Short answer: Texas landlord repair laws give you a repair right only after you are current on rent and give notice, and the landlord’s clock is a presumed seven days under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.056(d). If the landlord still does nothing, you may end the lease, repair and deduct up to one month’s rent or $500 (whichever is greater) in four listed situations, or ask a justice court for a repair order under § 92.0563.
Texas does not let you simply stop paying rent over a broken appliance. The Property Code builds a step-by-step process instead, and every remedy depends on getting the paperwork right. This guide walks through that process in the order you will actually use it.
Texas landlord repair laws at a glance
| Rule | Texas | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Landlord’s repair duty | Conditions that materially affect the health or safety of an ordinary tenant; hot water at 120°F minimum | § 92.052 |
| Reasonable repair time | Rebuttable presumption of 7 days | § 92.056(d) |
| Repair and deduct | Only four listed situations; cap is one month’s rent or $500, whichever is greater | § 92.0561 |
| Rent withholding | Not allowed; bad-faith withholding after warning can cost one month’s rent plus $500 | § 92.058 |
| Court remedies | Repair order, rent reduction, one month’s rent plus $500, damages, fees; justice court limit $20,000 | § 92.0563 |
| Retaliation window | Six months after a repair request or code complaint | § 92.331 |
| Entry notice for repairs | No state statute; the lease controls | Texas State Law Library |
What the landlord must fix in Texas
Texas has no broad, common-law style warranty covering every defect. The duty is written into § 92.052(a): the landlord must make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, or that comes from a failure to keep a water heater delivering water of at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit.
Three conditions attach to that duty. You must specify the problem in a notice delivered to the person or place where you normally pay rent, and you must not be behind on rent when you give it. The notice has to be in writing only if your lease is written and requires written notice, per § 92.052(d). The statute also says the landlord does not have to furnish security guards or supply utilities where the utility’s lines are not reasonably available.
Smoke alarms and security devices have their own subchapters. The Texas Attorney General’s renters’ rights page notes that keyed deadbolts, window latches and door viewers are required under § 92.153, installed at the landlord’s expense.
The notice sequence and the seven-day presumption
The landlord becomes liable under § 92.056(b) only after a specific chain of events. You can satisfy it in one of two ways:
- Two notices. Give a first notice, wait a reasonable time, then give a second, written notice.
- One tracked notice. Send the first notice by certified mail with return receipt, registered mail, or another USPS or private service that tracks delivery. That single notice counts.
Under § 92.056(d), seven days is presumed to be a reasonable time to repair. A landlord can rebut that by pointing to the severity of the problem and whether materials, labor and utility service were reasonably available. The landlord is treated as having received your notice when it was actually received or when the Postal Service attempted delivery, per § 92.056(c), so a landlord cannot dodge the clock by refusing certified mail.
One extra tool most tenants miss sits in § 92.053(b). If you send a written demand for an explanation of the delay and the landlord does not answer in writing by the fifth day, the burden shifts to the landlord to prove it made a diligent effort and that a reasonable repair time had not passed.
Repair and deduct: four situations only
The deduct remedy in § 92.0561 is narrow. At least one of your notices must say that you intend to make the repair and describe it, and one of these events must have happened:
- Raw sewage is backing up or overflowing inside your unit, or broken pipes or natural drainage are flooding it. You may act immediately after the notice of intent.
- The landlord agreed to furnish water and water service has totally stopped. The landlord gets three days after your notice of intent.
- The landlord agreed to furnish heating or cooling, the system is not producing enough, and a local housing, building or health official has notified the landlord in writing that this affects health or safety. Again, three days.
- Any other health or safety condition where a local official has notified the landlord in writing. The landlord gets seven days.
The total deducted in any one month cannot exceed one month’s rent or $500, whichever is greater. If your rent is subsidized, “one month’s rent” means the fair market rent set by the agency, not your share. The work must be done by an independent, licensed (where the city requires it) contractor, not by you or your relatives, and it must meet building codes. Tenants in buildings with two or more units cannot have foundation or load-bearing work done this way.
Ending the lease or going to justice court
If the landlord is liable under § 92.056(b), you may terminate the lease. Under § 92.056(f), you then receive a pro rata rent refund and may apply your security deposit against rent or recover it under the deposit rules. Choosing termination means giving up the deduct remedy and the repair-order and rent-reduction remedies.
The court route under § 92.0563 lets a judge order repairs, cut your rent from the date of your first notice in proportion to the lost rental value, award a civil penalty of one month’s rent plus $500, add your actual damages, and award court costs and attorney’s fees. A justice court must hold the hearing no earlier than the sixth day and no later than the 10th day after the landlord is served, and its judgment cannot exceed $20,000. Some older guides still state a lower figure, so rely on the current statute.
A landlord who knowingly gets you to waive repair duties in violation of § 92.006 faces actual damages, one month’s rent plus $2,000, and attorney’s fees.
Why withholding rent backfires in Texas
Texas does not offer rent escrow. Under § 92.058, a landlord can recover actual damages from a tenant who withholds rent or deducts for repairs outside the subchapter’s rules. If the landlord first warns you in writing that your plan is illegal and lists the penalties, and you go ahead in bad faith, you can owe one month’s rent plus $500. The landlord must prove the warning and the bad faith by clear and convincing evidence.
Because unpaid rent also kills the repair duty itself, the safest path is to keep paying while you build the notice record.
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Utilities, mold and pests
A landlord may not cut water, wastewater, gas or electric service it furnishes, or cause an interruption of utilities you pay directly, except for bona fide repairs, construction or an emergency, under § 92.008.
Chapter 92 contains no provision that names mold, insects, rodents or lead paint. Those problems qualify for the repair process only if they materially affect the health or safety of an ordinary tenant. A written finding from a city code inspector helps, because it also opens the “local official” deduct path described above.
Casualty damage has its own rule. If fire, hail or a similar insured loss caused the condition, the repair period does not start until the landlord receives insurance money, per § 92.054(a). If the unit is totally unusable and you did not cause the loss, either side may end the lease in writing before repairs finish.
Damage you or your guests cause
Unless the problem comes from normal wear and tear, § 92.052(b) relieves the landlord of any duty to fix damage caused by you, another lawful occupant, a family member, or a guest. You and the landlord may still agree that you will make repairs at the landlord’s expense under § 92.0561(g).
Entry for repairs is a lease question. The Texas State Law Library states that no Texas law regulates landlord entry, so check your lease’s entry clause before scheduling contractors.
Retaliation after you ask for repairs
Under § 92.331, for six months after you give a repair notice, complain in good faith to a code office or utility, or join a tenant organization, the landlord may not file an eviction (except on § 92.332 grounds such as delinquent rent), raise your rent, end your lease, or cut services because of it. Section 92.333 lets you recover one month’s rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs and attorney’s fees. Read more in our retaliation guide.
Worked example: a water shutoff in El Paso
Rosa pays $1,150 a month for an apartment where the lease says the landlord supplies water. She is current on rent. On Monday, March 2, the water stops completely. That evening she mails a notice by certified mail describing the outage and stating that she intends to hire a plumber if it is not fixed. The Postal Service attempts delivery on Tuesday, March 3, which counts as receipt under § 92.056(c).
The landlord has three days, so on Friday, March 6, with water still off, Rosa hires a licensed independent plumber. The bill is $640. Her deduction cap is the greater of $1,150 or $500, so she may subtract the full $640 from April’s rent and attach the paid invoice. Had she written the check to her brother-in-law for the work instead, the deduction would not qualify.
Outline for a Texas repair request letter
- Date, your name, unit address, and a statement that rent is paid through the current month.
- A specific description of the condition and how it affects health or safety.
- If you may repair and deduct, a sentence stating your intent to repair and the planned fix.
- A request for a written explanation of any delay, which triggers the five-day rule in § 92.053.
- Delivery by certified mail or another tracked service, so one notice satisfies § 92.056(b)(3).
Our repair request letter generator builds this for you, and the habitability checker helps you decide whether a condition is serious enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my Texas landlord have to fix the air conditioning?
Only if the lease expressly or impliedly includes cooling equipment and the condition materially affects health or safety. To repair and deduct for weak cooling, a local housing or health official must have notified the landlord in writing, and the landlord then has three days after your notice of intent under § 92.0561(e)(3).
Can I fix it myself and deduct the cost in Texas?
Not unless the landlord agrees. Section 92.0561(f) requires an independent contractor and bars repairs by you, your family, your employer, or a company you own, unless the landlord consents under subsection (g).
What if I am one week late on rent when I send the notice?
Then the landlord has no duty under § 92.052(a)(2) and no liability under § 92.056(b)(6) for that notice. Catch up on rent first, then send a fresh notice.
How fast will a Texas justice court hear a repair case?
Section 92.0563(d) requires the hearing between the sixth and the 10th day after the landlord is served. A landlord who appeals to county court does not need to post a bond, but the appeal takes precedence there.
Does my lease have to mention these remedies?
Yes. Under § 92.056(g), a lease must describe the remedies in § 92.056 and § 92.0561 in underlined or bold print.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. If your landlord has ignored a tracked notice for more than seven days, contact a legal aid office through LSC’s get legal help page or file a repair request in your local justice court. You can also compare deposit rules in our Texas security deposit guide or see every state in our repairs and habitability hub.