Editor’s Pick
In Texas, a landlord cannot:
- lock you out or shut off your utilities to force you out
- evict you without a court judgment and a writ of possession
- enter your home outside what the lease allows
- keep your security deposit past 30 days without an itemized list, or deduct for normal wear and tear
- raise the rent mid-lease unless the lease allows it, or raise it in retaliation
- discriminate based on protected traits
- ignore repairs that threaten your health or safety
- collect a late fee that is not in the written lease
Every rule in this guide is checked against the current Texas Property Code, including Senate Bill 38, the eviction overhaul that took effect January 1, 2026.
Two things make Texas different. The lease carries unusual weight here, deciding questions like entry notice that other states settle by statute. And where the Property Code does draw a line, it attaches automatic penalties, often one month’s rent plus $1,000, so the rules that exist have real teeth. To see how Texas compares with stricter states, start with our guide to landlord-tenant laws by state.
Can a Landlord Evict You Without a Court Order in Texas?
No. Every eviction in Texas runs through the justice court, and the steps are fixed. The landlord first serves a written notice to vacate, at least three days before filing suit under Section 24.005, though the lease can shorten or lengthen that period, so read yours. Then comes the eviction suit, a trial set between 10 and 21 days after filing, and, if the landlord wins, a writ of possession. Even at that last step, the constable must post a written warning on the door at least 24 hours before removing anyone (Section 24.0061).
Senate Bill 38 rewrote the procedure for suits filed on or after January 1, 2026, and three changes matter most. A resident late on rent for the first time in the lease term must now receive a “notice to pay rent or vacate,” a genuine chance to pay and stay. Notices can now arrive by email or portal, but only if you agreed to electronic delivery in writing. And a new fast-track called summary disposition applies solely to squatter cases, people who entered without any legal right. It cannot be used against a resident with a lease.
Formal filings remain the exception. Most rent problems raised early end in a payment plan or a move-out agreement instead of a courtroom.
Can a Texas Landlord Lock You Out or Shut Off Your Utilities?
Not to force you out, ever. Cutting water, gas, or electricity that the landlord supplies is illegal except for bona fide repairs, construction, or an emergency (Section 92.008). A resident hit with an illegal shutoff can stay or end the lease, and either way recover actual damages plus a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $1,000, along with attorney’s fees.
Lock changes are the Texas twist. Unlike most states, Texas lets a landlord change the locks over unpaid rent, but only inside the strict guardrails of Section 92.0081: the lease must allow it, written notice must come first, and the landlord must hand over the new key at any hour, whether or not you pay a cent of the overdue rent. The law treats a lock change as a pressure tactic, allowed once per rental period. To actually remove someone, the landlord still has to win in court. A lockout that ignores these rules carries the same one-month’s-rent-plus-$1,000 penalty, and a court can order the resident let back in.
Can a Landlord Enter Your Home Without Notice in Texas?
Here is the answer that surprises most people: Texas has no statute requiring advance notice before a landlord enters. No 24-hour rule exists in state law, whatever older articles claim. The lease decides when and why a landlord may come in, which is the position of both the Texas State Law Library and TexasLawHelp.
If the lease says nothing, the landlord’s right to enter shrinks to a short list: requested repairs, emergencies, and posting legal notices. Repeated unannounced entries are still actionable as a breach of the lease or of your right to quiet enjoyment. Put a demand in writing, and if the entries continue you can sue for damages or ask a court to release you from the lease. One tip that heads all of this off: before you sign, ask for a clause requiring 24 hours’ notice. Most landlords add it without argument. Our renters guide covers the other clauses worth reading closely before you commit.
How Much Can a Landlord Charge for a Security Deposit in Texas?
There is no cap. Texas law does not limit the size of a residential security deposit (TexasLawHelp). The market does. Where the law bites is at move-out:
- 30 days. The landlord must refund the deposit within 30 days of surrender (Section 92.103).
- Itemized in writing. Any deduction requires a written, itemized list, and nothing may be withheld for normal wear and tear (Section 92.104).
- Bad faith is expensive. A landlord who blows the deadline is presumed to be acting in bad faith and owes $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney’s fees (Section 92.109).
One step protects the whole claim: give your forwarding address in writing at move-out. The refund clock does not start until you do (Section 92.107). For where the line between damage and ordinary aging actually falls, our guide to normal wear and tear in a rental draws it item by item. Most deposit disputes come down to documentation rather than bad faith.
Can a Landlord Raise the Rent as Much as They Want in Texas?
On the amount, yes. Texas has no rent control, and state law bars cities from creating it except during a declared disaster with the governor’s approval (Local Government Code Section 214.902). The real limits are timing and motive. Rent is locked for the length of a fixed-term lease unless the lease itself allows a change, and an increase within six months of a repair request or complaint invites a retaliation claim, covered below.
No statute sets a notice period for increases. On a month-to-month tenancy the working floor is one month, because that is the notice either side needs to end the arrangement under Section 91.001, and a rent change you reject is, in effect, a termination. For the numbers behind typical increases, see what is the maximum rent increase allowed in Texas.
What Counts as Illegal Housing Discrimination in Texas?
A Texas landlord cannot refuse to rent, quote different terms, falsely claim a unit is taken, or advertise a preference based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. The federal Fair Housing Act and the Texas Fair Housing Act mirror each other on all seven traits, and both require reasonable accommodations and modifications for residents with disabilities.
Several Texas cities go further by ordinance. Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio prohibit housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other grounds (Austin City Code Title 5 and Dallas City Code Chapter 46), so check your city’s rules too. If you believe you were turned away for who you are, the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division investigates housing complaints statewide. You have one year from the incident to file.
What Repairs Does a Texas Landlord Have to Make?
Any condition that “materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant”: sewage backups, no running water, unsafe wiring, a dead heater in January, structural failures (Section 92.052). The duty exists in every rental, but Texas landlord repair laws are strict about procedure, and a resident who skips a step forfeits the remedies.
Do it this way. Send the repair request in writing by certified mail, return receipt requested. One certified notice does the job of the two separate notices the statute otherwise demands (Section 92.056). Be current on rent when you send it. The landlord then gets a reasonable time to act, presumed to be seven days, adjustable for the severity of the problem and the availability of parts and labor.
If the deadline passes, three remedies open up: end the lease and move out with a pro-rata rent refund, repair and deduct up to the greater of one month’s rent or $500 for qualifying conditions (Section 92.0561), or sue for a court order compelling the repair plus damages. Texas law never allows you to simply stop paying rent. Withholding rent puts you in default, hands the landlord a clean nonpayment eviction, and voids your repair remedies, since every one of them requires you to be current. The landlord’s side of these duties lives in our guide to landlord responsibilities in Texas.
Can a Landlord Retaliate Against You for Complaining?
Not within six months. Once you request a repair in good faith, complain to a code officer, exercise a legal right, or join a tenant organization, Section 92.331 bars the landlord for six months from filing an eviction over it, cutting services, raising your rent, terminating the lease, or otherwise interfering with your tenancy. Crossing the line costs one month’s rent plus $500, plus actual damages, court costs, and attorney’s fees (Section 92.333).
The protection has honest limits. An eviction is not retaliation if you are behind on rent, intentionally damage the property, or hold over after giving your own notice (Section 92.332). Keep paying rent while you press a complaint. It preserves every claim you have.
What Fees Can a Texas Landlord Not Charge?
A late fee that is not in your written lease is uncollectible. Even a disclosed fee must wait until rent is two full days late, and it must be reasonable. Section 92.019 presumes a fee reasonable at up to 12 percent of monthly rent for properties with four or fewer units, 10 percent for larger ones. Charging outside the statute costs the landlord $100 plus three times the improper fee, plus attorney’s fees.
Disclosure duties ride along with fees. For homes built before 1978, federal law requires a lead-based paint disclosure before the lease is signed.
How Do Texas Landlords Stay on the Right Side of These Rules?
Write a better lease, then follow it. Texas hands landlords more contractual freedom than almost any state, and nearly every dispute above is won or lost on what the lease says and what got documented. The essentials:
- Put entry, late fees, lock-change rights, and deposit terms in the lease. Where the Property Code is silent, your lease is the rulebook a judge reads.
- Update notice templates for SB 38. First-time nonpayment now requires a pay-or-vacate notice, and email delivery of notices needs written consent in the lease.
- Document move-in and move-out with dated photos and a signed condition report. The 30-day deposit deadline carries a triple-damages presumption, so calendar it.
- Screen every applicant against the same written criteria. Consistency is the practical defense to a fair housing complaint.
- Never improvise self-help. The lockout and utility statutes price the shortcut at one month’s rent plus $1,000.
Running the numbers on hiring help? Here is how much property managers charge in Texas, and our breakdown of whether rental income is taxable in Texas covers the other side of the ledger. Prefer to self-manage? Start with how to manage a rental property, or see how property management in Houston handles these rules day to day.
FAQ
Can a landlord in Texas lock you out for not paying rent?
Only temporarily, and only if the lease allows it. After written notice, a landlord may change the locks over delinquent rent, but must give you the new key at any hour whether or not you pay. Locking you out and refusing a key is illegal, and the penalty is one month’s rent plus $1,000, plus actual damages and attorney’s fees.
Can a landlord shut off your utilities in Texas?
No. A landlord may not cut water, gas, or electricity to force a resident out. Interruptions are legal only for bona fide repairs, construction, or emergencies. An illegal shutoff lets you stay or terminate the lease and recover one month’s rent plus $1,000, actual damages, and attorney’s fees.
How much notice does a landlord need before entering a rental in Texas?
None by statute. Texas has no state law setting an entry notice period, so the lease controls. If the lease is silent, entry is limited to purposes like requested repairs and emergencies, and you can demand advance notice in writing.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Texas?
30 days from move-out, with a written itemized list of any deductions, once you give a forwarding address in writing. Past 30 days the law presumes bad faith, and the landlord risks $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld, plus attorney’s fees.
What changed in Texas eviction law in 2026?
Senate Bill 38 applies to eviction suits filed on or after January 1, 2026. A resident late on rent for the first time must get a notice to pay rent or vacate. Notices may be emailed if the lease allows it, citations must be attempted within five business days of filing, and a fast summary disposition track now exists for squatter cases only.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and every situation is different. For guidance on a specific situation, talk to a Texas-licensed attorney.
