Texas Required Lease Disclosures in 2026: What Landlords Must Include

What disclosures are actually required by Texas law — and where do they live in the Property Code?

Texas landlord-tenant law is primarily governed by the Texas Property Code, specifically Chapters 91–94. For residential tenancies, the key chapter is 92. The landlord-tenant relationship in residential leases is governed almost exclusively by Sections 91 and 92 of the Texas Property Code. The disclosures below are not optional clauses you can negotiate around — they are statutory floors. A lease provision that tries to waive them is void.

The table below maps each major required disclosure to its controlling statute, the delivery method required, and the consequence of noncompliance. Use it as a pre-signing checklist.

Who must you identify under § 92.201 — and how specific do you have to be?

Under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.201 (Disclosure of Ownership and Management), a landlord must disclose to a tenant: (1) the name and either a street or post office box address of the holder of record title, according to the deed records in the county clerk's office, of the dwelling rented by the tenant; and (2) if an entity located off-site from the dwelling is primarily responsible for managing the dwelling, the name and street address of the management company.

Disclosure to a tenant must be made by giving the information in writing to the tenant on or before the seventh day after the day the landlord receives the tenant's request, by continuously posting the information in a conspicuous place in the dwelling or on the outside of the entry door to the office of the on-site manager, or by including the information in a copy of the tenant's lease or in written rules given to the tenant before the tenant requests the information. The third option — putting it directly in the lease — is the simplest for self-managing landlords.

The best practice is to include it proactively in the lease rather than waiting for a written request. The owner disclosure under § 92.201 requires the owner's name and out-of-state address if applicable. Most landlords list a local property manager — that's compliant as long as the actual owner information is also included. If you own through an LLC or corporation, the entity name and its registered address is what belongs in this field, not just your personal name. Remedies for a landlord who fails to provide this information include a court order compelling disclosure, a judgment for one month's rent plus $100, court costs and attorney's fees, and the tenant's unilateral termination of the lease without a court proceeding.

What does the 2025 update to the flood disclosure (§ 92.0135) actually change?

The flood disclosure has been required since January 1, 2022, but the 89th Texas Legislature amended § 92.0135 effective September 1, 2025. If you haven't reviewed your lease template since then, you may be out of compliance.

Under § 92.0135, a landlord must provide to a tenant a written notice stating whether the landlord is or is not aware that the dwelling is located in a 100-year floodplain — defined as any area designated as a flood hazard area with a one percent or greater chance of flooding each year by FEMA. A second, separate notice is required if the landlord knows that flooding has damaged any portion of the dwelling at least once during the five-year period immediately preceding the effective date of the lease.

The 2025 amendments modified existing Texas Property Code provisions by establishing two key exceptions and clarifying delivery. Landlords are no longer required to provide flood-related notices for very short-term leases of less than 30 days, or temporary residential tenancies associated with a property sale where the buyer or seller occupies the property for 90 days or less. For all other leases, the flood notice must now be included either directly in a lease paragraph, as a lease addendum, or in a separate written document provided to the tenant at or before lease signing — and both the landlord and tenant must sign the notice document to confirm its provision and receipt.

The consequence of skipping the flood disclosure is significant. If a landlord violates § 92.0135 and a tenant suffers a substantial loss or damage to personal property as a result of flooding, the tenant may terminate the lease by giving written notice of termination no later than the 30th day after the date the loss or damage occurred. "Substantial loss" means the total cost of repairs to or replacement of personal property is 50 percent or more of the property's market value on the date the flooding occurred.

How must late fees be disclosed — and what's the legal ceiling?

Under Tex. Prop. Code § 92.019, a landlord may not collect from a tenant a late fee for failing to pay any portion of rent unless notice of the fee is included in a written lease, and any portion of the tenant's rent has remained unpaid two full days after the date the rent was originally due. That two-day buffer is mandatory: if rent is due on the 1st of the month, you cannot charge a late fee until the 4th — meaning rent has to be unpaid for two full days before you can legally add any late charges.

The statute also sets a "safe harbor" for reasonableness. A late fee is considered reasonable if it equals 12 percent of the amount of rent for the rental period for a dwelling in a structure that contains not more than four dwelling units, or 10 percent for a dwelling in a structure that contains more than four dwelling units. A late fee may include an initial fee and a daily fee for each day any portion of the tenant's rent continues to remain unpaid, and the combined fees are considered a single late fee for purposes of this section.

The penalty for charging an illegal late fee is steep. A landlord who violates § 92.019 is liable to the tenant for an amount equal to the sum of $100, three times the amount of the late fee collected in violation, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees. Put the fee amount — both the initial charge and any daily fee — in writing in the lease. A verbal understanding doesn't protect you.

What about smoke detectors, security devices, and the lease copy rule?

Under Texas Property Code Sections 92.251–92.261, landlords must disclose smoke detector requirements. Separately, Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.151–92.170 cover security devices — locks, primarily — and require that tenants be informed of their rights regarding those devices, including their right to request certain devices and the landlord's obligation to repair malfunctioning ones. Your lease should acknowledge that functional smoke detectors are installed and note the tenant's responsibility to replace batteries. When a tenant moves in, you must rekey or replace locks within 7 days if they request it.

If the lease is in writing, Texas law requires a landlord to provide the tenant with a copy of the lease within 3 business days of signing. This section requires a landlord to provide a tenant with a copy of the complete lease within 3 business days of signing. If there are multiple tenants on the lease, tenants who have not yet received a copy must be provided with one within 3 business days of a written request. This seems simple, but it's one of the most-overlooked requirements for self-managing landlords who collect signatures at move-in and then fail to send a copy promptly.

When is the lead-based paint disclosure required, and who enforces it?

The lead-based paint disclosure is a federal requirement, not a Texas one — but it applies to every Texas lease where the property was built before 1978. This requirement applies to most pre-1978 private housing, public housing, federally owned housing, and housing receiving federal assistance. Before a renter signs a lease, federal law requires landlords and property managers to give renters a copy of the EPA pamphlet Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home, and to disclose any known information about the presence of lead-based paint and lead-based paint hazards in the home or building.

There are some narrow exemptions. The Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule does not apply to: zero-bedroom units such as efficiencies and dormitories (unless a child under the age of six lives or is expected to live there); leases for 100 days or less where no renewal can occur; housing specifically for the elderly or persons with disabilities (unless a child under six resides or is expected to reside there); and housing in which painted surfaces have been tested and found to be lead-based paint free.

The cost of noncompliance runs well beyond a civil complaint. Failure to satisfy lead-based paint disclosure requirements can expose a seller, landlord, or agent to a lawsuit for triple the amount of damages, and also subjects them to civil and criminal penalties. Keep a signed copy of the disclosure for the duration of tenancy plus at least three years.

What are the most common mistakes landlords make with these disclosures?

Disclosure errors tend to cluster around a few predictable failure points. Here are the patterns most likely to generate legal exposure:

• Omitting the owner's street address. Listing a management company name without also including the record title holder's address violates § 92.201. The owner disclosure requires the owner's name and out-of-state address if applicable. Listing a local property manager is compliant only as long as the actual owner information is also included.
• Skipping the flood notice on renewal leases. If a new lease is signed between the same landlord and tenants and the flood disclosure was provided with a previous lease, does the landlord need to provide another addendum if nothing has changed? Yes — because a new lease is being executed, the addendum should be provided irrespective of whether the previous information has changed.
• Charging a late fee with no written lease language. A landlord may not collect a late fee unless notice of the fee is included in a written lease. An oral agreement or a separate notice handed at move-in does not satisfy this requirement.
• Omitting the flood disclosure for a property that "never flooded." The flooding disclosure is required even if your property never flooded — you still need the disclosure stating so.
• Failing to get both signatures on the flood notice post-September 2025. As of the 2025 amendments, both the landlord and tenant must sign the flood notice document to confirm its provision and receipt. A document handed over but not counter-signed by the landlord no longer satisfies the statute.
• Assuming a pre-1978 property doesn't need the federal lead disclosure. Even if you've never seen lead paint and genuinely don't know whether it's present, before renting pre-1978 housing, lessors must disclose the presence of known lead-based paint and/or lead-based paint hazards in the dwelling, and lessees must also receive a federally approved pamphlet on lead poisoning prevention. "I don't know" is a valid disclosure answer — but you still have to make the disclosure.

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