Texas Landlord Maintenance and Repair Obligations

Texas landlords must make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, but only after the tenant gives notice and only if the tenant is current on rent when the notice is given. You become liable to the tenant if the tenant completes the statutory notice steps and you still have not made a diligent effort after a reasonable time, which the law presumes is 7 days. Repair and deduct is narrow in Texas: it covers a short list of conditions and is capped at one month's rent or $500, whichever is greater, per month.

When does the Texas duty to repair apply?

Under Texas Property Code section 92.052, three things must all be true before you have a legal duty to repair:

1. The tenant gave notice to the person or place where rent is normally paid. The notice can be oral unless the lease is written and requires written notice.
2. The tenant was not behind on rent when the notice was given.
3. The condition materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, or it is a failure to keep a water heater able to supply hot water at 120 degrees Fahrenheit or more.

The statute's own examples, in the repair-and-deduct section, are sewage backups, flooding from broken pipes, a total loss of water service, and inadequate heating or cooling. A cosmetic problem that does not affect health or safety falls outside this statutory duty.

You have no duty during the lease term to repair damage caused by the tenant, another lawful occupant, a family member, or a guest, unless it is normal wear and tear. The statute also does not require you to supply utilities when the utility company's lines are not reasonably available, or to provide security guards.

If the damage comes from an insured casualty such as fire, smoke, hail, or explosion, the time to repair does not start until you receive the insurance proceeds. If the casualty makes the unit totally unusable and the tenant did not cause it, either side can end the lease in writing before repairs are finished.

Separate parts of the Property Code cover security devices and smoke alarms, with their own deadlines; see the safety features you must provide to tenants.

How do the notice steps and the 7-day presumption work?

Section 92.056 sets out when you become liable for a repair you have not made. The tenant must give notice twice, unless the first notice went by certified mail, registered mail, or another tracked mail or delivery service, in which case one notice is enough. The sequence is:

1. The tenant gives a first notice to the place where rent is paid.
2. After a reasonable time, the tenant gives a second, written notice. A tracked first notice replaces this step.
3. You have had a reasonable time after receiving the notice (or notices) to fix the condition.
4. You have not made a diligent effort to repair.
5. The tenant was current on rent each time notice was given.

You are treated as having received notice when you, your agent, or your employee actually gets it, or when the Postal Service first attempts delivery. A tenant who mails a tracked notice to the rent address while you are away has still started the clock.

There is a rebuttable presumption that 7 days is a reasonable time to repair. A rebuttable presumption is a starting rule a court applies unless one side proves otherwise. A court can find a shorter or longer period reasonable based on the date you received notice, how serious the condition is, and whether materials, labor, and utility service were reasonably available. Under those factors, a dangerous condition can call for faster action than 7 days, and a part that is genuinely hard to get can justify more time if you can show you ordered it promptly.

When all of the steps are met, the tenant can end the lease, use repair and deduct where it applies, or go to court. A tenant who ends the lease gets a pro rata rent refund and can deduct the security deposit from rent, but then cannot also use repair and deduct or ask a court for a repair order or rent reduction.

Your written lease must state, in underlined or bold print, the tenant's remedies under sections 92.056 and 92.0561. See Texas lease agreement essentials for the other clauses Texas leases need.

When can a Texas tenant repair and deduct?

Section 92.0561 allows repair and deduct only after the tenant meets the section 92.056 notice steps, at least one notice says the tenant intends to repair and describes the planned repair, and one of these situations exists:

For most conditions, then, a tenant cannot repair and deduct until a government official has put the problem in writing to you.

The other limits:

• Cap: each deduction, and all deductions in any one month, may not exceed one month's rent or $500, whichever is greater. If the rent is subsidized, the cap uses the unit's fair market rent.
• Who does the work: an independent company, contractor, or repair person, licensed if the city requires it. The tenant, family members, the tenant's employer, or a company the tenant owns cannot do it unless you agree.
• What cannot be repaired: the foundation or load-bearing parts of a building with two or more units.
• Paperwork: the work must meet building codes, including permits, and the tenant must give you a copy of the bill and receipt with the remaining rent.

Example: with $1,200 rent, the tenant can deduct up to $1,200 in a month. With $400 rent, the cap is $500, because $500 is greater.

You can delay a tenant's repair contract only by delivering a compliant affidavit, signed and sworn under oath by you or your authorized agent, before the tenant contracts for the work. It must explain the delay and document past and ongoing diligent repair efforts, including the dates you contacted contractors, suppliers, and repair people and their names, addresses, and phone numbers. Deliver it personally to the tenant, by certified mail with a return receipt requested, or in a conspicuous place inside the dwelling if the written lease allows that method. Submit it in good faith and continue diligent repair efforts afterward.

It can delay the repair 15 days when you are waiting on parts through no fault of your own, or 30 days when a natural disaster has caused a general shortage of labor or materials. Total delay cannot exceed 6 months. If you fix the problem or deliver the affidavit after the tenant has called a repair person but before work starts, you owe the trip charge.

What can a lease shift to the tenant?

Section 92.006 lets you change the default rules only in limited ways:

• Tenant repairs at your expense: any landlord and tenant may agree to this.
• Tenant repairs at the tenant's expense: allowed only if, at the start of the lease, you own just one rental dwelling, the unit has no condition affecting health or safety, and you have no reason to expect one. The lease must be written, and the clause must be underlined or bold, specific, and agreed to knowingly, voluntarily, and for something of value in return.
• Three specific costs any landlord may shift: damage from drain stoppages caused by foreign objects in lines that serve only the tenant's unit, damage to doors, windows, or screens, and damage from doors or windows left open. The same written, underlined-or-bold requirements apply, and the clause cannot cover your own negligence or backups from roots, breakage, or deterioration.

Any other clause waiving your repair duty is void. A tenant also cannot waive the right to a jury trial in a lease.

What penalties do you face?

If a court finds you liable under section 92.056, a tenant can get:

• an order requiring the repair
• a rent reduction from the date of the first repair notice until the repair is made
• a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500
• actual damages
• court costs and attorney's fees, except fees tied to a personal injury claim

A justice court can award up to $20,000. Although section 92.0563(d) says the hearing must be 6 to 10 days after service, Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 509.3(b) sets trial 10 to 21 days after the petition is filed, and Rule 509.4(a) requires service at least 6 days before trial. Follow the trial date on the court's citation and confirm any scheduling change with the court. Knowingly using a lease clause that unlawfully waives your repair duty costs actual damages, one month's rent plus $2,000, and attorney's fees. A bad-faith delay affidavit carries a penalty of one month's rent plus $1,000.

Retaliation adds separate exposure. For 6 months after a tenant gives a repair notice, uses a remedy, or makes a good-faith code complaint, you may not retaliate by filing an eviction (except on the grounds the statute allows, such as unpaid rent), cutting services, raising rent, or ending the lease. The penalty is one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees.

The rules run both ways. Texas law gives tenants no right to simply withhold rent over repairs. If a tenant withholds rent or deducts for repairs outside these rules, you can recover actual damages, and after you warn the tenant in writing about the violation and its penalties, a bad-faith tenant owes a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500. Unpaid rent can also support an eviction; see the Texas eviction process. Before entering to make a repair, follow your lease's entry terms; see Texas landlord entry and access rules. For how Texas compares with other states, see how much maintenance and repair the law requires.