Texas Month-to-Month Lease Agreement

Month-to-Month Leases in Texas

A Texas month-to-month lease agreement is crucial if you’re leasing your property, as it helps protect both the lessee and lessor. Texas leases must contain several pieces of information to be considered legal. The below sections are all legal aspects of the lease you should pay attention to.

Legal Aspects

Lease Termination & Renewal 

• Month-to-month lessors should be aware of the laws regarding the termination of the lease. In Texas, lessors must give lessees, or the other way around, at least one month’s notice of their intention to terminate the agreement.

Month-to-month leases run indefinitely until a party sends a notice of termination. As such, there are no renewal laws.

Rent Increases

• A rent increase counts as a contract amendment. As such, the lessor must give the lessee at least one term’s notice, in this case one month’s notice, before the new rent increase can take effect. The lessee can terminate the lease within the notice period by following the correct termination procedure. 

Security Deposit 

• Security deposits in Texas don’t have a maximum limit. Usually, it’s reasonable, typically equal to one month’s rent. However, the Texan government passed a law allowing landlords to charge a monthly fee instead of requiring a security deposit. The monthly fee can be used to obtain insurance for the rental.

However, it has to be a reasonable amount that’s not greater than the cost to implement the insurance. If the lessee pays the security deposit, they cannot use it as a month’s rent. Further, the lessor is only required to return the security deposit if the lessee leaves a forwarding address. Deposit refunds must happen within 30 days of the lease’s termination.

Tenant Rights 

• Tenants have a right to quiet enjoyment, working utilities, health and safety, and security devices. Tenants can request the landlord fix any condition that affects their safety or health materially, provided the tenant didn’t cause it.

Required Disclosures

Several legal disclosures must be present in any lease agreement. 

• Lead-Based Paint Disclosure: The landlord must state whether the property has the risk of lead-based paint if it was built before 1978.

• Ownership and Management: The landlord must provide the tenant with the property title holder and building management’s contact details.

• Right to Interrupt Utilities: The only time a landlord can interrupt utilities is if they require the tenant to pay for it. They must add a clause detailing their right to interrupt it for non-payment.

• Special Conditions to Cancel Agreement: The lease should have a statement that allows the tenant to cancel it early in the case of family violence, transfers, or military deployment.

• Parking Rules Addendum: If the property is a multiunit complex, then the landlord must inform the tenant of the building’s parking policy.