Landlord repairs in Texas

The landlord must make a diligent effort to repair or remedy a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, or a failure to keep a hot-water device working at 120°F or more, once the tenant gives notice and is current on rent. The landlord need not repair damage caused by the tenant, household or guests (other than normal wear and tear). These statutory duties replace common-law habitability warranties (§ 92.061). (Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.052, 92.061)

Texas law names these:

• hot water of at least 120°F (device in good operating condition)
• security devices: window latches, keyed deadbolt or doorknob lock, keyless bolting device and door viewer on exterior doors, sliding-door pin lock and handle latch or security bar
• smoke alarms (one in each bedroom, plus corridor/each level as required)
• a 24-hour emergency phone number for reporting conditions affecting health or safety

Notice goes to the person or place where rent is normally paid, and the tenant must be current on rent when notice is given. The first notice must be written only if a written lease requires it, but remedies require either a first notice sent by certified mail (return receipt), registered mail or another tracked mail service, or a second written notice after a reasonable time has passed (§§ 92.052(d), 92.056(b)). For repair-and-deduct, at least one notice must state the intent to repair and describe the repair (§ 92.0561(d)(2)). (Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.052(a), (d); 92.056(b))

The notice must be in writing. Write a Texas repair request letter.

There is a rebuttable presumption that 7 days is a reasonable time to repair; severity, availability of materials, labor and utilities can rebut it (§ 92.056(d)). For repair-and-deduct: sewage backup or flooding inside the dwelling can be repaired immediately after notice of intent; total loss of potable water or inadequate heat/cooling (certified by a local official) after 3 days; other health/safety conditions certified by a local official after 7 days (§ 92.0561(e)). A landlord's sworn affidavit for delay can extend the time by 15 days (parts delay) or 30 days (post-disaster shortage), up to 6 months total (§ 92.0562).

Urgent problems: sewage backup/overflow or flooding inside the unit: tenant may repair immediately after notice of intent to repair; no potable water or inadequate heat/cooling (with a local official's written notice): 3 days

Law: Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.056(d), 92.0561(e), 92.0562

Allowed with limits. Available only if the landlord is liable under § 92.056(b) and one of these applies: raw sewage backup or flooding inside the unit; total loss of potable water the landlord agreed to supply; inadequate heat/cooling certified in writing by a local housing, building or health official; or another condition a local official has certified in writing as affecting health or safety. Waiting periods: immediately (sewage/flooding), 3 days (water, heat/cooling) or 7 days (other) after notice of intent. Repairs must be done by an independent licensed contractor (not the tenant or family unless the landlord agrees), to code, and not to the foundation or load-bearing parts of a building with 2+ units. The tenant gives the landlord a copy of the bill and receipt with the remaining rent.

Waiting period after notice:

7 days

Limit:

the greater of one month's rent or $500 in any one month

Law:

Tex. Prop. Code § 92.0561

Not allowed. The subchapter gives no right to withhold rent. A tenant who withholds rent in violation of the subchapter is liable for the landlord's actual damages, and, after written warning, for a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500 if done in bad faith (§ 92.058).

Law:

Tex. Prop. Code § 92.058

Allowed. If the landlord is liable under § 92.056(b), the tenant may terminate the lease and gets a pro rata rent refund from the later of termination or move-out, plus the deposit back (or may deduct it from rent). A tenant who terminates cannot also use repair-and-deduct or the court order/rent-reduction remedies. Either side may also terminate in writing if an uninsured-fault casualty makes the unit totally unusable (§ 92.054(b)).

Law:

Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.056(e)(1), (f); 92.054(b)

Court action (justice, county or district court): order to repair, rent reduction from the date of the first repair notice, civil penalty of one month's rent + $500, actual damages, court costs and attorney's fees; justice court hears the case 6–10 days after service and may award up to $20,000 (§ 92.0563). Higher penalties for unlawful waiver (one month's rent + $2,000) and bad-faith delay affidavits (one month's rent + $1,000).

For 6 months after a tenant in good faith requests repairs, uses a legal remedy, complains to a code-enforcement agency or utility, or joins a tenant organization, the landlord may not file an eviction (except on valid grounds such as unpaid rent), cut services, raise rent, end the lease, or otherwise interfere in bad faith (§ 92.331). Remedy: one month's rent + $500, actual damages, costs and attorney's fees (§ 92.333). (Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.331–92.333)

Tenants may complain to the governmental entity that enforces building or housing codes; a written notice from the local housing, building or health official is a condition for most repair-and-deduct cases (§§ 92.331(a)(3), 92.0561(d)).

• A written lease must state the repair remedies of §§ 92.056 and 92.0561 in underlined or bold print (§ 92.056(g)).
• If the condition results from an insured casualty (fire, hail, etc.), the repair period does not start until the landlord receives the insurance proceeds; a partially unusable unit can get a proportional rent reduction only by court judgment (§ 92.054).
• If the tenant sends a written demand for an explanation and the landlord does not answer in writing within 5 days, the landlord bears the burden of proving diligence (§ 92.053(b)).
• The Texas AG renters' page still says justice courts can order repairs up to $10,000; the statute was raised to $20,000 effective Sept. 1, 2023 (§ 92.0563(e)).
• A lease cannot waive the landlord's repair duties or the tenant's remedies except as § 92.006 allows: the tenant may agree to do repairs at the landlord's expense; at the tenant's expense only if the landlord owns just one rental dwelling, the unit is free of health/safety conditions at the start, and the agreement is in a written lease, underlined or bold, specific, knowing and for consideration; and a lease may make the tenant pay for wastewater stoppages from foreign objects in lines serving only that unit, damage to doors, windows or screens, and damage from windows or doors left open, unless the landlord was negligent (§ 92.006(c)-(f)).
• A landlord may close a unit by certified-mail notice to the tenant and local health/building officials that it will be demolished or no longer used as housing; if notice comes before the tenant's repair notice, the repair remedies do not apply, and if after it, the tenant is limited to certain court remedies plus actual and reasonable moving expenses, a pro rata rent refund and the deposit when moving out by the end of the term (§ 92.055).

• Texas repair request letter (free, runs in your browser)
• Breaking a lease in Texas: notice periods and early-termination rights
• Texas eviction notice rules: what a notice for unpaid rent requires

• Tex. Prop. Code ch. 92 (Texas Legislature, Constitution and Statutes) Retrieved October 14, 2026.
• Texas Attorney General — Renters' Rights Retrieved October 14, 2026.

Laws change. This page was checked against the sources above on October 14, 2026. It is legal information, not legal advice; before withholding rent or ending a lease, contact your state's legal aid. See our methodology.