Leases Explained | Texas Law Help (2024)

FAQs

Leases Explained | Texas Law Help? ›

A lease is a contract between the landlord and the tenant. Neither the landlord nor the tenant may change the lease unless they agree. A landlord cannot force a tenant to sign an amendment to a lease. Important: A landlord can change the lease terms if it has converted to a month-to-month tenancy.

Yes, someone can live with the tenant without being on the lease. However, it is important to distinguish the difference between a guest and a long-term guest.

You can end the lease by giving your landlord a month's notice. However, the landlord can also end the lease by giving you a month's notice. If this happens unexpectedly, you may need to find a new home quickly. The lease can end at any time, so long as the party who wants to end the lease gives a month's notice.

There is not a statewide law that places limits on how much a landlord can increase the rent when a lease is renewed. In fact, Texas law only allows cities to establish local rent control ordinances in certain cases.

The proper way to remove an individual with no lease is an eviction. Even if someone has been in a property less than a week the only way to properly remove someone who claims to be a resident is through an eviction. This is done just as a landlord would evict an individual who has a lease.

Tennessee: Guests become tenants after paying rent to occupy the property or as specified in the lease. Texas: Guests become tenants after contributing to the rent, bills, or other expenses, after using the property as a mailing address, or as specified in the lease.

Your rights as a tenant include the right to "quiet enjoyment," a legal term. This means your landlord cannot evict you without cause or otherwise disturb your right to live in peace and quiet. If other tenants in your building are disturbing you, you should complain to the landlord.

If an eviction case against you shows up on a public consumer report, any potential landlord may assume you were evicted. This is true even if you won your eviction case. Also, any rent or court fees you owe may go to collections. This will appear on your credit report for seven years.

1) You must provide written notice of your intent to terminate early, including a move- out date. 2) Your written termination notice must include payment of the reletting fee listed in paragraph 28 of your lease agreement. The reletting fee is typically 150% of one month's rent.

How long can a tenant stay after the lease expires Texas? ›

As long as the tenant does not violate any rules, they can stay until their rental period ends. But if the tenant stays in the property even a day after their lease/rental agreement ends and has not arranged for a renewal, landlords can issue a 30-Day Notice to Vacate.

Possibly, if it's a severe enough issue. The clause you may be able to fall back upon in roach situations is the implied warranty of habitability — your pad must be fit for human habitation. This suitability includes reasonable freedom from insect pests.

A month-to-month tenancy is what it sounds like—a repeating month-long lease. Be aware that if you are in a month-to-month tenancy, the landlord or tenant must only give 30 days' notice before the lease ends. If the lease term is more than one year, it must be in writing, or it is unenforceable.

While there's no consensus on what rents will do exactly in 2023 — go up a little, go down a little, or stay flat, according to three forecasts — what's clear is they are expected to return to more normal growth patterns, instead of the unsustainable, record rates seen in 2021 and 2022.

Renters are seeing their housing costs jump as population increases, strict zoning regulations and rising home sales push up rent prices.

According to Texas law, rent on the rental unit becomes late if it isn't paid within 2 full days once it's due. When rent is late, you must give the tenant the 3-Day Notice to Quit to kick start the eviction process.

If your guest won't leave, you could be in violation of your lease. If you don't remedy the situation, your landlord could terminate your lease and evict everybody that lives there. NOTE: Although a landlord can terminate a tenant's lease, only a court can order an eviction.

Texas law is very specific about how the notice must be given to the tenant and what it must contain. The notice must include: The amount of time the tenant has to move out or fix a certain problem before an eviction suit is filed. This must be at least 3 days unless the lease specifically states otherwise.

You can only evict your roommate if they aren't on the lease or are your subtenant. Most of the laws relevant to leased apartments in Texas can be found in Title 8, Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code. This law says that a lease can be oral or written, and can be made between a tenant and a subtenant.

Breaking a Lease

If the lease you signed had a specified move-in time and the landlord failed to have the apartment ready by that time, the landlord has breached the lease agreement and you can demand the landlord give back any money you may have paid.

Are there squatters rights in Texas? ›

Squatting Laws in Texas - An Overview. A squatter is someone who lives on a property to which they have no title, no rights, and/or no lease. But despite this fact, squatters have protections under federal and state laws. Under the Texas squatters' rights, a squatter can legally own property through adverse means.

Who is Considered a Squatter? According to Texas laws, a squatter is somebody who is living on a land or in a building that is either unoccupied, abandoned, or foreclosed without the legal consent of the actual property owner. Unfortunately, squatting is not only legal in the U.S, but it is also quite ordinary.

Even if your lease or rental agreement doesn't have a specific requirement that the landlord must approve additional tenants, it's normally wise to notify your landlord before moving in another person.

Texas courts have held that a landlord may not enter your home unless you allow the entry or the lease gives the landlord specific reasons to enter.

Covenant of "Quiet Enjoyment"

This covenant prevents a landlord from disturbing their tenants. It also makes the landlord responsible for other tenants who create disturbances. It does not make a landlord responsible for disturbances by strangers or people who do not also rent from them.

Once the tenant is found to be in violation of the contract, they are sent a lease violation notice. This written notice informs the tenant of the lease term or policy that they failed to follow. The tenant must also remedy the problem within a given time period.

you lose your security deposit (the landlord withholds it to cover unpaid rent) you must pay the rent for the time remaining under the lease (unless the landlord finds a suitable replacement tenant) the landlord can sue you if you don't voluntarily pay any rent owed.

When you break a lease, you'll generally be charged penalties by your landlord. Failure to pay these penalties can impact your credit scores, as your landlord can turn the debt over to a collection agency.

Texas Property Code 92.016 gives victims of family violence the right to “vacate and avoid liability.” This means a victim of family violence may break their residential lease without penalty and in some cases without notice.

If your lease includes a home buying clause, it means you can terminate your lease early if you've purchased a new home as long as you give your landlord or property manager proper notice.

Can landlord break lease to sell Texas? ›

If you don't have an early termination clause in the lease, you can't make the tenant leave simply because you decide to sell. A lease agreement contains elements of contract law and property law, and the fixed term of the lease applies to both you and the tenant.

On the other hand, according to Texas Eviction, a landlord in the lone star state can evict a renter if they pay only partial rent. However, advocates for landlords advise them not to accept partial rent at all because it might weaken their eviction case.

A landlord can formally evict a month-to-month tenant if they have broken the terms of their lease agreement in some way. The eviction process in Texas moves much more quickly than in other states and is often completed in under 30 days.

The only legal way to remove a tenant from a rental unit in Texas is for a landlord to win an eviction lawsuit (forcible entry and detainer suit) in court. Even after winning the lawsuit, it is illegal for a landlord to take self-help measures to remove the tenant.

The law requires your landlord to repair conditions that affect ordinary tenants' physical health and safety. These could include roaches, rats, sewage leaks, roof leaks, faulty electrical wiring, and normal wear and tear to the unit (such as ripped carpeting or broken flooring).

If the pests still persist even when the issue has been reported multiple times, then you have enough reason to break your lease due to the health hazard that it poses. However, you must keep written proof that the landlord was informed and given enough time to provide a solution.

Call Your Apartment Manager

Roaches don't care which unit they're infesting, so they just tend to wander until they find snacks. Call your apartment manager and make them aware of the situation so they can help you and the other tenants eliminate the issue with professional extermination.

No actual rules or laws limit how many active leases you can have at one time.

No written lease

If there is no lease, a Texas landlord can evict a tenant without providing a reason. Simply give notice to vacate, and follow eviction proceedings if the tenant fails to leave. When there is a verbal agreement but no written lease, whatever terms specified verbally must still be honored.

There is not a statewide law that places limits on how much a landlord can increase the rent when a lease is renewed. In fact, Texas law only allows cities to establish local rent control ordinances in certain cases.

Can you negotiate rent? ›

The short answer is, yes. You can negotiate your rent. When you're renting an apartment, the price you pay isn't set in stone. But before you even consider negotiating, you need to make sure you know why you're asking for a discount.

There is no statewide rent increase limit in Texas, which means landlords are legally allowed to raise the rent as much as they like. Tenants can renegotiate or find other housing, but no legislation limits how much landlords can charge in rent.

Under AB 1482, landlords are limited to increasing rent by no more than 5% plus the local CPI (inflation rate) or 10%, whichever is lower. The local inflation rate is determined by the California Consumer Price Index (CCPI), which is released annually by the California Department of Finance.

According to a recent Census Bureau report on “predominately renter” cities, College Station is at number one nationally, with nearly 60 percent of its residents in rental housing. Killeen ranks third at 56 percent. “Texas is a young state in terms of demographics,” says Dr.

Unless the lease agreement says otherwise, the landlord must give the tenant at least 3 days to move out. They cannot file an eviction suit before they give this notice in writing.

How many days grace period to pay rent? For a single-family home in Texas, it's often two days. Your lease can tell you, but so can your property management.

Even if your lease or rental agreement doesn't have a specific requirement that the landlord must approve additional tenants, it's normally wise to notify your landlord before moving in another person.

If one tenant leaves, the remaining tenant may be liable for the full amount of monthly rent. A landlord may review the rent-to-income ratio of the remaining tenant if the tenant wants to stay and keep paying the rent. New roommates should be screened before being added to the lease agreement.

Your rights as a tenant include the right to "quiet enjoyment," a legal term. This means your landlord cannot evict you without cause or otherwise disturb your right to live in peace and quiet. If other tenants in your building are disturbing you, you should complain to the landlord.

You can date your landlord but being a landlord/tenant and a girlfriend/boyfriend couple must be very different "relationships." This can be hard to digest for the tenant when the lease must be removed.

How do you ask your landlord if your boyfriend can move in? ›

Review what your lease says about sharing the property, and then call the landlord and explain that you'd like to have a partner move in.

Timelines vary from couple to couple, but most experts agree that you should be dating for at least 1 year before moving in together. Talk about important issues before you move in together, like the division of chores, finances, and alone time.

A guest is a person who is not on the lease (if there is one), is not entitled to occupy the dwelling continuously, and has no responsibility to pay rent. You can ask a guest to leave without an eviction.

Renewals: A landlord in Texas may decide to not renew a lease for almost any reason. However, if the lease expires without a 30-day notice to terminate, the relationship will continue on a month-to-month basis.

A landlord can formally evict a month-to-month tenant if they have broken the terms of their lease agreement in some way. The eviction process in Texas moves much more quickly than in other states and is often completed in under 30 days.

According to Texas law, rent on the rental unit becomes late if it isn't paid within 2 full days once it's due. When rent is late, you must give the tenant the 3-Day Notice to Quit to kick start the eviction process.

Red flags for rental scams include prices that seem too good to be true, requests to send money via a wire transfer or the inability to tour a rental unit before signing a lease.

Go to court: Sue your landlord to make the repairs and for damages. A court can order your landlord to make repairs, reduce your rent from the date you asked for repairs, and award you damages caused by failure to repair, damages of one month's rent plus $500, court costs, and attorney's fees.

Yes. The tenant has the right to determine who can enter, but the tenant should be reasonable in allowing the landlord's entry. If the tenant is home and the landlord wishes to enter the property, the landlord must ask to enter peacefully and at reasonable times.