Texas security deposit rules: return deadline and deductions

The 30-day deadline

Section 92.103 gives one deadline for every residential lease in Texas: the deposit goes back on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises. A tenant who surrenders on June 30 is owed the refund by July 30.

The same 30 days covers the itemized list. A landlord who fails to return the deposit or to provide the list by the 30th day is presumed to have acted in bad faith, and it is then up to the landlord to show otherwise.

Refund

On or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103(a)

Mailing counts

A refund or accounting placed in the U.S. mail and postmarked on or before the required date is presumed to have been made on time. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.1041

Missing the 30th day

The landlord is presumed to have acted in bad faith. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.109(d)

Advance notice clauses

A lease clause that makes advance notice of surrender a condition of the refund has no effect unless it is underlined or printed in conspicuous bold print. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103(b)

The forwarding address rule

The 30-day duty has one exception written into it. The landlord is not obligated to return the deposit or give a written description of damages and charges until the tenant gives the landlord a written statement of the tenant’s forwarding address for the purpose of refunding the deposit.

That is a pause, not a forfeit. A tenant who never sent an address still has the right to the refund and to the description of damages and charges. The statute doesn’t say how many days the landlord has once a late address arrives, so sending the refund and list promptly is the careful choice.

Two sections added on September 1, 2025 deal with how notices travel. Notices and other communications under the deposit subchapter may be sent by e-mail if the tenant and the landlord or the landlord’s agent have e-mailed each other before, and a managing agent or leasing agent counts as the landlord’s agent for those notices.

No address yet

No obligation to return the deposit or give the description of damages and charges until the tenant gives a written forwarding address. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.107(a)

No forfeit

The tenant doesn’t lose the right to the refund or the description merely for failing to give a forwarding address. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.107(b)

E-mail

Allowed for notices and other communications under the subchapter when the two sides have previously communicated by e-mail. The landlord or the landlord’s agent may designate a specific e-mail address for the tenant to use. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.113 (effective September 1, 2025)

Agents

A managing agent or leasing agent is the landlord’s agent for notices and other communications under the subchapter. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.112 (effective September 1, 2025)

What can be deducted, and the itemized list

Before returning a deposit, the landlord may deduct damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease or as a result of breaching it. Normal wear and tear is off the table: the landlord may not keep any portion of a deposit to cover it.

The Property Code defines normal wear and tear as deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling. It doesn’t include deterioration from negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse by the tenant, a member of the household or a guest.

If any of the deposit is kept, the balance goes to the tenant together with a written description and itemized list of all deductions. Example: on a $1,500 deposit with $180 to repair a burned countertop and $120 of unpaid utilities owed under the lease, the list shows both lines, $300 in total, and the refund is $1,200.

Allowed deductions

Damages and charges for which the tenant is legally liable under the lease or as a result of breaching the lease. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104(a)

Normal wear and tear

No portion of the deposit may be kept to cover it. Defined as deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling, not from negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse. Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.104(b), 92.001(4)

Itemized list

The balance of the deposit, together with a written description and itemized list of all deductions. The list isn’t required when the tenant owes rent at surrender and there is no controversy over the amount of rent owed. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104(c)

Tenant who never moves in

The deposit can’t be kept if a replacement tenant satisfactory to the landlord occupies the dwelling on or before the lease start date. If the landlord found the replacement, the landlord may deduct a lease cancellation fee agreed to in the lease, or the actual expenses of finding the replacement. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.1031

Last month’s rent

The tenant may not withhold any portion of the last month’s rent on grounds that the deposit is security for unpaid rent. A tenant who does this in bad faith is liable for three times the rent wrongfully withheld and the landlord’s reasonable attorney’s fees. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.108

Penalties for keeping a deposit in bad faith

Section 92.109 has two separate penalties, and both turn on bad faith. In a suit by the tenant, the landlord has the burden of proving that keeping any portion of the deposit was reasonable.

Example: a landlord keeps $400 of a $1,500 deposit in bad faith. The liability is $100 plus three times $400, which is $1,300, plus the tenant’s reasonable attorney’s fees. On the tenant’s side, withholding a $1,500 last month’s rent in bad faith carries three times that amount, $4,500, plus the landlord’s attorney’s fees.

Keeping the deposit in bad faith

$100, three times the portion of the deposit wrongfully withheld, and the tenant’s reasonable attorney’s fees. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.109(a)

No itemized list, in bad faith

The landlord forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the deposit or to sue the tenant for damages to the premises, and owes the tenant’s reasonable attorney’s fees. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.109(b)

Burden of proof

The landlord has to prove that keeping any portion of the deposit was reasonable. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.109(c)

No waiver

A landlord’s duty or a tenant’s remedy concerning security deposits may not be waived. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.006(a)

Amount, interest, records and a change of owner

The deposit subchapter sets no limit on the size of a deposit, requires no interest and names no special account or bond. The one bookkeeping rule is short: the landlord shall keep accurate records of all security deposits.

When a rental is sold or changes owners some other way, the deposits follow the property. The new owner is liable for returning them from the date title is acquired and delivers each tenant a signed statement with the exact dollar amount of the deposit.

Limit on amount

The statute sets no limit. Tex. Prop. Code ch. 92, subch. C

Interest

The statute doesn’t require it. Tex. Prop. Code ch. 92, subch. C

Records

Keep accurate records of all security deposits. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.106

New owner

Liable for the return of deposits from the date title to the premises is acquired. The new owner delivers the tenant a signed statement acknowledging the purchase and responsibility for the deposit, and stating its exact dollar amount. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.105(a), (b)

Former owner

Stays liable for a deposit received while owner until the new owner has received the deposit or assumed the liability, unless a written contract between them says otherwise. A mortgage lienholder who takes title by foreclosure is outside the new-owner rule. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.105(b-1)

Fees in place of a deposit, and rentals this page doesn’t cover

Since September 1, 2021 a Texas landlord who requires a deposit may offer a recurring fee in its place. The tenant has to be offered the deposit as well, told in writing of both options and their charges, and the agreement has to be in writing and signed by both sides. The statute sets no dollar amount for the fee.

Where a lease required no deposit at all, a landlord with a claim for damages and charges notifies the tenant in writing on or before the date the claim is reported to a consumer reporting agency or debt collector, or loses the right to collect.

Manufactured home lot leases follow Chapter 94, which has its own 30-day refund rule. Subsidized housing programs can add deposit rules on top of state law, and cities can add rules of their own.

Fee in lieu of a deposit

A recurring fee of equivalent amount, payable when each rent payment is due, under a written agreement signed by landlord and tenant. The tenant may end the fee agreement at any time and pay a deposit instead. A fee counts as a security deposit unless there is a signed agreement and the fee is used to buy insurance for damages and unpaid rent. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.111(a) to (d), (g), (h)

Insurance bought with the fee

No insurance claim for damages or unpaid rent unless the landlord notifies the tenant not later than the 30th day after the tenant surrendered possession. The notice includes a written description and itemized list of damages and of unpaid rent with its due dates. The fee can’t be more than the reasonable cost of obtaining and administering the insurance. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.111(e), (j)

Lease with no deposit

Written notice of the claim on or before the date it is reported to a consumer reporting agency or third-party debt collector. Not required if the tenant hasn’t given a forwarding address. Without the notice, the landlord forfeits the right to collect the damages and charges. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.110

Manufactured home lots

Refund not later than the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the lot. Tex. Prop. Code § 94.103(a)