{"id":12800,"date":"2023-06-09T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T12:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/girlinglaw.com\/?page_id=12800"},"modified":"2023-06-09T12:11:40","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T12:11:40","slug":"faqs-for-texas-residential-lease-agreements","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/girlinglaw.com\/faqs-for-texas-residential-lease-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"FAQs for Texas Residential Lease Agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Answered by a Licensed Texas Eviction Attorney)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Types of Texas Residential Lease Agreements<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Texas Residential Agreement Templates – Contents Quality<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Enforcement of a Texas Residential Rental Agreement<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

The Texas residential lease agreement you use for your rental properties is an all-important detail when your tenants start defaulting under their lease.  This is particularly true when a tenant is committing a conduct-related default, a default unrelated to non-payment.  Complicating this for Texas residential landlords is the fact that there are many Texas residential lease agreements available.  These come in a wide range in terms of quality and understanding what makes a Texas residential lease agreement a good rental contract is not always easy to understand.  <\/span><\/p>\n

This set of Texas Residential Lease Agreement FAQ\u2019s is designed to help you understand what options are available to you, the hallmarks of a good lease contract, the \u201cwhy\u201d behind what makes a lease a good lease, and the role that a well written lease plays in helping you remove a problem tenant.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Girling Law offers Texas residential real estate investors a cost-effective option with its <\/span>Rock Solid Lease<\/span><\/a>\u00a9.  Our firm\u2019s lease includes all of the attributes this article describes for a highly effective Texas rental contract, all for less than $50.00.   <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Types of Texas Residential Lease Agreements<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/div>

What types of Texas Residential Lease Agreements are available to me as a landlord?  <\/b><\/p>\n

You will find Texas residential leases an many different forms.  They can be a bit challenging to categorize.  The best way to wrap your head around the various types of leases available to you are to think of them as coming from three different categories: 1) promulgated leases; 2) paid leases; 3) free leases.  <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span>What is a promulgated Texas residential lease agreement?<\/b><\/p>\n

When you hear the term \u201cpromulgated lease\u201d used in Texas, the speaker is almost always referring to a lease agreement produced by one of several different real estate investment industry organizations.  The most frequently used promulgated leases in Texas come from the Texas Real Estate Commission, the Texas Realtors\u00ae Association, and the Texas Apartment Association.  These leases are regularly updated by these organizations\u2019 attorneys to ensure compliance with changes in various state laws.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a Texas eviction attorney, do you recommend using one of these promulgated Texas residential lease agreements?<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes!  But only if you are a member of the organization that produces the lease and only if you are using the most recent version of the organization\u2019s lease.  My response to one of the questions, below, <\/span>explains why making unauthorized use of one of these leases (i.e. not being a member of the organization) is a REALLY bad idea.  <\/span><\/p>\n

I have found copies of Texas Realtors\u00ae Association and Texas Real Estate Commission Texas residential lease agreements on unrelated websites and they appear to be free.  Is it safe to use these?  <\/b><\/p>\n

Probably not.  For reasons I state in the next FAQ, you should NEVER use one of these leases if you are not a member of the organization.  In addition, downloading copies of these promulgated Texas residential lease agreements from other websites means you are almost certainly using an outdated lease agreement.  As of mid-2023, there have been several recent changes in Texas law relating to residential tenancies.  Two examples include pre-eviction notices and late fees.  There are others.  It will not matter if you complied with the terms of your outdated lease, but failed to comply with the Texas laws that were in effect on the date of your lease.  The grandfathering of laws does not relate back to the date of your lease version; they relate back to the date of your lease.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it safe to use a promulgated Texas residential lease agreement even though I am not a member of the organization producing it?<\/b><\/p>\n

Absolutely not.  In fact, it is highly likely you will get burned if you attempt to present such a lease as evidence to a Texas Judge.    <\/span><\/p>\n

All of the Texas promulgated leases include copyright language.  In the small lettering (what attorneys call \u201cthe boilerplate language\u201d) of these leases you will find a term stating that if you are not a member of the organization that produced the lease, the tenant may void the lease at will.  This means the tenant could show up to Court and tell the Judge that the tenant no longer wishes to have the lease honored.  This step will forbid the Judge from awarding you unpaid rent damages and attorney fees.  While you will still enjoy a judgment for possession of your rental property, your situation can get much worse\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

By presenting this lease to a Texas court as evidence, you have also made a judicial admission that you have used the Texas residential lease agreement.  This means you have created proof that you violated the organization\u2019s copyright by using their lease without their permission.  The organization, of course, can easily prove you are not a member.  This would be all they need to do to sue you over violating their copyright, and they would be happy to do so.  Afterall, as the owner of rental properties, you have assets any judgment creditor can collect against.  In other words, by presenting the organization\u2019s Texas residential lease agreement to the Court, you have made the organization\u2019s job of suing you very easy.  They can now easily win and foreclose on one or more of your rental properties. This problem will mushroom if you have multiple properties in which you used the organization\u2019s leases.  They will easily obtain your other Texas residential lease agreements during the discovery phase of their lawsuit against you.  <\/span><\/p>\n

How likely is it for a Texas Judge to enforce the copyright language in promulgated Texas residential lease?<\/b><\/p>\n

Very likely.  Many Texas Justices of the Peace are active or former Real Estate Agents and Brokers.  Some are members of the local Texas Realtors\u00ae Association.  All of these Judges will be very familiar with the notice requirements in these lease agreements.  Because eviction is such a significant proportion of a Texas Justice of the Peace\u2019s case load, running for Justice of the Peace is often a logical transition for Texas real estate professionals.  Justices of the Peace are not required to be attorneys in Texas.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, new Texas Justices of the Peace are required to go through 80 hours of training before they are permitted to sit on the bench.  I have never taken this training, but I infer from my experience with them and my discussions with them that Texas Justices of the Peace are likely trained to enforce these Texas residential lease terms.  When I appear before Texas Justices of the Peace, I regularly observe them enforcing these lease terms against self-represented landlords.  And several of these Justices of the Peace who do this sort of thing I know are not presently or were never previously licensed Texas Real Estate Agents or Brokers.  <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Which types of paid Texas residential lease agreements do you advise Texas landlords to use?<\/b><\/p>\n

I advise my landlord clients to use only the paid Texas residential lease agreements obtained from a licensed Texas attorney.  This is typically your best option, if you are unwilling to pay the membership fees needed to legally acquire a promulgated lease.  <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the downsides to attorney-generated residential leases is cost.  If you go to an attorney and request a \u201ccustomized\u201d lease, you should expect to pay several thousand dollars for this service.  In addition to being a very costly item, the value of these \u201ccustomizations\u201d are questionable.  You need a lease that is thorough.  Very few rental properties require a written lease with customizations that can be otherwise found in a through lease like a promulgated lease.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Our firm\u2019s Texas residential lease agreement, the <\/span>Rock Solid Lease<\/span><\/a>\u00a9, offers you the perfect balance.  Our attorney-drafted Texas residential lease agreement offers you a very thorough lease that is also landlord-friendly and affordable!    <\/span><\/p>\n

Are the Texas residential lease agreements from those heavily branded websites good leases? <\/b><\/p>\n

Generally, no.  Many of the Texas residential lease agreements available for purchase online are low to below average quality leases.  Some are even designed to provide advantages to your tenants.  I have reviewed most of the leases from the big-name document companies and big box office supply companies.  I have seen leases from these companies requiring the landlord to deliver a notice to cure (given to the tenant before the landlord delivers the notice to vacate).  In Texas, notices to cure are only required for mobile home park evictions or if the lease otherwise unnecessarily requires a notice to cure.  And these were not mobile home park specific leases.  I have also come across leases that did not permit the landlord to recover attorney fees.  These types of leases also regularly omit some of the critical residential lease terms I discuss below.  <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m using a free Texas residential lease agreement that I located online.  Am I going to be OK?<\/b><\/p>\n

Maybe.  If you do not experience any conflict with your tenant, you should expect no problems from having used a free, low quality lease agreement.  However, if your tenant stops paying rent or commits some other default under your written lease agreement, you will run into a high-risk situation when it becomes necessary to start the eviction process.  An experienced eviction attorney will often succeed in navigating around the issues created by a problematic lease agreement.  Of course, hiring an attorney to represent you in an eviction trial is far more expensive than the cost of a through, paid-for lease agreement.  For example, Girling Law\u2019s <\/span>Rock Solid Lease<\/span><\/a>\u00a9 is available to you for under $50.00.   <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>

Texas Residential Agreement Templates – Contents Quality<\/b><\/h2>\n<\/div>

Which lease terms to you typically find in higher-quality Texas residential lease agreement templates? <\/b><\/p>\n

The better Texas residential written lease agreement templates will include the following terms:<\/span><\/p>\n