Houston is a renters’ city. Of about 930,400 occupied homes, roughly 538,900, or 57.9 percent, are rented, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey (Homzora Houston dataset, Table B25003). With a median gross rent of $1,361 a month (Homzora Houston dataset, Table B25064), a typical one month deposit is a meaningful sum, and for the roughly 140,000 Houston renter households that already spend half or more of their income on rent, it can be painful to lose (Homzora Houston dataset, Table B25070).
This guide explains the Texas security deposit law as it plays out in Houston, including a question that comes up here more than almost anywhere else in the state: what happens to your deposit when a storm or flood, not you, damages the apartment.
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.
Five rules every Houston renter should know
- Thirty days. The landlord must refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after you surrender the premises (Texas Property Code § 92.103).
- Forwarding address first. The landlord is not obligated to refund or itemize until you provide a written forwarding address (§ 92.107).
- No charges for normal wear and tear (§ 92.104).
- Itemize or lose the right to deduct. Deductions require a written description and itemized list (§ 92.104(c)), and bad faith failure to provide one forfeits the landlord’s right to keep any part (§ 92.109(b)).
- Bad faith is expensive. A landlord who keeps a deposit in bad faith owes $100, three times the amount wrongfully withheld, and reasonable attorney’s fees (§ 92.109(a)).
Is there a limit on how much a Houston landlord can collect?
No Texas statute caps the amount of a residential security deposit. The Texas State Law Library’s deposit guide explains refund timing, deductions, and penalties without identifying any maximum (Texas State Law Library, Security Deposits). Your lease sets the number.
What the law does control is the definition. Section 92.102 treats as a security deposit any advance of money, other than a rental application deposit or an advance payment of rent, intended primarily to secure performance under the lease (§ 92.102). If a Houston complex collects an “administrative” or “move in” charge, ask in writing whether it is refundable. If it is held as security, the refund rules apply to it.
Storms, floods, and your deposit
Houston renters live with hurricane season and flash flooding. When water comes through a ceiling during a storm, the first worry is safety, but the second is often money: will the landlord charge you for the damage?
Damage you did not cause is not yours to pay for
Section 92.104 allows deductions only for damages and charges for which the tenant is legally liable under the lease or as a result of breaching it (§ 92.104). The Property Code’s definition of normal wear and tear separates ordinary deterioration from damage caused by negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse by the tenant, household members, or guests (§ 92.001). Weather damage you did not cause and could not prevent is a very different thing from a carpet ruined by a tenant’s neglect. If your lease places specific obligations on you, such as closing windows or reporting leaks promptly, follow them and keep a record that you did.
When the unit becomes unlivable
Section 92.054 addresses casualty losses such as fire, smoke, hail, explosion, or a similar cause. If the premises become, as a practical matter, totally unusable for residential purposes, and the loss was not caused by the tenant, a member of the tenant’s family, or a guest, either the landlord or the tenant may terminate the lease by written notice before repairs are completed (§ 92.054(b)). If the lease is terminated this way, the tenant is entitled to a pro rata refund of rent from the date of moving out and to any security deposit refund otherwise required by law. When a covered loss is insured, the statute also provides that the landlord’s repair period does not begin until the landlord receives the insurance proceeds (§ 92.054(a)). In other words, a storm ending your tenancy does not end your right to your deposit.
Document storm damage the day it happens
- Photograph and video the damage with timestamps before anything is moved.
- Report it to management in writing, by email or the resident portal, and keep the confirmation.
- Note the date of any city or county weather emergency so your record ties the damage to the event.
- Keep the documentation until your deposit is fully refunded, even if months pass.
The refund timeline, step by step
Here is how the statute works in sequence for a Houston move out:
| Step | What happens | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Before moving | Check your lease for any advance notice requirement printed in bold or underlined; only a conspicuous clause can condition your refund on notice | § 92.103(b) |
| Move out day | Return keys and access devices; this is when surrender usually occurs | § 92.103(a) |
| Same day | Give your written forwarding address | § 92.107 |
| Within 30 days | Landlord refunds the deposit and provides an itemized list of any deductions | § 92.103, § 92.104 |
| After day 30 | A landlord who has done neither is presumed to have acted in bad faith | § 92.109(d) |
Penalties, worked out at Houston rents
Suppose your deposit equals the Houston median gross rent of $1,361 and your landlord keeps $700 for “carpet replacement” in a unit you occupied for four years, with carpet that was already worn when you moved in. If a court found that deduction was taken in bad faith, Section 92.109(a) would put the landlord on the hook for $100 plus three times $700, which totals $2,200, plus your reasonable attorney’s fees (§ 92.109(a)). Whether a deduction was proper depends on the facts, which is exactly why your photos and records carry so much weight.
The last month’s rent trap
You may not refuse to pay your final month’s rent and tell the landlord to keep the deposit instead. Section 92.108 prohibits withholding any portion of the last month’s rent on the grounds that the deposit is security for unpaid rent, and a tenant who does so in bad faith can be liable for three times the rent withheld plus the landlord’s attorney’s fees (§ 92.108). Pay the rent, then claim the deposit.
Getting your deposit back in Houston
Write a demand letter
State your move out date, the date you delivered your forwarding address, the deposit amount, what was returned, what you believe is still owed, and a firm date for payment. Mention Sections 92.103, 92.104, and 92.109. Attach copies of your photos and the itemized list, if you received one.
Use the justice courts
The Texas State Law Library explains that security deposit claims under $20,000 can be filed in justice court (Texas State Law Library). In Houston, that means a Harris County Justice of the Peace court in the precinct where the rental is located, or the appropriate county’s justice court if you rented in a suburb outside Harris County. TexasLawHelp.org publishes free forms and step by step instructions (TexasLawHelp.org).
Free legal help
Lone Star Legal Aid provides free civil legal services to eligible low income Texans in the Houston region (Lone Star Legal Aid). The Houston Lawyer Referral Service also distributes the Texas landlord and tenant rights handbook in English and Spanish (Houston Lawyer Referral Service).
Frequently asked questions
My complex was sold. Who returns my deposit?
Under Section 92.105, the new owner is liable for the return of security deposits according to the subchapter, subject to the section’s conditions (§ 92.105). Ask the new management company in writing to confirm your deposit amount, and keep the reply.
Does a Houston landlord owe interest on my deposit?
Chapter 92 does not impose an interest requirement on residential deposits (Texas Property Code Chapter 92). Renters moving from states that do require interest are often surprised by this.
The landlord charged me for cleaning. Is that allowed?
A landlord may deduct for charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease, but not for normal wear and tear (§ 92.104). Read your lease’s move out cleaning terms, clean to that standard, and photograph the result. A routine turnover cleaning that every unit receives regardless of condition is worth questioning if it is not supported by your lease.
What if I never gave a forwarding address?
You do not forfeit your right to a refund, but the landlord’s obligation to refund and itemize does not begin until you provide one (§ 92.107; Texas State Law Library). Send it in writing now.
See the Houston data
The rent, tenure, and cost burden figures in this guide come from Homzora’s free Houston data library, which republishes U.S. Census Bureau tables as downloadable CSV and JSON files.
Sources
- Texas Property Code, Chapter 92 (Residential Tenancies), Texas Legislature
- 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 B25003, via Homzora
- U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2020 to 2024 5 year estimates, Table B25070, via Homzora
- TexasLawHelp.org
- Lone Star Legal Aid
- Houston Lawyer Referral Service, Landlord Tenant Rights Handbook