Texas Residential Lease Requirements (2026): Every Clause and Disclosure the Law Demands

Quick answer: a compliant 2026 Texas residential lease needs the ownership-and-management disclosure (§92.201), the flood disclosure (§92.0135), the federal lead-paint disclosure for pre-1978 homes, tenant repair rights stated in bold or underlined text (§92.056), a written late-fee clause inside the §92.019 limits, and terms that respect the 30-day security-deposit clock — while leaving out the waiver clauses Texas law makes void. Everything below is the statute-by-statute version.

The Short Answer, as a Checklist

Texas is a landlord-friendly state, but Chapter 92 of the Property Code makes specific demands of the lease document itself — and several protections landlords assume they have simply do not exist unless the lease creates them in the required form. If your lease was drafted for “any state” or last updated before 2022, odds are at least one of the items below is missing.

What Makes a Texas Lease Valid

A lease of one year or less can technically be oral. A term longer than one year must be written to be enforceable. But “valid” and “protective” are different standards: a late fee is only collectible if it appears in a written lease, and the repair-rights language below must literally be printed a certain way. Every serious Texas landlord uses a written lease for even a month-to-month tenancy.

The Required Disclosures

Ownership and management (§92.201). The lease (or a posted/attached notice) must give the tenant the name and address of the property owner and, if there is one, the management company — so the tenant always knows where legal notices go. Getting this wrong slows down your own eviction later, because notice defects are the first thing a tenant’s lawyer looks for.

Flood disclosure (§92.0135). Added in 2021 and still missed by older leases: before signing, you must tell the tenant in writing — using the statutory language — whether the property is in a 100-year floodplain and whether it has flooded within the last five years. In Houston especially this is not paperwork theater; it is the disclosure a court will ask about first after a storm loss.

Lead-based paint (federal). For any home built before 1978: the EPA pamphlet, disclosure of known hazards, and a signed acknowledgment kept on file.

Clauses With Formatting Rules: the §92.056 Trap

Texas requires the tenant’s repair-and-deduct rights to be stated in the lease in bold print or underlined. A lease that buries this language in normal type is defective on that point — and it is one of the most common failures we see in self-drafted leases. We wrote a full breakdown of this one clause in the §92.056 bold-or-underlined lease trap, and the wider context lives in our plain-English guide to Property Code Chapter 92.

Late Fees: the §92.019 Limits

Three rules, all mandatory. The fee must be in the written lease. Rent must be unpaid at least one full day. And the amount is presumed reasonable only up to 12% of monthly rent for a property with four or fewer dwelling units (10% for larger buildings) — beyond that, you would have to prove your actual damages. A lease that says “$25/day until paid” with no cap is exactly the kind of clause that gets thrown out.

Security Deposit Terms

Texas sets no cap on the deposit amount — a genuine Texas advantage — but the refund clock is strict: 30 days from move-out (§92.103), with an itemized list of deductions, and a statutory presumption of bad faith if you blow the deadline. Wrongful withholding exposes you to three times the amount withheld plus $100 plus attorney’s fees (§92.109). Your lease should state the tenant’s duty to provide a written forwarding address, since the clock’s practical mechanics run through it. The full rules are in our Texas security deposit law guide.

Locks, Rekeying, and Smoke Alarms

Chapter 92 Subchapter D requires specific security devices at the landlord’s expense — including a keyless bolting device and a door viewer on each exterior door — and requires locks to be rekeyed within seven days of each new tenant moving in. Subchapter F requires working smoke alarms, and the safest practice is to test and document them at move-in as part of your condition report. None of this has to be recited in the lease to apply, but a good Texas lease documents compliance so there is never an argument later.

Clauses That Are Void No Matter What You Write

§92.006 makes most waivers of Chapter 92 duties void — you cannot contract away the repair duty, the security-deposit rules, or the disclosure obligations. Templates that try (“tenant waives all claims…”) don’t just fail; they hand opposing counsel an exhibit. What you can do is use the flexibility Texas actually grants: no deposit cap, broad screening latitude, and a fast, well-defined eviction process — see our 2026 Texas eviction timeline.

Why Generic Templates Fail in Texas — and What to Use Instead

Every failure mode above is Texas-specific: the bold-or-underline rule, the 12%/10% late-fee presumption, the flood form, the seven-day rekey. A generic template can be 95% fine and still lose you the 5% that mattered in court. Use a Texas-drafted lease — the TXR forms through a licensed agent, or a management company whose lease is maintained against the current statute. Ours is; it is one of the quiet reasons owners hire us. If you want your lease, screening, and placement handled on a flat monthly fee, get an instant quote — or start with what every landlord should include in a lease for the universal clauses that sit on top of these Texas rules.