Austin renters move often. Students rotate through leases every August, tech workers relocate between employers, and roommates split up when one person’s plans change. Every one of those moves ends with the same question: how much of my deposit am I getting back, and when?
The stakes are real. The median gross rent in Austin is $1,729 a month, with a median of $1,544 for a one bedroom and $1,845 for a two bedroom, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (Homzora Austin dataset, Table B25064; Table B25031). Measured against a median renter household income of $70,155 (Table B25119), a deposit of one month’s rent is a significant share of what many Austin renters earn in a month.
This guide explains exactly what Texas law requires of your landlord, with particular attention to the roommate and shared lease situations that are so common in Austin.
Homzora is a housing research publisher, not a law firm. This article explains Texas statutes in plain English and is not legal advice for your situation.
The rules in one minute
- Deadline: refund on or before the 30th day after you surrender the premises (Texas Property Code § 92.103).
- Trigger: the landlord’s duty to refund and itemize begins once you provide a written forwarding address (§ 92.107).
- Deductions: allowed for damages and charges you are legally liable for, never for normal wear and tear, and they must be itemized (§ 92.104).
- Penalty: $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and reasonable attorney’s fees for bad faith retention (§ 92.109).
- No waiver: a landlord’s duties concerning security deposits cannot be waived in the lease (§ 92.006).
How deposits work under Texas law
What counts as a deposit
A security deposit under Section 92.102 is any advance of money, other than a rental application deposit or an advance payment of rent, that is intended primarily to secure performance under the lease (§ 92.102). Pet deposits that are held as security generally fall under the same rules. A “pet fee” or “amenity fee” that the lease describes as nonrefundable is a different item, so read the lease language carefully before you sign.
There is no cap on the amount
Texas does not limit the size of a security deposit. The Texas State Law Library’s deposit guide explains timing and penalties but names no maximum (Texas State Law Library, Security Deposits). In a market as competitive as Austin has been at times, that leaves negotiation as your main tool. Ask for the deposit terms in writing before you pay any application fee.
The 30 day clock
Your landlord must refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after you surrender the premises (§ 92.103(a)). If the lease requires advance written notice of surrender as a condition of the refund, that requirement only binds you if it is underlined or printed in conspicuous bold type (§ 92.103(b)). Many Austin leases include a 30 or 60 day notice clause, so check yours well before the end of your term.
Roommates and shared leases
Austin has a large population of renters sharing units. Shared leases raise practical deposit questions that the statute does not answer in detail, so the lease and good records do most of the work.
One deposit, several tenants
When several roommates sign one lease and pay one deposit, the landlord typically holds it as a single sum for the unit. Chapter 92 does not spell out how a landlord must divide a refund among cotenants (Texas Property Code Chapter 92), so read your lease for a clause on refunds to multiple tenants. If the lease is silent, agree among yourselves in writing, before move out, who receives the refund and how it will be split.
When one roommate leaves early
If one roommate leaves before the lease ends, the deposit usually stays with the unit until the entire tenancy ends, because the landlord’s obligation is tied to surrender of the premises (§ 92.103). The departing roommate’s recovery is generally a private matter between roommates. A short written agreement, such as the incoming roommate paying the outgoing roommate for their share, avoids most disputes.
By the bedroom leases
Some Austin buildings, particularly those near campus, lease individual bedrooms with separate contracts. In that case each resident typically has a separate deposit and a separate refund obligation under the same statute. Ask the leasing office which structure you are signing, because it changes who you deal with at move out.
What may be deducted
A landlord may deduct for damages and charges for which you are legally liable under the lease or because you breached it, but not for normal wear and tear (§ 92.104). The Property Code defines normal wear and tear as deterioration resulting from the intended use of the dwelling, and it excludes deterioration from negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse by the tenant, household members, or guests (§ 92.001).
Typical items that can be charged when your lease supports them include unpaid rent, unpaid utilities that were your responsibility, repair of damage beyond ordinary use, and costs of removing property you left behind. Typical items that should not be charged include repainting walls that simply aged, replacing carpet at the end of its normal life, and fixing ordinary scuffs.
Itemization is not optional
Any deduction must be accompanied by a written description and itemized list, unless you owe rent and there is no dispute about the amount (§ 92.104(c)). A landlord who in bad faith fails to provide that list forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the deposit and is liable for your reasonable attorney’s fees (§ 92.109(b)).
The penalty, at Austin rent levels
Consider a two bedroom deposit equal to Austin’s median two bedroom gross rent of $1,845. If a landlord wrongfully keeps $900 of it and a court finds bad faith, Section 92.109(a) sets liability at $100 plus three times $900, or $2,800, plus reasonable attorney’s fees (§ 92.109(a)). A landlord who neither refunds nor itemizes within 30 days after surrender is presumed to have acted in bad faith (§ 92.109(d)).
One thing you cannot do
Do not skip your final month’s rent and ask the landlord to apply the deposit instead. Section 92.108 prohibits withholding any part of the last month’s rent on that basis, and a tenant who does it in bad faith can owe three times the rent withheld plus the landlord’s attorney’s fees (§ 92.108).
An Austin move out plan
- Sixty days out: read your lease for notice requirements and any roommate refund clause.
- Thirty days out: send any required notice in writing and keep proof of delivery.
- The week before: agree with roommates, in writing, on who receives the refund.
- Move out day: photograph every room, return all keys and fobs, get a dated receipt, and deliver your forwarding address in writing (§ 92.107).
- Day 30: if you have neither a refund nor an itemized list, send a demand letter citing Sections 92.103, 92.104, and 92.109.
If you need to go further
The Texas State Law Library explains that deposit claims under $20,000 can be filed in justice court (Texas State Law Library). For an Austin rental, that is generally a Travis County Justice of the Peace court for the precinct where the property sits, or the justice court of Williamson or Hays County if you rented in those parts of the metro. TexasLawHelp.org provides free forms and instructions (TexasLawHelp.org), and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid offers free civil legal help to eligible residents in Central Texas (Texas RioGrande Legal Aid).
Frequently asked questions
My landlord says the lease lets them keep the deposit if I break the lease. Is that true?
A landlord may deduct amounts you are legally liable for under the lease, which can include unpaid rent after you leave early. But Texas also requires landlords to mitigate damages by making reasonable efforts to rerent the unit, and a lease clause waiving that duty is void (§ 91.006). The deduction must still be itemized (§ 92.104).
Is a deposit alternative or surety product the same thing?
No. A surety or deposit replacement product is typically a fee paid to a third party that is not refunded at the end of the lease. If an Austin property offers one, compare its nonrefundable cost against the refundable deposit you would otherwise pay.
How do I know whether my apartment’s vacancy situation gives me bargaining power?
Census data show about 12,200 Austin housing units vacant and for rent in the 2020 to 2024 survey period (Homzora Austin dataset, Table B25004). That is a historical count rather than a live vacancy rate, but it is one indicator that landlords have had units to fill, which can make a request for a lower deposit worth asking.
Explore Austin’s numbers
Every Austin statistic in this guide comes from Homzora’s free Austin data library, which republishes U.S. Census Bureau tables on rent, income, tenure, and vacancy as CSV and JSON downloads.
Sources
- Texas Property Code, Chapter 92 (Residential Tenancies), Texas Legislature
- Texas Property Code § 91.006, Landlord’s Duty to Mitigate Damages
- Texas State Law Library, Landlord and Tenant Law: Security Deposits
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5 year estimates, Table B25064, via Homzora
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5 year estimates, Table B25031, via Homzora
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5 year estimates, Table B25119, via Homzora
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5 year estimates, Table B25004, via Homzora
- TexasLawHelp.org
- Texas RioGrande Legal Aid