Rent Collection Laws in Texas: What Landlords & Property Managers Need to Know

Texas Requires a Bond, Not a Collection-Agency License

Texas issues no general collection-agency license and requires no registration; instead, a third-party debt collector must file a $10,000 surety bond with the Secretary of State before it collects.

Under Tex. Fin. Code Section 392.101, a third-party debt collector or credit bureau "may not engage in debt collection unless" it has obtained a surety bond from a surety authorized in Texas, and a copy is filed with the Secretary of State; Section 392.101(c) sets the amount at $10,000. The Secretary of State says plainly that it is only a filing office and "does not have authority to regulate the business practices of third-party debt collectors" (Texas SOS FAQ). There is no filing fee and no license to renew, but the bond must stay in force. The teeth are real: collecting without a bond on file is itself a Chapter 392 violation and can be a criminal offense under Section 392.402. For a property manager engaging an outside firm, the practical step is to verify a current bond filing through the Secretary of State's public Debt Collector search, which is one of the checks in our guide on how to choose a collection agency for property management.

The Texas Debt Collection Act Binds Landlords, Not Just Agencies

The defining feature of the Texas Debt Collection Act is breadth: unlike the federal FDCPA, it reaches original creditors, so a landlord pursuing a former tenant's rent is operating under it.

Chapter 392 defines "debt collector" as anyone who "directly or indirectly engages in debt collection," and because "creditor" is any party other than the consumer to the transaction, the Act reaches original creditors collecting their own debts, a category the FDCPA generally excludes (see the DTPA remedies it imports). Residential rent fits the statute's "consumer debt" definition, so a landlord or in-house team chasing arrears is bound even where no federal collector obligations attach. Three provisions matter most in practice. Section 392.301 bars threats and coercion but preserves a safe harbor for threatening a legitimate civil lawsuit, which is what makes a demand letter lawful when the underlying claim is valid. Section 392.303(a)(2) is the single most common exposure in rent collection: every add-on line item, such as eviction fees, administrative charges, attorney's fees, or re-letting charges, must trace to express lease language or an independent statute, or attempting to collect it is a violation. And Section 392.304(a)(18) is a genuine trap for the "in-house agency" model, prohibiting a collector that is nominally separate but in fact under the landlord's control from being presented to tenants as independent, while disclosed ownership of a bona fide agency stays lawful.

Two more duties deserve attention. Section 392.306 creates direct vendor-oversight liability: a creditor may not use an independent collector it has actual knowledge repeatedly violates Chapter 392, which makes documented complaint intake and periodic vendor review the practical defense. And Section 392.202 gives Texas a stricter dispute mechanism than the federal one: on a written dispute, the collector must make a record and cease collection until it investigates, send a written statement within 30 days, and correct any error within five business days. Because a Chapter 392 violation is automatically a deceptive trade practice under Section 392.404, a technical slip can carry treble damages and mandatory attorney's fees under the DTPA, with a 60-day presuit notice window that is often the real settlement opportunity.

One change landed in this window worth flagging: HB 4238 (2025) added Section 392.308, effective September 1, 2025, creating an identity-theft cease-collection duty. On receiving a Section 521.103 court order declaring a consumer an identity-theft victim, a creditor or collector must stop collection within seven business days. Because it binds creditors too, it reaches landlords directly where a fraudulent lease application generates arrears in a victim's name.

Four Years to Sue on Rent Debt, and No Restarting the Clock

Rent and lease debt in Texas carries a four-year statute of limitations, and Texas abolished the old written-lease versus open-account distinction that trips up out-of-state guides.

Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Section 16.004(a)(3) requires suit on a debt within four years of accrual, and the residual four-year period in Section 16.051 catches anything without an express period. The Texas Attorney General has explained that 1979 amendments "eliminated the former distinction between debts evidenced by a writing" and those not, so "now, all actions for debt fall within the four-year statute of limitations" (Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. JC-0182). The four-year clock therefore applies whether the obligation arises from a signed lease, an oral month-to-month arrangement, or a holdover. Revival is narrow: under the general rule (Section 16.065) only a signed writing can revive a time-barred claim, and for debt buyers Section 392.307(d) is absolute, defeating revival by payment, written reaffirmation, or "any other activity." A debt buyer collecting a time-barred balance must also give a prescribed conspicuous notice. The practical takeaway is the same one we stress in our guide to the statute of limitations on rent debt: do not let a collectable claim drift toward the four-year line, because in Texas you cannot reset it with a partial payment.

Security Deposits and the 30-Day Clock (Chapter 92)

A Texas landlord must return the deposit or a written itemization within 30 days of surrender, and Texas puts the burden of proving any retention reasonable on the landlord.

Chapter 92, Subchapter C applies to all residential leases, and Texas imposes no statutory cap on the deposit amount. The core clock is Section 92.103: the landlord must refund the deposit, or deliver a written description and itemized list of deductions, on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises. A related provision, Section 92.107, suspends that deadline until the tenant gives a written forwarding address, but it never extinguishes the tenant's underlying entitlement, so treating the trigger as surrender plus a forwarding address is the safe operating assumption. Deductions under Section 92.104 are limited to charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease, which includes unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear; the landlord may not retain anything for normal wear and tear. There is a narrow exception letting a landlord skip itemization when the tenant owes rent at surrender and there is no controversy about the amount, but it collapses the moment the tenant disputes the figure, and it never excuses refunding a balance, so itemizing regardless is the safer practice.

The penalties are why deposit timing so often decides whether a move-out balance is defensible. Under Section 92.109, a landlord who in bad faith retains a deposit is liable for $100 plus three times the portion wrongfully withheld plus attorney's fees; a landlord who in bad faith fails to itemize forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit or to sue the tenant for damages; the landlord bears the burden of proving retention was reasonable; and missing the 30th-day deadline raises a presumption of bad faith. That forfeiture of the right to sue is a substantive loss of claim, not just a penalty, which is why a clean itemized ledger is the foundation of any collectable post-move-out balance. We walk through building that file in collecting unpaid rent after move-out and move-out debt collection.

Late Fees Have a Safe Harbor (Section 92.019)

A Texas late fee is presumed reasonable only within a percentage safe harbor, and only if it is in the written lease and rent is at least two full days late.

Section 92.019 sets three cumulative preconditions: the fee must be stated in a written lease, it must be reasonable, and rent must have stayed unpaid two full days past the due date. The safe harbor deems a fee reasonable if it does not exceed 12 percent of the rent for a dwelling in a structure with four or fewer units, or 10 percent for a structure with more than four units. The percentage turns on units in the structure, not the portfolio, so a single-family rental generally falls in the 12 percent tier. A late fee may combine an initial and a daily component, but the two aggregate into a single fee that must stay within the safe harbor; a daily fee that runs past the ceiling pushes the landlord into a burden-of-proof fight. Charging in violation exposes the landlord to $100 plus three times the fee collected plus attorney's fees, and attempting to collect an unauthorized fee also implicates the Section 392.303 collection rules discussed above. This is exactly the kind of add-on that has to be papered correctly before it goes into a placement file.

Texas Bans Wage Garnishment for Rent Debt

The Texas Constitution prohibits garnishing wages for a rent judgment, which makes post-judgment recovery structurally harder in Texas than in almost any other state.

Tex. Const. Art. XVI, Section 28 provides that "no current wages for personal service shall ever be subject to garnishment," with exceptions only for court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance. A private landlord's judgment for unpaid rent falls outside both, so it cannot be satisfied from a paycheck. The protection is specific to wages, though, not to collection generally: once wages are paid and deposited, the bank account is reachable by post-judgment garnishment under Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 63, and non-exempt personal property above the Section 42.001 thresholds ($100,000 for a family, $50,000 for a single adult) can be pursued, while the homestead is protected from forced sale for rent debt. The realistic conclusion for a landlord is that a Texas rent judgment is frequently uncollectable against an ordinary wage-earner, and the leverage lives in bank-account garnishment, non-exempt property, and voluntary arrangements. That asymmetry, where a procedural misstep can cost more than the realistic recovery, is the strongest argument for acting early and placing fresh accounts, which is the theme of our Texas property managers' collection-agency guide and the case for using the best collection agency for unpaid rent while a balance is still young.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you need a license to collect debt in Texas?

  Texas issues no general collection-agency license and requires no registration. Instead, a third-party debt collector must file a $10,000 surety bond with the Texas Secretary of State under Tex. Fin. Code Section 392.101 before it may collect. The Secretary of State is only a filing office, not a regulator, and collecting without a bond on file is itself a Chapter 392 violation.

• Does the Texas Debt Collection Act apply to landlords collecting their own rent?

  Yes. The Texas Debt Collection Act (Tex. Fin. Code Ch. 392) defines a debt collector broadly enough to reach original creditors, so a landlord or in-house property-management team pursuing a former tenant's rent arrears is bound by it even though the federal FDCPA generally exempts original creditors. Residential rent is a consumer debt under the statute.

• What is the statute of limitations on unpaid rent in Texas?

  Four years. Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Section 16.004 requires suit on a debt within four years of accrual, and since 1979 Texas no longer distinguishes written-lease debt from open-account debt, so the four-year period applies to written, oral, and holdover tenancies alike. A payment or acknowledgment does not restart the clock unless it is a signed writing, and for debt buyers Section 392.307 bars revival entirely.

• How long does a Texas landlord have to return a security deposit?

  Thirty days. Under Tex. Prop. Code Section 92.103 the landlord must refund the deposit, or provide a written itemized description of deductions, on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises. Missing the deadline creates a presumption of bad faith and can forfeit the landlord's right to sue for damages and expose the landlord to $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld plus attorney's fees.

• What can a Texas landlord deduct from a security deposit?

  Under Tex. Prop. Code Section 92.104 a landlord may deduct for damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease or as a result of breaching it, which includes unpaid rent and damage beyond normal wear and tear. A landlord may not deduct for normal wear and tear, and every charge must trace to the lease or a statute, because an unauthorized fee is also a Section 392.303 collection violation.

• Can you garnish wages for unpaid rent in Texas?

  No. The Texas Constitution (Art. XVI, Section 28) bars garnishment of current wages for consumer debt, with exceptions only for court-ordered child support and spousal maintenance, so a rent judgment cannot be satisfied from a tenant's paycheck. Once wages are paid and deposited, however, the bank account can be garnished after judgment under Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Chapter 63, subject to exemptions.

• What is a reasonable late fee in Texas?

  Under Tex. Prop. Code Section 92.019 a late fee is presumed reasonable if it does not exceed 12 percent of the rent for a dwelling in a structure with four or fewer units, or 10 percent for a structure with more than four units. The fee must also be stated in a written lease and cannot be charged until rent is at least two full days late. Any combined initial and daily fee counts as a single late fee against that ceiling.

Related: Texas Property Managers' Collection-Agency Guide · Statute of Limitations on Rent Debt · Collecting Unpaid Rent After Move-Out · Collection Agency for Property Managers