How to protect yourself from bad tenants

A good screening process starts with written criteria you decide on before applications come in. Use the same process for each applicant and base your decision on factors that are actually relevant to whether they can meet the lease terms. HUD specifically recommends screening criteria that are relevant to tenancy and applied in a nondiscriminatory way.

A basic screening process should include:

• A complete written application with identity, employment, income, rental history, and prior landlord contact information.

• Income verification using a standard you apply consistently. There is no Texas law requiring income to equal three times the rent.

• Rental history to confirm prior tenancies, payment history, and whether the applicant left owing money or with unresolved lease issues.

• Credit or tenant-screening reports when appropriate. If you use a consumer report to deny an applicant or impose less favorable terms, federal law requires an adverse-action notice explaining the screening company used and the applicant’s rights.

• The same written standards for everyone. Consistency helps protect both the quality of your decisions and your Fair Housing compliance.

If a unit has been vacant for a few weeks, it can be tempting to loosen your standards just to get someone in. That is exactly when having written criteria matters most.

A lease protects you when the rules are specific, written down, and consistent with Texas law. At minimum, spell out:

• Lease dates and renewal. State when the lease begins and ends, whether it becomes month-to-month, and what notice is required to end or renew it.

• Late fees. Put the fee in the written lease. Texas allows a late fee only when it is reasonable and the rent has remained unpaid for two full days after it was due. Texas Property Code §92.019 also sets thresholds for when a late fee is presumed reasonable.

• Security deposits. Explain what the deposit can be used for and document the condition of the property at move-in. Texas generally requires the deposit to be refunded within 30 days after the tenant surrenders the property, although the landlord is not required to send the refund or itemization until the tenant provides a forwarding address.

• Pets and occupants. Be clear about whether pets are allowed, what deposits or fees apply, and who is authorized to live in the property. That gives you something concrete to enforce if an unauthorized animal or occupant appears later.

• Landlord entry. Put the entry rules in the lease, including when you may enter and what notice you will give. Texas does not have a general statewide rule requiring landlords to give 24 hours’ notice before every entry; the lease is especially important here.

• Changes to the agreement. Set a clear process for lease changes and put important agreements with the tenant in writing. Do not rely on a conversation you may have to reconstruct months later.

Texas does not publish a standard residential lease through TREC. If you are using a template, compare it with current Texas landlord-tenant law and have an attorney review it before relying on it. See State Law Library for the resource, Chapter 92 for specific legal claims.

Texas law gives tenants specific protections, and landlords need to know where the hard lines are.

Repairs that affect health or safety. A landlord must make a diligent effort to repair a condition that materially affects an ordinary tenant’s physical health or safety after proper notice, assuming the tenant is current on rent and the condition was not caused by the tenant or their household. Texas law generally presumes seven days is a reasonable repair period, but that can vary with the severity of the problem and the availability of labor or materials.

• Tenants do have remedies when a landlord does not make required repairs, including certain repair-and-deduct rights and court remedies. But the draft should not say a tenant can simply withhold rent entirely. Texas law can penalize improper rent withholding.

Lockouts and self-help removal. A landlord generally cannot use locks, utilities, or a tenant’s belongings simply to force someone out instead of using the legal eviction process. Texas does allow limited lock changes for delinquent rent when strict notice and lease requirements are followed, but the landlord must still provide the tenant with a new key regardless of whether the rent is paid.

The practical rule is simple: document repair requests, respond promptly, and do not improvise your own eviction process.

Good records make it much easier to show what happened, when it happened, and how you responded.

Keep:

• Move-in and move-out photos or video. Document the condition of each room, major surfaces, appliances, and any existing damage.

• Written repair requests and responses. Keep the tenant’s request, your response, invoices, photos, and the date the work was completed.

• Notices and proof of delivery. Keep copies of late notices, notices to vacate, lease-violation notices, and whatever shows how they were delivered. Texas law allows several delivery methods for a notice to vacate, including mail, hand delivery, delivery inside the premises, and agreed electronic delivery. Certified mail is not universally required.

• Payment records. Keep a clear rent ledger showing what was due, what was paid, and when.

• Lease violations. Note what happened, when you learned about it, what notice you gave, and whether the tenant corrected it.

• Important conversations. After a phone call or in-person conversation, send a short text or email confirming what was discussed so there is a written record.

Documentation is what turns a landlord’s version of events into something they can prove. If a tenant stops paying, damages the property, disputes a charge, challenges a notice, or the case ends up in JP court, your lease, payment records, photos, notices, and repair history show what happened and how you responded.

The goal is preserving your ability to enforce the lease, recover legitimate costs, and defend your actions if the tenant disputes them.

A property manager can take over much of the work that prevents tenant problems from getting worse: screening applicants, collecting rent, documenting lease violations, coordinating repairs, and handling day-to-day communication.

They can also coordinate an eviction when necessary, but they don't make the underlying problem disappear. The owner still bears the financial cost of vacancy, repairs, unpaid rent, and legal action.

Full-service property management in Texas commonly costs around 8% to 12% of collected rent, and leasing, renewal, or eviction-coordination fees may be charged separately. Current Texas property-management pricing guides consistently show that range.

A property manager can make a rental easier to operate. They cannot make an unprofitable or chronically difficult property worth keeping.

Good screening, a strong lease, solid documentation, and even a property manager can reduce the problems that come with being a landlord. They cannot fix a rental that no longer makes financial or practical sense to keep.

If unpaid rent, repairs, vacancy, legal costs, or management time keep eating into what the property earns, it may be time to compare the cost of holding it with the cost of selling. Our guide to selling a rental property walks through that decision in more detail.

Big State buys rental properties, occupied or vacant, without requiring repairs first. Here's what sets Big State apart.