Your Right to Habitable Housing in Texas

Texas does not give renters a broad warranty of habitability. Instead, Texas Property Code section 92.052 requires your landlord to make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, but only after you give notice and only if you are current on rent when you do. If the landlord still does not act after the notice steps in section 92.056, you can end the lease, repair and deduct in a narrow set of cases, or get a court order. Texas does not allow you to withhold rent.

What must a Texas landlord repair?

The repair duty covers conditions that materially (significantly) affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, plus the landlord's failure to provide and maintain a water heater that supplies water of at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Examples the Texas State Law Library cites: sewage backups, roaches, rats, no hot water, faulty wiring, roof leaks, and sometimes a lack of heat or air conditioning. A condition that violates your city's building, health, or fire code is more likely to qualify.

A problem that does not affect health or safety, such as a cosmetic defect, is the landlord's job only if your lease says so; this statute replaces the court-made warranty of habitability used in many states. Compare the implied warranty of habitability and see your basic rights as a tenant.

Limits on the duty:

• Damage you cause. The landlord does not have to fix damage caused by you, a lawful occupant, a family member, or a guest, unless it is normal wear and tear.
• Insured casualties. If fire, hail, or a similar insured loss caused the problem, the repair period starts when the landlord receives the insurance money. If the unit is totally unusable and you did not cause the loss, either of you can end the lease by written notice.
• Lease waivers. A lease generally cannot waive the repair duty. Two exceptions need a specific, underlined or bold clause in a written lease that you accept knowingly, voluntarily, and in exchange for something of value. A landlord who owns only one rental home can shift repairs to you if the home has no health or safety defects when the lease begins and none are expected. Any landlord can make you pay for drain stoppages caused by objects in lines serving only your unit, damage to doors, windows, or screens, and damage from doors or windows left open, unless the landlord's negligence caused it.

How do you give notice the right way?

Your remedies start only after these steps:

1. Give notice where you pay rent. It must be in writing only if your written lease requires it, but a dated written notice is your proof.
2. Be current on rent. You cannot be behind on rent when you give any required notice.
3. Send a second written notice if needed. Wait a reasonable time, then send a second written notice. Skip this step if you sent the first notice by certified mail (return receipt requested), registered mail, or another tracked mail or delivery service.
4. Give the landlord a reasonable time. The law presumes 7 days is reasonable, counted from when the landlord or its agent or employee receives the notice, or from when the Postal Service first tries to deliver it. Either side can argue for more or less time based on the problem's severity and whether materials, labor, and utilities are available.

For six months after you give a repair notice, use a repair remedy, or make a good-faith code complaint, the landlord cannot retaliate by filing an eviction, raising your rent, cutting services, or ending your lease. Eviction for rent you owe is not retaliation.

What can you do if the landlord still does not repair?

If the landlord still has not made a diligent effort to repair, you have three remedies.

End the lease

You can terminate the lease, get a prorated rent refund from the later of the termination date or your move-out date, and either deduct your security deposit from rent or get it refunded under the deposit law. Choosing termination gives up repair and deduct and the court-ordered repair and rent reduction, though you can still sue for the civil penalty, damages, and attorney's fees.

Repair and deduct

This remedy covers only these situations under section 92.0561:

Rules for every repair and deduct:

• At least one of your notices must say you intend to repair and describe the repair.
• Repairs and deductions in any one month cannot exceed one month's rent or $500, whichever is greater. With $1,100 rent, the cap is $1,100; with $450 rent, it is $500. For government-subsidized rent, the cap uses the unit's fair market rent.
• An independent company, contractor, or repair person must do the work, licensed if your city requires it. You, your family, your employer or employees, or a company you own cannot do it unless the landlord agrees.
• Repairs must meet building codes, including permits, and cannot touch the foundation or load-bearing structure of a building with two or more units.
• When you pay the rest of the rent, give the landlord a copy of the repair bill and the receipt.

Before you hire anyone, the landlord can delay your repair with a sworn statement (an affidavit) documenting its diligent efforts so far, including dates and the contractors or suppliers it contacted. The delay is 15 days for a parts delay that is not the landlord's fault or 30 days for a labor or materials shortage after a natural disaster, six months at most in total, and the landlord must keep working on the repair.

Ask a justice court for a repair order

You can file a "repair and remedy" case in justice of the peace court. The court can order the landlord to repair, reduce your rent from the date of your first notice until the repair is made, and award a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, your actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees. A justice court can award up to $20,000, including attorney's fees but not interest and court costs. Under the court rules, trial is set 10 to 21 days after you file, and the landlord must be served at least 6 days before trial.

Why you should not withhold rent in Texas

If you withhold rent, have repairs made, or deduct repair costs outside the rules above, the landlord can recover its actual damages from you. If the landlord then gives you written notice that your withholding or deduction is illegal and explains the penalties, and you keep doing it in bad faith, the landlord can also recover a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, and attorney's fees if it wins.

Unpaid rent also supports an eviction. In that suit, a deduction you made lawfully under these rules and landlord retaliation are defenses, but other repair claims cannot be added to the eviction case. See whether you can legally withhold rent and Texas eviction protections.

Locks and security devices

The landlord must install, at its expense and without any request:

• A window latch on each exterior window.
• A keyed deadbolt or a doorknob lock on each exterior door.
• A keyless bolting device, such as a deadbolt that locks only from inside, and a door viewer (peephole) on each exterior door.
• A pin lock and a handle latch or security bar on each sliding glass door.

The landlord must rekey at its own cost within 7 days after each new tenant moves in. On your request, it must repair or replace a broken security device within a reasonable time, presumed to be 7 days, or 72 hours if you report a break-in or attempted break-in at your unit, or one at another unit or a violent crime at the complex in the past two months.

If the landlord does not comply, you can install or repair the device and deduct the reasonable cost from your next rent payment, telling the landlord when you pay. You can also end the lease or sue for a court order, damages, a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, and attorney's fees. For devices never installed or locks not rekeyed at move-in, ending the lease or seeking the penalty requires a written request and a 3-day wait after the landlord receives it (7 days if your lease has the required underlined or bold security-device notice), and the landlord has a defense if you were behind on rent when you asked.

Utility shutoffs and unpaid landlord bills

A landlord cannot cut off utilities you pay directly to the utility company, or water, wastewater, gas, or electricity the landlord provides, except for real repairs, construction, or an emergency, or under the submetered electricity rules below. If it does, you can recover possession or end the lease, plus actual damages, one month's rent plus $1,000, attorney's fees, and court costs, minus any rent you owe. To get service back quickly, file a sworn complaint in justice court; a judge who believes the shutoff was likely unlawful can order service restored right away, before a hearing.

A landlord that bills you for submetered or shared-meter electricity can cut it off only for an unpaid electric bill, never for unpaid rent. Your written lease must allow it, the bill must be unpaid more than 12 days after it was issued, and you must get a separate written termination notice after the bill is past due and at least 5 days before the cutoff. A bill you dispute cannot be the reason until the landlord investigates and reports the results to you in writing. No cutoff is allowed on a day the landlord is not available to take payment and restore service or the day before, after a day that stayed at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit when more freezing weather is forecast, or on the day of or two days after a National Weather Service heat advisory for your county.

If the lease says the landlord pays the water, gas, or electric bill and the utility cuts off service or warns you of a cutoff because the landlord did not pay, you can:

1. Pay the utility to keep or restore service and deduct that amount from rent, giving the landlord the utility's receipt.
2. End the lease by written notice and move out within 30 days of the utility's notice.
3. Recover actual damages, such as moving costs, utility connection fees, storage fees, and lost wages, plus court costs and attorney's fees.

These rights end if the landlord shows you written proof from the utility that the bill is paid in full before you terminate the lease or file suit.