Texas security deposit law

Your landlord must refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after you surrender the premises (Prop. Code § 92.103(a)). If they keep any of it, they must send the balance with a written description and itemized list of all deductions (§ 92.104(c)).

But the landlord isn't obligated to refund or itemize until you give them a written statement of your forwarding address (§ 92.107(a)). You don't lose your deposit by not giving one (§ 92.107(b)); the clock just doesn't start. If you haven't done it yet, do it now, in writing, and keep a copy. A demand letter that includes your forwarding address does the job.

A refund or list placed in the mail and postmarked on or before the deadline counts as on time (§ 92.1041).

Some leases make advance notice of move-out a condition of getting your deposit back. That condition only works if it's underlined or printed in conspicuous bold in the lease (§ 92.103(b)). Check your lease before you accept that reason.

Texas law specifically forbids withholding your last month's rent on the grounds that the deposit covers it. A tenant who does is presumed to act in bad faith and can owe three times the rent withheld plus the landlord's attorney's fees (§ 92.108). Pay the rent and ask for the deposit back separately.

A landlord who in bad faith keeps a deposit in violation of the law is liable for $100, plus three times the portion wrongfully withheld, plus your reasonable attorney's fees (§ 92.109(a)).

A landlord who in bad faith doesn't provide the itemized list loses the right to keep any of the deposit or to sue you for damage to the unit, and owes your attorney's fees (§ 92.109(b)).

Two rules tilt the case your way. A landlord who neither refunds nor itemizes by the 30th day is presumed to have acted in bad faith (§ 92.109(d)). And in a tenant's suit, the landlord has to prove that whatever they kept was reasonable (§ 92.109(c)).

A new owner is liable for returning deposits from the day they take title, and must give you a signed statement acknowledging the deposit and its exact amount (§ 92.105). The previous owner stays liable until the new owner receives the deposit or takes on the liability, unless a written contract says otherwise. A mortgage lender that takes the property by foreclosure is an exception.

If you signed a lease but didn't move in, the landlord can't keep your deposit when a replacement tenant the landlord accepts moves in on or before your lease's start date. If the landlord found the replacement, they may keep a lease cancellation fee set in the lease, or their actual costs of finding the tenant (§ 92.1031).