Security deposit refund and penalties
The landlord must refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises, and must itemize any deductions in writing. Normal wear and tear may not be deducted. The landlord's duty to refund or itemize does not arise until the tenant gives a written forwarding address. A landlord who retains a deposit in bad faith owes $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and the tenant's attorney's fees, and bad faith is presumed after the 30th day.
Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.103, 92.104, 92.107, 92.109Late fees
A late fee is allowed only if notice of the fee is in a written lease, the fee is reasonable, and rent has remained unpaid two full days after it was due. A fee is considered reasonable at up to 12 percent of the rent for the rental period in a structure with four or fewer units, or 10 percent in a larger structure. A higher fee is allowed only up to the landlord's damages from the late payment, such as collection costs and overhead. Collecting an unlawful fee exposes the landlord to $100, three times the fee, and attorney's fees.
Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019Lease language Texas requires
A lease must contain language in underlined or bold print that tells the tenant about the repair remedies in the Property Code, including repair and deduct. A term that makes the deposit refund depend on advance notice of surrender is effective only if it is underlined or in conspicuous bold print. A landlord may change the locks on a tenant who is behind on rent only if that right is stated in the lease.
Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.056(g), 92.103(b), 92.0081(d)Floodplain and flood-history notices
The landlord must give a written notice stating whether the landlord is aware that the dwelling is in a 100-year floodplain. If the landlord knows the dwelling flooded in the five years before the lease begins, a second notice must say so. The notices go in the lease or a separate document, and both landlord and tenant must sign. If the landlord skips them and the tenant suffers a substantial flood loss, the tenant may terminate the lease. Leases shorter than 30 days are exempt.
Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0135Notice to vacate and ending a month-to-month tenancy
Before filing an eviction suit, a landlord must give at least three days' written notice to vacate unless a written lease sets a shorter or longer period. Under the statute as amended effective January 1, 2026, a tenant who is being evicted solely for nonpayment, and who was not late before the month of the notice, must receive it in the form of a notice to pay rent or vacate. A month-to-month tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after notice is given, unless both parties have signed a different arrangement.
Tex. Prop. Code §§ 24.005, 91.001No local rent control
A Texas municipality may establish rent control by ordinance only if its governing body finds a housing emergency due to a disaster and the governor approves the ordinance. Outside that situation, the amount of rent is set by the lease.
Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 214.902Where people go wrong in Texas
- Entering more than 30 days as the deposit return period in the generator, or missing the 30-day deadline to refund the deposit or send the itemized list, which creates a presumption of bad faith.
- Entering a late fee in the generator that starts sooner than two full days after rent is due or exceeds the 12 percent or 10 percent safe harbor without cost support: the draft uses the figures entered and does not test them against Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019.
- Signing the generator's lease as drafted: it does not include the underlined or bold notice of the tenant's repair remedies required by Tex. Prop. Code § 92.056(g) or the floodplain and flood-history notices required by § 92.0135, so both have to be added before signing.
How the generator works
A current residential lease, fixed-term or month-to-month, covering rent, deposit, maintenance, and the disclosures landlords now have to make. Answer a short interview and the draft assembles as you go, with Texas already set as the governing state. Download it as PDF or Word. No fee. No account.