Texas Security Deposit Law and Your Refund

Short answer

In Texas, a landlord generally must refund a security deposit on or before the 30th day after the tenant moves out and gives up the unit. That rule is in Property Code section 92.103. Two limits shape it.

• Forwarding address first. The landlord does not have to refund or itemize until the tenant gives a written forwarding address for the refund (section 92.107).
• Only allowed deductions. The landlord may deduct damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease or for breaking it. Normal wear and tear is never deductible (section 92.104).
• An itemized list if money is kept. Any amount kept must come with a written description and itemized list of all deductions, with one narrow rent exception covered below.

If a landlord keeps a deposit in bad faith, section 92.109 can make the landlord liable for more than the deposit. That penalty is not automatic. The sections below explain each rule and its exceptions.

What counts as a security deposit

Section 92.102 defines a security deposit as any advance of money, other than a rental application deposit or an advance payment of rent, meant mainly to secure the tenant's performance under a lease of a dwelling. What the lease calls the payment does not decide this. Its purpose does.

Section 92.101 applies these rules to all residential leases. Under section 92.006(a), a landlord's duties and a tenant's remedies about security deposits cannot be waived. A lease clause cannot sign them away.

The 30-day refund rule

The count starts when the tenant surrenders the premises. That is the day the tenant actually gives up possession, which may differ from the date the lease ends. Section 92.103(a) says the landlord must refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after that date, except as section 92.107 provides.

Three details often decide disputes.

• Advance-notice clauses. A lease may require advance notice of move-out as a condition of the refund. Under section 92.103(b), that condition works only if it is underlined or printed in conspicuous bold type in the lease.
• Mailed refunds. Under section 92.1041, a landlord is presumed to have refunded the deposit or sent the accounting on time if it was placed in the United States mail and postmarked on or before the required date. A check that arrives on day 33 with a day-29 postmark gets that presumption. A presumption can still be challenged with evidence.
• Priority over creditors. Section 92.103(c) puts the tenant's claim to the deposit ahead of claims by the landlord's other creditors, including a bankruptcy trustee.

The forwarding address

Under section 92.107(a), the landlord is not obligated to return the deposit or describe damages and charges until the tenant gives the landlord a written statement of a forwarding address for the refund. Until then, the refund duty has not ripened.

The address controls timing, not the right itself. Section 92.107(b) says a tenant does not lose the right to the refund, or to the description of damages and charges, merely by not giving a forwarding address. If the address arrives late, the duty ripens when it arrives. The subchapter does not state a separate day count for that case, so this guide does not supply one.

The statute asks for a written statement. It does not name a delivery method. Use a way you can prove later, and keep a copy with the date you sent it. No method guarantees a particular result. Proof just helps show what was sent and when.

Deductions a landlord may take

Section 92.104(a) allows deductions only for damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease, or because the tenant broke the lease. Every dollar kept has to fit one of those two reasons. Section 92.104(b) then bars keeping any part of the deposit for normal wear and tear.

If the landlord keeps any part, section 92.104(c) requires the landlord to send the balance, if any, with a written description and itemized list of all deductions. One exception exists, and both parts must be true: the tenant owed rent at move-out, and there is no dispute about how much rent was owed. If the tenant disputes the rent figure, the exception does not apply.

Normal wear and tear compared with damage

Section 92.001(4) defines normal wear and tear as deterioration from the intended use of a dwelling. It does not include deterioration caused by negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse of the premises, equipment, or furnishings by the tenant, a household member, or a guest. Carpet flattened by years of walking is wear. Carpet burned by a dropped pan is damage.

Wrongful withholding and the section 92.109 penalties

Section 92.109 treats two problems separately. Both depend on bad faith.

Two more rules shape a case. Under section 92.109(d), a landlord who fails either to return the deposit or to give the written description and itemization by the 30th day after surrender is presumed to have acted in bad faith. Under section 92.109(c), in a tenant's suit the landlord must prove that keeping any part of the deposit was reasonable.

A presumption is not the same as proof. It shifts the job of explaining onto the landlord, and a court still decides the result. Section 92.109 does not make the extra amounts automatic just because a deadline passed.

Next steps if your deposit was not returned

Checklist: evidence to gather

• The lease, or proof of the oral agreement, and a receipt or record showing the deposit amount
• The date you surrendered the premises, such as a key return receipt or move-out message
• A copy of your written forwarding address and proof of when you gave it
• Dated photos or video of the unit at move-in and move-out
• Any move-in or move-out condition forms
• Any refund, itemized list, or envelope with its postmark that the landlord sent, or a note that none arrived
• Rent records, if the landlord claims rent was owed

Checklist: a refund request

• Confirm your written forwarding address is in the landlord's hands. If you are not sure, include it again in the request.
• Ask for the refund or for the balance with an itemized list of deductions.
• Stick to dates and facts. Leave out threats and numbers you cannot support.
• Keep a copy and proof of how and when you sent it.

Sample refund-request letter

A refund request is optional. Subchapter C does not require a demand letter before a tenant sues to recover a deposit. The written step the statute does make important is the forwarding address under section 92.107(a). The sample below combines that address with a plain request that tracks sections 92.103(a) and 92.104(c). It does not claim the section 92.109 penalties, because those depend on bad faith that only a court can find.

[Date]

[Landlord or property manager name]
[Landlord mailing address]

Re: Security deposit for [rental address, including unit number]

I rented [rental address] under a lease that began on [start date].
I paid a security deposit of $[amount].

I surrendered the premises on [move-out date] and returned the keys
by [how keys were returned].

My written forwarding address for the deposit refund is:
[Street address]
[City, State ZIP]

Texas Property Code section 92.103 requires a landlord to refund a
security deposit on or before the 30th day after surrender, subject to
section 92.107. If any part is kept, section 92.104(c) requires the
balance and a written description and itemized list of all deductions.

Please send my deposit refund, or the balance with an itemized list of
any deductions, to the forwarding address above.

[Optional: I have dated photos of the unit's condition at move-out.]

Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Phone number or email]

To use it, copy the text into a document or email by hand and fill in the brackets. It is written to be printed.

If nothing changes

A deposit claim can be filed in justice court when the amount is within that court's limit. The guide to how small claims court works in Texas covers that process. Whatever the court, the case rests on the checklist above: the amount paid, the surrender date, the written forwarding address, the unit's condition, and what the landlord sent or failed to send.

Related rules on move-out and repairs are in the Texas renters' guides, including the eviction process. Each citation on this page opens the official statute text, as it does throughout the full guide library.