This course is intended to provide general information to tenants in Texas. We do not have enough resources to help tenants individually. Because the law constantly changes and your situation is unique, we do not warrant or guarantee that the information in this course is current or applicable to your situation. We attempt to provide current information; nonetheless, you are urged to consult an attorney for legal advice and assistance because this course does not provide legal advice.
Tenants’ Rights in Texas
This course provides an introductory overview of the rights that tenants currently have in Texas. The rights in this lesson come from Building And Strengthening Tenant Action’s “Tenants Rights” page:
https://www.bastaaustin.org/en/kyr
Image: Adobe
Lesson Objectives
Learners will have a basic knowledge of the rights that tenants in Texas have.
Learners will understand the situations in which each of the tenant rights apply.
Learners will know the general process of exercising these rights and which tools and resources to use.
Image: Adobe
Right to Repairs
You have a right to repairs – landlords are responsible for repairing problems that affect your health and safety.
You should not have to pay for these repairs, unless the problem was caused by you or your guest (excluding “normal wear and tear.”)
“Health and safety” covers a lot: water leaks, malfunctioning ovens, broken windows and locks, etc.
Document the issues and your notification of them to your landlord.
Image: Adobe
The stove in Adriana’s apartment stopped working. Adriana immediately gives written notice to the landlord and documents the issue, providing as much detail as possible. After giving her landlord a reasonable amount of time to make the repair, he still hasn’t fixed the stove. She gives a second written notice, and still nothing is done. At this point, she can terminate the lease or prepare to take legal action, likely in Justice of the Peace court.
Resources
BASTA -- Evidence Collection Tips and Activity Tracker
BASTA -- How to Write a Written Repair Request to Your Landlord
Texas Legal Services Center -- Right to Repairs as a Tenant
Texas State Law Library – Remedies for Failure to Repair
Image: Adobe
Right to report health and safety issues to the city
You have a right to contact your city’s code enforcement department without fear of retaliation.
Provide written notice to your landlord, including your intention to report the issue to the city, and give a reasonable amount of time for them to repair the issue.
Look up your city’s code violation reporting process; in most cities, calling 3-1-1 is the simplest way to report.
Keep track of your service request number and document everything.
Image: Adobe
Helen notices mold growing around a water leak in the common area of her apartment complex. She notifies the landlord in writing, twice, and waits several weeks, but the landlord does nothing. Helen calls the issue in to 3-1-1. An inspector comes to investigate and determines it is a violation. Helen can use this to get her landlord to fix the problem, since he’ll now face a fine from the city, and if he still won’t fix it, this can be used as evidence in court or for her to terminate her lease.
Resources
BASTA -- Evidence Collection Tips and Activity Tracker
BASTA -- How to Write a Written Repair Request to Your Landlord
BASTA – Code Complaints
Image: Adobe
Right to Request Reasonable Accommodation
You have the right to request your landlord make “reasonable accommodations” so you can use your apartment with a disability.
Accommodations must be related to your disability – you do not have to provide your diagnosis to your landlord, but they’ll likely need to know why you need the accommodation, and some might request a doctor’s note.
Accommodations should be paid for by the landlord; modifications, which involve physical changes to units or common areas, may require you to pay for it.
If a landlord can’t provide an accommodation, they should propose a reasonable alternative; if a landlord refuses to do anything, the tenant can pursue legal action or file a fair housing complaint.
Image: Adobe
Jasmin requests a first-floor apartment because she has trouble walking up stairs. Because Jasmin’s disability is not obvious, her landlord asks for proof. Jasmin gets a note from doctor which confirms her need for accommodation while also protecting her privacy. Her landlord says no first-floor units are available. After continuous pressure from Jasmin and threats of a fair housing complaint, her landlord offers to put her Jasmin in a second-floor unit in a building with a working elevator. Jasmin accepts this alternative.
Resources
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs – Fair Housing for Renters
BASTA – Reasonable Accommodations
Texas Legal Services Center/Disability Rights Texas – Eviction and Reasonable Accommodations in Texas
Image: Adobe
Right to Parking/Towing Rules
The landlord must provide you written parking rules when you sign your lease and has strong restrictions on changing those during the duration of your lease.
If a landlord wants to change the parking rules during the term of the lease, they must obtain written consent from the tenant.
A landlord may also change the rules if he can prove that the changes apply equally to all tenants and that they had a valid reason for the change beyond sheer profitability (necessity, safety, construction, etc.)
Regardless of whether parking rules were violated, landlords are responsible for any damage to vehicles that they had towed.
Image: Adobe
All the tenants at Chad’s complex were given notice that they would now be required to pay for monthly parking permits. Chad, as president of the tenants’ association, sent an email out to the other tenants telling them not to sign any consent form regarding the parking. Though the landlord provided written notice of the change and applied it to all tenants, he could not provide a valid reason for the change. Without the tenants signing the consent form and with Chad threatening legal action, the landlord backs down and cancels the proposed changes.
Right to Record
You have a right to record your conversations with your landlord.
Recording your conversations, both in-person and over the phone, is important when gathering evidence for legal actions negotiations with your landlord.
Video recordings of conversations and interactions, especially in your home and regarding needed repairs, can be especially important.
Texas is a one-party consent state – as long as one person in a conversation is aware and consents to it being recorded (in this case, you), you do not need the other participants’ consent.
The water heater in Ricardo’s apartment has stopped working. The landlord comes to look at it, and Ricardo uses his phone to record their interactions. While his landlord checks the water heater, he tells Ricardo that this is a recurring problem that has been happening since before Ricardo moved in. A week later, Ricardo’s landlord has not fixed the problem, despite Ricardo repeatedly contacting him. Ricardo calls the landlord and records the call; during this call, his landlord attempts to blame Ricardo for the broken water heater and demands that he pay to have it fixed.
Right to go in Front of a Judge Before Being Evicted
Your landlord cannot evict you without a direct order from a judge.
“Notice to Vacate” is not an eviction – this is what begins the eviction process, which must then go through the courts.
Landlords may also illegally change your locks and disconnect your utilities and use other methods to attempt to intimidate you.
If you’ve paid your rent and not broken your lease, then you might have a good chance fighting the eviction in court, using the resources available to you.
Image: Adobe
Gloria has been pushing her landlord to make repairs in her apartment and is talking to other tenants about doing the same. One day, she finds a Notice to Vacate taped to her door. Her landlord, worried that Gloria and the other tenants are going to force him into fixing up the building, is hoping that she doesn’t know the law and will move out without him needing to go to court. Gloria knows her rights and knows she hasn’t broken her lease. She prepares to fight the eviction in court.
Image: Adobe
Resources
Eviction Solidarity Network
Texas State Law Library – Evictions
Lone Star Legal Aid – Eviction Right to Counsel
Texas Legal Services Center – Eviction
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid – Guide to Evictions
Right to Retaliation Protections
Your landlord cannot evict you, remove services, increase rent, or decline to renew your lease in retaliation for you exercising your rights.
These protections last for only 6 months from the first action that might result in retaliation.
The landlord will have to prove that any potentially retaliatory actions are either in accordance with the lease or that you’re not being singled out.
If a landlord continues retaliation against you, you have grounds for a lawsuit.
Image: Adobe
Oscar has been working to organize a tenants’ association in his building. He’s started holding meetings and the building’s management is aware of the association. Oscar receives a notice that his rent is increasing by $200. Through discussions with his other tenants, he learns that those that attended his last meeting received the same notice, but nobody else in the building did. After talking to a legal aid attorney, Oscar believes he has the evidence for a lawsuit based on landlord retaliation.
Resources
Texas Housers– Demand That Retaliatory Action Cease Letter
Texas Housers – Lawsuit Petition for Retaliation
Texas Legal Services Center – Landlord Retaliation Against Tenants
Image: Adobe
Summary
- Right to Repairs
- Right to Report Health and Safety Issues to the City
- Right to Request Reasonable Accommodation
- Right to Parking/Towing Rules
- Right to Record
- Right to go in Front of a Judge Before Being Evicted
- Right to Retaliation Protections
Image: Adobe
Tenants’ Rights in Texas
Houser Staff
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Transcript
This course is intended to provide general information to tenants in Texas. We do not have enough resources to help tenants individually. Because the law constantly changes and your situation is unique, we do not warrant or guarantee that the information in this course is current or applicable to your situation. We attempt to provide current information; nonetheless, you are urged to consult an attorney for legal advice and assistance because this course does not provide legal advice.
Tenants’ Rights in Texas
This course provides an introductory overview of the rights that tenants currently have in Texas. The rights in this lesson come from Building And Strengthening Tenant Action’s “Tenants Rights” page:
https://www.bastaaustin.org/en/kyr
Image: Adobe
Lesson Objectives
Learners will have a basic knowledge of the rights that tenants in Texas have.
Learners will understand the situations in which each of the tenant rights apply.
Learners will know the general process of exercising these rights and which tools and resources to use.
Image: Adobe
Right to Repairs
You have a right to repairs – landlords are responsible for repairing problems that affect your health and safety.
You should not have to pay for these repairs, unless the problem was caused by you or your guest (excluding “normal wear and tear.”)
“Health and safety” covers a lot: water leaks, malfunctioning ovens, broken windows and locks, etc.
Document the issues and your notification of them to your landlord.
Image: Adobe
The stove in Adriana’s apartment stopped working. Adriana immediately gives written notice to the landlord and documents the issue, providing as much detail as possible. After giving her landlord a reasonable amount of time to make the repair, he still hasn’t fixed the stove. She gives a second written notice, and still nothing is done. At this point, she can terminate the lease or prepare to take legal action, likely in Justice of the Peace court.
Resources
BASTA -- Evidence Collection Tips and Activity Tracker
BASTA -- How to Write a Written Repair Request to Your Landlord
Texas Legal Services Center -- Right to Repairs as a Tenant
Texas State Law Library – Remedies for Failure to Repair
Image: Adobe
Right to report health and safety issues to the city
You have a right to contact your city’s code enforcement department without fear of retaliation.
Provide written notice to your landlord, including your intention to report the issue to the city, and give a reasonable amount of time for them to repair the issue.
Look up your city’s code violation reporting process; in most cities, calling 3-1-1 is the simplest way to report.
Keep track of your service request number and document everything.
Image: Adobe
Helen notices mold growing around a water leak in the common area of her apartment complex. She notifies the landlord in writing, twice, and waits several weeks, but the landlord does nothing. Helen calls the issue in to 3-1-1. An inspector comes to investigate and determines it is a violation. Helen can use this to get her landlord to fix the problem, since he’ll now face a fine from the city, and if he still won’t fix it, this can be used as evidence in court or for her to terminate her lease.
Resources
BASTA -- Evidence Collection Tips and Activity Tracker
BASTA -- How to Write a Written Repair Request to Your Landlord
BASTA – Code Complaints
Image: Adobe
Right to Request Reasonable Accommodation
You have the right to request your landlord make “reasonable accommodations” so you can use your apartment with a disability.
Accommodations must be related to your disability – you do not have to provide your diagnosis to your landlord, but they’ll likely need to know why you need the accommodation, and some might request a doctor’s note.
Accommodations should be paid for by the landlord; modifications, which involve physical changes to units or common areas, may require you to pay for it.
If a landlord can’t provide an accommodation, they should propose a reasonable alternative; if a landlord refuses to do anything, the tenant can pursue legal action or file a fair housing complaint.
Image: Adobe
Jasmin requests a first-floor apartment because she has trouble walking up stairs. Because Jasmin’s disability is not obvious, her landlord asks for proof. Jasmin gets a note from doctor which confirms her need for accommodation while also protecting her privacy. Her landlord says no first-floor units are available. After continuous pressure from Jasmin and threats of a fair housing complaint, her landlord offers to put her Jasmin in a second-floor unit in a building with a working elevator. Jasmin accepts this alternative.
Resources
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs – Fair Housing for Renters
BASTA – Reasonable Accommodations
Texas Legal Services Center/Disability Rights Texas – Eviction and Reasonable Accommodations in Texas
Image: Adobe
Right to Parking/Towing Rules
The landlord must provide you written parking rules when you sign your lease and has strong restrictions on changing those during the duration of your lease.
If a landlord wants to change the parking rules during the term of the lease, they must obtain written consent from the tenant.
A landlord may also change the rules if he can prove that the changes apply equally to all tenants and that they had a valid reason for the change beyond sheer profitability (necessity, safety, construction, etc.)
Regardless of whether parking rules were violated, landlords are responsible for any damage to vehicles that they had towed.
Image: Adobe
All the tenants at Chad’s complex were given notice that they would now be required to pay for monthly parking permits. Chad, as president of the tenants’ association, sent an email out to the other tenants telling them not to sign any consent form regarding the parking. Though the landlord provided written notice of the change and applied it to all tenants, he could not provide a valid reason for the change. Without the tenants signing the consent form and with Chad threatening legal action, the landlord backs down and cancels the proposed changes.
Right to Record
You have a right to record your conversations with your landlord.
Recording your conversations, both in-person and over the phone, is important when gathering evidence for legal actions negotiations with your landlord.
Video recordings of conversations and interactions, especially in your home and regarding needed repairs, can be especially important.
Texas is a one-party consent state – as long as one person in a conversation is aware and consents to it being recorded (in this case, you), you do not need the other participants’ consent.
The water heater in Ricardo’s apartment has stopped working. The landlord comes to look at it, and Ricardo uses his phone to record their interactions. While his landlord checks the water heater, he tells Ricardo that this is a recurring problem that has been happening since before Ricardo moved in. A week later, Ricardo’s landlord has not fixed the problem, despite Ricardo repeatedly contacting him. Ricardo calls the landlord and records the call; during this call, his landlord attempts to blame Ricardo for the broken water heater and demands that he pay to have it fixed.
Right to go in Front of a Judge Before Being Evicted
Your landlord cannot evict you without a direct order from a judge.
“Notice to Vacate” is not an eviction – this is what begins the eviction process, which must then go through the courts.
Landlords may also illegally change your locks and disconnect your utilities and use other methods to attempt to intimidate you.
If you’ve paid your rent and not broken your lease, then you might have a good chance fighting the eviction in court, using the resources available to you.
Image: Adobe
Gloria has been pushing her landlord to make repairs in her apartment and is talking to other tenants about doing the same. One day, she finds a Notice to Vacate taped to her door. Her landlord, worried that Gloria and the other tenants are going to force him into fixing up the building, is hoping that she doesn’t know the law and will move out without him needing to go to court. Gloria knows her rights and knows she hasn’t broken her lease. She prepares to fight the eviction in court.
Image: Adobe
Resources
Eviction Solidarity Network
Texas State Law Library – Evictions
Lone Star Legal Aid – Eviction Right to Counsel
Texas Legal Services Center – Eviction
Texas RioGrande Legal Aid – Guide to Evictions
Right to Retaliation Protections
Your landlord cannot evict you, remove services, increase rent, or decline to renew your lease in retaliation for you exercising your rights.
These protections last for only 6 months from the first action that might result in retaliation.
The landlord will have to prove that any potentially retaliatory actions are either in accordance with the lease or that you’re not being singled out.
If a landlord continues retaliation against you, you have grounds for a lawsuit.
Image: Adobe
Oscar has been working to organize a tenants’ association in his building. He’s started holding meetings and the building’s management is aware of the association. Oscar receives a notice that his rent is increasing by $200. Through discussions with his other tenants, he learns that those that attended his last meeting received the same notice, but nobody else in the building did. After talking to a legal aid attorney, Oscar believes he has the evidence for a lawsuit based on landlord retaliation.
Resources
Texas Housers– Demand That Retaliatory Action Cease Letter
Texas Housers – Lawsuit Petition for Retaliation
Texas Legal Services Center – Landlord Retaliation Against Tenants
Image: Adobe
Summary
Image: Adobe