What Texas law requires from your landlord
Texas Property Code Chapter 92 is the framework that controls every residential security deposit dispute in the state. Three statutes do most of the work.
Tex. Prop. Code § 92.103 sets the return deadline: 30 calendar days after the tenant surrenders possession. The clock does not start until two things happen at once. The tenant has to vacate AND provide a written forwarding address. That combination is what triggers the landlord's 30-day obligation. Providing a forwarding address verbally does not count. Texting it probably does not count. Put it in writing, dated, and keep a copy.
Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104 governs what happens when the landlord wants to keep any part of the deposit. Within the same 30-day window, the landlord must hand over a written description and itemized list of every deduction. Receipts or invoices are not always mandatory, but the burden of proving each deduction is lawful falls on the landlord, not on you. If they can't document it, they can't keep it.
Texas does not cap how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit. There is no two-months-rent ceiling here, unlike California or some other states. Whatever you paid, the full amount is governed by these rules.
The 30-day window and why it matters so much
Thirty days sounds generous, but it creates a clear, provable deadline that benefits you in court. If the landlord misses it entirely and sends nothing, you walk into the Justice Court with a clean statutory violation. If they send a partial itemization late, the items they failed to account for within the window are presumptively improper.
Two things can complicate the clock. First, if you never provided a written forwarding address, the landlord can argue the 30-day obligation hasn't been fully triggered. Texas courts have found that the forwarding-address requirement shifts who carries the burden of proving bad faith. You gave written notice, the landlord still failed to respond. That's a clean bad-faith case. You skipped the written notice, and the landlord stayed silent. The burden analysis gets murkier. Always provide a forwarding address in writing.
Second, surrender of possession is not always the day you moved the last box out. If you had a lease through the end of the month and handed in keys early, some courts treat formal lease-end as the surrender date. Others look at actual vacancy. Know the date you can defend.
Calculator
What you may be owed
Estimate only. Uses your state's return window and bad-faith multiplier. Not legal advice.
What you can actually recover in Justice Court
Texas Justice Courts are real courts, not arbitration panels. Judgments are enforceable the same way any civil judgment is. Your potential recovery has three parts.
The principal is the deposit amount the landlord withheld without a lawful basis. If your deposit was $1,500 and they sent back $300 with no itemization for the remaining $1,200, your principal is $1,200.
The bad-faith penalty under § 92.109 is $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld portion. On a $1,200 withheld amount, that's $100 plus $3,600, for a statutory penalty of $3,700. Added to the $1,200 principal, your total claim is $4,900, before attorney's fees.
Attorney's fees are recoverable by the prevailing tenant. This is a significant point. Even if you represent yourself and the only fees you're claiming are filing costs and maybe a process server, the statute contemplates fee-shifting. If you hired an attorney to help you prepare, those fees belong in your claim. Most landlords representing themselves in Justice Court are not eager to risk fee exposure on top of a 3× penalty.
Texas Justice Courts cap claims at $20,000. Almost every deposit dispute, including the full bad-faith penalty on a large deposit, lands inside that limit.
What to gather before you file
Justice Court hearings run fast. Most judges give each side ten to fifteen minutes. The documents you bring have to carry your argument.
Gather these before you file:
- Your signed lease, including any addenda describing the deposit amount and permitted deductions.
- Proof that you paid the deposit. A canceled check, a bank transfer record, or a written receipt from the landlord.
- Written documentation of your move-out date and the date you provided a forwarding address. If you emailed it, print the email with the timestamp. If you sent it by certified mail, keep the tracking number.
- Move-in and move-out condition photos, timestamped. Even informal phone photos work if the metadata is intact. Photos from move-in showing the property's pre-existing condition directly undercut most damage claims.
- The itemized statement the landlord sent, if they sent one. If they sent nothing, the absence of a statement is itself evidence.
- Any text messages or emails where the landlord acknowledged the deposit, promised to return it, or gave reasons for keeping it.
- If the landlord claimed damage repairs, get an independent estimate from a licensed contractor showing the actual market cost. Landlords routinely inflate repair costs on itemized statements, and a competing estimate gives the judge a reason to discount theirs.
Three printed copies of everything: one for you, one for the judge, one for the landlord. Judges in Texas Justice Courts see deposit disputes regularly. A clean, organized folder makes an impression.
How to file in Texas Justice Court
Texas Justice Courts, also called Justice of the Peace courts or JP courts, are the venue for small claims cases. Each county has at least one; most larger counties have several precincts. File in the precinct that covers either the location of the rental property or the county where the landlord resides or has a principal place of business. The rental location is usually the simpler choice.
The filing form in Texas is called a Small Claims Petition (form SC-100 in some counties, but form names vary by precinct). You'll describe the dispute in plain language: the deposit amount, the dates, the statute, and the amount you're claiming. The filing fee is typically between $46 and $100 depending on the precinct and the claim amount. Some precincts allow online filing through the Texas eCourts portal; others require you to appear in person at the clerk's window.
After filing, the court issues a citation ordering the defendant to appear or respond. You are responsible for serving that citation on the landlord. Options include the county constable or sheriff (usual cost: $75 to $100), a private process server, or in some circumstances certified mail through the clerk. Confirm service rules with your specific precinct before choosing a method.
The landlord has the option to file a counterclaim, most often alleging unpaid rent or damage costs. If a counterclaim lands, you'll need your lease and your move-out documentation to respond.
If you haven't sent a demand letter yet
Filing in Justice Court without first sending a written demand letter is not prohibited, but it is a missed opportunity. Judges notice when a plaintiff skipped the demand step, and more practically, about 85% of Texas landlords pay after receiving a properly cited demand letter. Court is the exception.
If the deadline has not passed yet, or if you want to give the landlord one final chance to settle before you spend money on filing fees and service costs, send a Texas demand letter for a withheld security deposit first. The letter cites § 92.103, § 92.104, and § 92.109 by name, sets a response deadline, and puts the bad-faith penalty in writing. That alone resolves most disputes. If yours doesn't, you'll have a certified mail record that strengthens the filing you're about to make.
What to expect after you file
Texas Justice Courts typically schedule hearings between 30 and 90 days after filing, depending on the precinct's caseload. Urban precincts in Harris County, Dallas County, and Travis County often run longer; rural precincts are usually faster.
The hearing itself is informal compared to district court. You and the landlord both appear before the judge or justice of the peace. You speak first as the plaintiff. Identify the statute, name the dates, state the amount, and walk through your evidence in the order of the timeline. The landlord responds. The judge asks questions. Most proceedings end in a same-day ruling, though some judges take the matter under advisement and mail the decision within a few weeks.
If you win, the judgment specifies the dollar amount owed. Texas landlords who ignore a judgment face lien exposure against real property, wage garnishment if applicable, and bank account levies via a writ of execution. Post-judgment interest accrues at the rate set in the judgment. Most landlords pay within 30 days of receiving a judgment to avoid the collection process.
If the landlord appeals, the case moves to the county court at law for a new trial. Appeals are uncommon in Justice Court deposit disputes, because the landlord faces the same evidence in a slightly more formal setting, with the added risk that your attorney's fees have now grown.
Sources & further reading
Primary sources
We draft from authoritative statutes and state-court self-help guidance. Every article on Sue.com links to the primary source so you can verify the citation yourself.