Will your former landlord not return your security deposit? Have you been locked out of your rental house? Are you having to put up with mold and other dangerous conditions at your rental house or apartment? Or maybe you're a landlord whose tenants are falsely accusing you of not fixing problems. Do your tenants call every day with some new issue? Has a tenant sued you when you did nothing wrong? Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code is specific to the residential landlord/tenant relationship, and provides detailed procedures for dealing with issues like security deposits, repairs, security devices, smoke detectors, lockouts, utility disconnections, and retaliation. Chapter 92 is highly technical. Notices must be given in a very specific manner. In many cases, multiple notices must be given.
Landlords who fail to comply with the very specific requirements of Chapter 92 may find that their tenants are able to unilaterally terminate their leases and that they are no longer able to collect rent. They also risk being required to pay their tenants thousands of dollars in civil penalties, attorney's fees, and more.
Similarly, tenants who fail to follow the very specific requirements imposed by Chapter 92 risk being stuck in unsafe living conditions, being evicted, or even being reported to collection agencies and credit bureaus. For example, no matter how bad conditions are, tenants who withhold rent are giving up many of their rights and subjecting themselves to eviction and collection action. On the other hand, when tenants living in dangerous conditions follow the correct procedures, they can terminate their leases and potentially recover thousands of dollars from their landlords.