This legal research guide provides information about landlord and tenant law that is helpful to both the practitioner and the public looking for legal information.
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Many questions about the landlord/tenant relationship can be answered by consulting the lease. This page will explain what a lease is, what it can cover, and when it can change.
Section 92.001 of the Texas Property Code defines a lease as “any written or oral agreement between a landlord and tenant that establishes or modifies the terms, conditions, rules, or other provisions regarding the use and occupancy of a dwelling.” This means that a spoken agreement is as valid as a written document and gives some protections to the tenant. Please note that a lease agreement longer than one year must be in writing.
A lease is essentially a contract between a landlord and a tenant. As with any contract, both parties have the right to negotiate the terms before entering into it.
If the lease is in writing, Texas law requires a landlord to provide the tenant with a copy of the lease within 3 business days of signing. Be sure to save a copy of the lease!
This section defines a "lease" as either a verbal or a written agreement between a landlord and tenant.
This section requires a landlord to provide a tenant with a copy of the complete lease within 3 business days of signing. If there are multiple tenants on the lease, tenants who have not yet received a copy must be provided with one within 3 business days of a written request.
This section states that a lease agreement for longer than one year must be in writing.This brief FAQ from the American Bar Association provides advice for negotiating a lease and changing the terms so that the landlord and tenant are both satisfied.
The American Bar Association offers information for those who are about to sign a new lease. This page encourages prospective tenants to add clauses that they would like to see.
TexasLawHelp.org provides a good introduction to what you should know about leases.Like any other contract, a lease cannot be changed in the middle of the lease term unless both parties agree. Changes to a lease might include increases in rent or new procedures that cause a tenant to pay additional fees, like being required to pay rent online.
The Texas Tenant Advisor provides information about when a residential lease can be terminated or changed.
Page 7 of this pamphlet from the State Bar of Texas and Texas Young Lawyers Association discusses how to approach changes to a lease in the middle or end of a lease term.
We receive many questions about whether a lease can contain specific rules or requirements. People ask about rules like curfews, electronic rent payments, renter's insurance, and other topics. Texas statutes generally do not discuss whether or not leases can have these kinds of rules. Instead, Texas laws about what can and cannot be in a lease focus on making sure that a landlord cannot make a tenant waive a right that is guaranteed under the law.
Texas law explicitly prevents leases from restricting a tenant's right to:
If a tenant does not agree to rules that a landlord is suggesting that are otherwise legal, they can try to negotiate with the landlord. This might help them reach an agreement to have these clauses changed or removed.
This section lists specific rights that a landlord cannot ask a tenant to waive. It includes the rights to: smoke detectors, security devices, disclosure of ownership and management, repair of dangerous or unhealthy conditions, to vacate due to family violence or sexual crimes, and to have a trial for certain issues arising from the landlord/tenant relationship.
This section prevents landlords from prohibiting their tenants from contacting police or emergency assistance or fining them as a result of doing so. It voids any lease clauses with this rule.
This section of the law prevents landlords from prohibiting their tenants or their tenants' guests from lawfully possessing a firearm in the rental unit.
This section states that a landlord cannot waive their responsibility to repair conditions that affect a tenant's health or safety. If they put a clause in the lease waiving this responsibility, they are liable to the tenant for actual damages, one month's rent plus $2,000, and reasonable attorney's fees.
The American Bar Association has compiled a list of potential clauses that landlords and tenants should learn more about when writing a new lease or changing an existing one.
Legal self-help publisher Nolo has created this list of commonly found lease provisions and what they might mean for a tenant.
Texans with disabilities who use a service animal or emotional support animal may find that their landlord has a rule prohibiting pets or animals in the rental unit.
The federal Fair Housing Act allows people with disabilities to request a reasonable accommodation to a landlord's pet restrictions. According to the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), examples of reasonable requests for accommodations include:
If a person's disability and their disability-related need for an assistance animal is not apparent, HUD states that a landlord could request documentation of the individual's disability-related need for an assistance animal.
There are some circumstances in which a landlord would not be required to grant the request for an accommodation. For example, a landlord may be exempt from the Fair Housing Act and its requirements. According to HUD, other circumstances include:
For more information about service animals, please see our guide to Animal Laws.
The Texas Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing for certain populations, including people with disabilities.
This federal law protects people against discrimination when obtaining housing. It includes protection against discrimination due to disability. It was originally enacted as part of the U.S. Fair Housing Act of 1988.
This page from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides examples of requests for "reasonable accommodations" under the Fair Housing Act as they relate to individuals who use an assistance animal.
This official notice from the U.S. Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity explains the obligations of housing providers under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) with regard to service animals and emotional support animals. It provides a set of questions that housing providers can use to help determine whether they must make a reasonable accommodation.
The Civil Rights Division of the Texas Workforce Commission accepts and investigates housing discrimination complaints. They also offer helpful information about the Texas Fair Housing Act and its protections.
The U.S. Housing and Urban Development department (HUD) accepts complaints regarding housing discrimination, including disability discrimination.
