The Texas Small Landlord Compliance Guide
For self-managing owners of 1–4 residential rental units in Texas. The deposit deadline, late-fee rules, repair duties, lockout limits and the eviction process after SB 38 took effect on 1 January 2026, every rule cited to the Property Code with its amendment history.
Why Texas landlords buy this
- The deposit penalty is built into the statute. Section 92.109 prices a bad-faith deposit retention at $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees, and presumes bad faith if you miss the deadline. The guide shows the deadline, the forwarding-address rule and the itemized list exactly as the text states them.
- Eviction changed on 1 January 2026. SB 38 rewrote parts of Chapter 24: notice, sworn petition, summary disposition and appeal rules. The guide walks the current text, not the pre-2026 version most websites still describe.
- One statute, statewide. Section 1.004 bars cities and counties from regulating a field the Property Code occupies, unless another statute expressly authorizes it. The guide quotes it and says plainly what the text does not settle.
What's inside
- What Chapters 24, 91 and 92 cover and what they do not
- Lease checklist: clauses and disclosures before you sign
- Collecting and holding the deposit
- Returning the deposit: the 30-day rule
- Bad-faith exposure, disputes and court
- Rent, late fees, month-to-month tenancies and tenant exit rights
- Repairs, tenant remedies and retaliation
- Entry, lockouts, utility cut-offs and harassment
- Security devices, smoke alarms and other safety duties
- The notice to vacate after SB 38
- The eviction suit, step by step
- Appeals, rent paid into the court registry and what follows the judgment
- Appendix: What changed 2025-2026, deadline cards and source index
Checklists, day-count examples, a fill-in itemized deposit list, a notice-to-vacate template and deadline cards are inside the guide, each tied to the section it comes from.
What this guide does not do
- It is not legal advice and does not replace a Texas landlord-tenant attorney for a contested eviction or lawsuit.
- It covers Property Code Chapters 1 (s. 1.004), 24, 91 and 92 only. Commercial leases (Chapter 93), the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, justice-court local rules and filing fees are out of scope.
- It does not cover s. 92.0135 (flood disclosure) or s. 92.111 (fee in lieu of deposit); read them in the statute.
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FAQ
Is this legal advice?
No. It is an informational compliance reference. For anything disputed or high-stakes, talk to a Texas landlord-tenant attorney.
How do I get the guide after I pay?
Stripe sends you straight back to your private guide page. No account and no waiting. Keep the link: it opens your copy again.
What if the law changes?
The Texas Legislature meets in regular session in odd-numbered years. Each section cites the exact provision, so you can re-check it at statutes.capitol.texas.gov, and the guide states the date it was last checked against the statute: October 5, 2026.
Does it cover my city's rules?
Section 1.004 bars a municipality or county from regulating conduct in a field of regulation occupied by the Property Code. The guide quotes it and says what the text does not tell you about a specific ordinance.
Informational only, not legal advice. Statute text checked against the Texas Property Code (Chapters 1, 24, 91 and 92) as published by the Texas Legislative Council on October 5, 2026. Statutes change every legislative session and a court may read them differently than a summary does; for a dispute, an eviction or anything expensive to get wrong, talk to a Texas landlord-tenant attorney.