Duties and Responsibilities of the Landlord – Where Do They End and The Tenant's Obligations Begin. Thousands of dollars each year are being spent by owners in ignorance of their duties and repair obligations towards their tenants.
In summary, rental property maintenance responsibilities are clear-cut in Texas. Yet, when it comes to repair rights and obligations, landlords can easily get in over their heads. Many are not aware of the Texas Property Code Chapter 92 and the requirements in relation to repair and maintenance responsibilities of rental property owners. And even if they are, it can be difficult to manage repairs in a humid climate like Houston where there are many natural disaster events throughout the year and an ever-increasing savvy of renters.
Properties all have unique situations so regardless of the type of rental property that you own and where it is located the tips to follow in regards to what the owner is responsible for will provide owners with the information they need to save money in avoiding costly mistakes.
Texas Law Sets the Floor, Not the Ceiling For Landlord Responsibilities
For repair obligations of owners of rental properties in Texas, including the Houston area, matters are governed by the Texas Property Code, Chapter 92. As none of the cities in Harris, Fort Bend, or Montgomery County have local rent control laws, all repairs by landlords are governed by state law in the Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code. Section 92.056 of Chapter 92 outlines owners' and managers' responsibilities to make repairs. It states owners must make repairs within a "reasonable amount of time" following a written request for repairs from a lessee. Courts have defined "reasonable" as approximately seven days in such situations.
Under Section 92.056, a landlord has approximately 7 days (or reasonable time) to make repairs after receiving written notice of repair items that materially affect health or safety.
Again, there is no "code" and then there is the real application of the code. This simply states what the laws are.
The Repairs That Count as Habitability Emergencies
Some repairs are more than others, but with the extreme weather that Houston receives, some need to be addressed quickly. In accordance with Texas Property Code, Chapter 92, repairs to HVAC systems fall under the definition of repairs affecting health and safety in emergency situations, and are thus reportable within 24 hours. Because of Houston's tropical like weather, HVAC systems are running nearly year round, making the middle of July a horrible time for an air conditioner to malfunction in a home in the 77077 or 77079 zip codes for example.
We have an owner who lives in Colorado, and manages a single-family rental in the Houston area. His tenant reported that the HVAC in his property wasn't working, however no one told the owner until he started getting calls from the tenant wanting to give notice. It ended up that the refrigerant line had a slow leak, and before the tenant had even noticed, all of the refrigerant had leaked out of the system. The owner didn't know anything about it, and by the time he found out, the tenant had been running window units to keep cool, racking up hundreds of dollars in excess electricity charges.
While emergencies such as a burst pipe, no hot water, or HVAC failure receive same-day attention from our team, cosmetic issues and non-urgent repairs typically get fixed within 3 to 7 business days.
Slow Leak Problems Can Cost A Lot Of Money!
The following is a common situation. A leaky faucet develops, the tenant occasionally brings up the subject of repair. The owner always intends to get around to it some time but never seems to find the time. It is weeks, maybe even months, later when some serious damage has occurred and the repair is very expensive.
The owner of the property said he did not know there was a problem and first found out about the problem when he went to get his security deposit back after the tenant moved out of the house. He said the tenant never reported the problem and that he was surprised when he saw the extent of the damage when he opened up the cabinets in the bathroom. The damage was caused by significant cabinet rot and by a lot of subfloor moisture damage that had occurred as a result of the faucet leaking water for weeks or months. In the end, it cost $2,800 to fix the problem and the security deposit did not cover the entire amount. Because there was no documentation of the needed repairs before the tenant moved out, the owner had a hard time trying to get the tenant or his parents to pay for the rest of the repairs.
Fixing that leaky faucet will probably cost about $150 to $300 for a plumber to come to your residence and make the repair for you. However, fixing the water damage to the subfloor of your property can run anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 or more depending on how long it took for the water to leak and damage the subfloor and surrounding cabinet and drywall before the problem was repaired.
Why "Let the Tenant Handle It" Usually Backfires
A lot of owners think they're doing everyone a favor by telling tenants to fix small things and deduct from rent. This feels reasonable. It almost never works out that way.
Texas Property Code outlines the formal process and caps on repairs that a tenant can undertake and charge back to the owner as deductions from rent. Of course, by having a tenant undertake unlicensed repair work, you are placing yourself in a position of increased exposure for several reasons. Not only will you likely lose any documentation pertaining to the repair, thereby creating additional difficulties in attempting to ascertain whether or not adequate repair was made, you also risk blurring of liability in the event that further damage occurs due to poor repair.
We've had owners come to us after years of informal repair arrangements and end up in deposit disputes they had no paper trail to defend.
Houston Climate Related Maintenance Items
This market is genuinely hard on properties. Houston's subtropical climate drives maintenance costs in ways that owners from other states don't always anticipate.
Mold remediation averages $1,500 to $15,000 for Houston properties depending on size and extent of the damage. After the tenant has put owners on notice, owners are responsible for making repairs to maintain compliance with Texas laws. Roof repairs to a roof damaged from a storm average $3,500 to $12,000 for Houston properties. A huge portion of that cost would be uninsured as most storm damage is not covered by standard property insurance policies. Owners may be responsible for up to the full repair price after a storm as well as a insurance deductible of $2,500 to $5,000. Many owners have found themselves responsible for repairing entire roofs after a storm due to not having regularly inspected their properties prior to the storm.
This same situation occurred with a Memorial area home with a bathroom faucet leak reported by the tenant throughout their lease. The owner finally scheduled a plumber to fix the leak in the weeks following the tenant's move-out. Upon further inspection, the plumber found significant cabinet and subfloor damage due to moisture from the leak. The repairs to the subfloor were estimated to cost $2,800, which exceeded the tenant's security deposit.
Properties in Kingwood (77339) and Pearland (77581, 77584) deal with flooding and wind exposure that makes this even more pronounced.
Maintenance Is Your Best Eviction Prevention Tool
This is where a lot of owners have the framework completely backwards. They treat maintenance and tenant retention as two separate issues. They are not.
Tenants who feel their maintenance issues are being ignored by their landlord are more likely to pay their rent late, formally complain about their landlord, dispute their security deposit return, or try to break their lease. The opposite is true as well. Landlords with the lowest turnover rates are owners who respond to maintenance issues in a timely manner. In our 30 years in the Houston real estate market, we have found that the number one eviction prevention tool is maintenance. To owners who believe otherwise, we recommend analyzing the cost of fixing a problem in a timely manner versus waiting until the problem causes more damage. In the example above, the cost to fix a leaky roof was $600 for a plumber to patch a hole. Three weeks later, the leaky roof had caused enough damage that the cost to fix the problem was $4,200. The owner saved $3,600 by responding to the problem in a timely manner. The same scenario can play out in many different ways but the result is always the same. Owners who respond to maintenance issues in a timely manner save money.
Security Deposits, Deductions, and Where Landlords Lose
Any fees owed to the Tenant must be returned to the Tenant, in full, within thirty days of the Tenant vacating the Rental Premises. An itemized list of any damages or neglect, for which a portion of the deposit is being withheld, must be included in the written notice provided to the Tenant, returning the Tenant's security deposit. Failure to comply with this provision could result in as much as three times the security deposit being owed to the Tenant, in addition to the Tenant's attorney's fees for collecting what is lawfully owed.
Deferred maintenance claims often are the basis of landlords' losses in disputes concerning security deposits. If a tenant contends that the damages to the rental property were caused by pre-existing wear and tear that the landlord failed to repair, the landlord will not prevail unless there is substantial evidence of regular and documented maintenance of the property prior to the tenant's move-in. Often, owners fail to keep records of repairs and maintenance performed on the property prior to a tenant's rental term.
The property management company will handle all of the documentation from the very beginning. We will make a move-in condition report with the tenant, keep track of all repairs with a timestamped log, and keep a record of what was reported and when it was repaired. When it comes time to disburse the security deposit, we will have all of the documentation to prove the deductions.
FAQs | Tenant Reported to City | Houston Property Management | Tenant Reporting to City
You'll receive complaints from tenants who report you to the City because they have been reporting issues with the home and you haven't been fixing them. In Houston, most people will call 311 for code enforcement complaints and the City will send someone out to inspect the property and the landlord will be fined for repairs required to bring the home up to minimum habitability standards. If a landlord has a consistent pattern of issues at his properties, he may lose his license to landlord. This is more of a problem with older homes in established neighborhoods such as Montrose (77006) or The Heights where tenants are likely to report issues that they feel are the landlord's responsibility. Some neighborhoods such as River Oaks or West University will have tenants who report everything and make sure that everything is documented.
When most people think of maintenance, they immediately think of repairs on existing property. However, in many cases of maintenance, the biggest cost savings can come from performing maintenance BEFORE failure. For example, an HVAC system in Houston will fail at some point. A typical cost of a new HVAC is $4,000 to $7,500, whereas annual servicing can run as little as $80 to $150 per visit. By doing preventative maintenance on your HVAC system on a annual basis, for example, you can save a lot of money in the long run. Other components, such as roof, plumbing, etc. also require annual maintenance in order to extend their useful lives as well. At the end of the day, it is always more cost effective to spend a small amount of money in order to prevent more costly repairs in the future.
Tenants in Houston can report issues through the City of Houston's 311 service. That process is real, and it moves.
The Annual Maintenance Rhythm That Saves Money
While most systems can last for years, eventually an air handler will fail. Rather than spend $4,000 to $7,500 for an emergency replacement for a system that is near failure, property owners schedule annual preventive maintenance for their HVAC systems, which typically costs $80 to $150 per visit to keep them operating efficiently and extend their useful life. This type of maintenance should be part of an annual cycle of repairs and inspections for all of a property owner's maintenance systems including roofing, plumbing, pool and pest control.
Each property in a landlord's portfolio should have its own maintenance plan to ensure the HVAC, roof, plumbing and pest control systems are serviced annually to prevent repairs. The same gray area in Texas regarding pest control applies to determining who is responsible for infestations at move-in time; generally, it is the landlord. He or she can lose in court due to a tenant who allowed pests into the property, so it is better for a landlord to be proactive in preventing infestations. Maintenance is particularly a concern for the older homes found in neighborhoods such as Spring Branch and EaDo.
When all of the repair requests and messages from your tenants are being handled by one person, that one person is essentially working a second job when it comes to that rental property. We've had several property owners share with us that when they tally up all of the hours they spend on a particular rental property in a month, that sums to as much as 8 hours or 10 hours per month per rental property.
We are available to speak with you if you find that managing the maintenance to protect your investment feels like a second full time job.
FAQ
What repairs is a landlord legally required to make in Texas?
A landlord is required to make repairs to rental property that affect the health and safety of the tenant(s) in substantial ways. Most repairs fall within this category. If a tenant notifies a landlord in writing of needed repairs, the landlord has approximately seven days to make the repairs before the tenant can seek alternative housing and abate rent until the property is brought up to code.
What can a tenant do if a Houston landlord refuses to make repairs?
Ignored Repair Notice? First, determine if your Lease allows you to repair and deduct for the landlord's failure to timely repair (Section 92.056 of Texas Property Code). Next, terminate your Lease (unless such is prohibited by Lease). Then file a formal complaint through the City of Houston's 311 Service request system which will then schedule an code enforcement inspection to issue written citation(s) for required repairs, when necessary.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Texas?
Typically, in Texas, a landlord has thirty (30) days after a tenant's move-out date to return the security deposit to the tenant along with a written list of any proposed deductions for damages or needed repairs to the rental property. If a landlord fails to return the full amount of a security deposit, plus an itemized list of any repairs or damages that were charged to the security deposit, the tenant can seek three times the amount of the security deposit in damages, plus attorney's fees, and may also seek additional damages for any other illegal actions taken by the landlord in attempting to recover all or a portion of the security deposit.
Is HVAC failure considered a habitability emergency in Houston?
The response to the air-conditioning failure by the landlord is typically within 24 hours given the health issue. As mentioned before the city of Houston requires that your air-conditioning system be maintained throughout the year, and it would certainly be expected that a failure such as this would be repaired promptly.
Who is responsible for pest control in a Texas rental property?
The responsibility for pest control in rental properties is not specified in the Texas property code. Instead, this responsibility is usually detailed in the lease agreement between a landlord and a tenant. However, many times, courts have ruled that landlords are responsible for pest infestations that existed at the time the tenant moved in. Therefore, it is very important for landlords to document the condition of a rental property before a tenant moves in.
Can a tenant in Houston report a landlord to a city or housing authority?
Yes. Houston residents can report issues related to code enforcement and potential violations of habitability requirements by filing a complaint through the city's 311 service. If it is determined that a property violates certain requirements the landlord can be fined, and is required to complete the required repairs. Residents receiving rental assistance through the Houston Housing Authority can also report violations or concerns with their unit that fail to meet requirements by contacting HHAA.
