How do I switch property management companies in Texas?
Line up the new manager before you give notice, give notice the way your current agreement requires, and move three things in writing on a dated list: the money, the documents, and the tenant's payment instructions. The lease itself does not change; only who administers it does. Texas licensing law puts a floor under the outgoing manager: a license holder must account for and remit money belonging to you within a reasonable time, may not commingle it, and may not withhold documents you request without just cause (Tex. Occ. Code Sec. 1101.652(b)(9), (b)(10), (b)(5)). The gap between managers is where rent goes missing and deposits get muddled, so the whole exercise is about not having a gap. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sequence Matters: New Manager First, Then Notice
The most common mistake is giving notice on a bad day and then shopping for a replacement. That creates a window with nobody accountable for a rent payment that is already on its way. Do it in the other order: sign with the new manager with a start date that lands on or just after the old agreement's last day, then give notice under the old agreement's clause. Your notice period is whatever the contract says; in our experience the ones owners bring us run 30 to 60 days, which is enough time for a clean overlap if you start the search before you send the letter.
The Handoff List
Write one list, date it, and send it under the contract's notice method. It should name: rent collected and not yet disbursed; the security deposit balance held for each unit; the signed lease and any addenda; the tenant ledger and contact information; keys, remotes, and access codes; the open and recent work order history with invoices; vendor warranties; inspection and move-in photos; and the final owner statement. Under the License Act, failing within a reasonable time to account for or remit money that belongs to another person, and refusing to surrender a document the owner requests, are listed grounds for discipline (Sec. 1101.652(b)(9) and (b)(5)). A manager who runs a clean shop will beat your list. A loose one will need it, and the list is your record if they do not.
The Tenant Letter
The tenant needs one letter, not three phone calls: who manages the property as of what date, where rent goes starting with which month, who to call for maintenance, and that the lease terms are unchanged. Send it before the next rent date, in writing, and have the new manager confirm receipt. A tenant who pays the old manager in good faith after a switch because nobody told them creates a recovery problem that is entirely avoidable. The lease is between you and the tenant; it survives the switch exactly as written.
Deposits Are the Part People Get Wrong
Security deposits are trust money, and the broker who holds them remains responsible for that trust account until the money is properly disbursed, whoever on staff handled it day to day (TREC Rules 535.2(c) and 535.146(c)(7)). Get the balance in writing from the outgoing manager, confirm the same number in writing with the incoming one, and keep both. The tenant's right to a deposit accounting at move-out does not reset when the manager changes, so the incoming manager needs the move-in condition record, not just the dollar figure. A deposit that moves as a number without its paperwork is the fight you will have in a year.
What the Old Manager Can Keep
Fees earned under the agreement, and an early-termination fee if you agreed to one. That is the list. Money received that belongs to you has to be accounted for and remitted within a reasonable time (Sec. 1101.652(b)(9)); a final statement that nets out fees you actually owe is normal, a final statement with a line you cannot identify is a question to ask in writing. If the answer does not come, the Texas Real Estate Commission licenses the broker and takes complaints; it can discipline the license, though money owed to you beyond a limited refund is a civil matter, as TREC says plainly on its complaint page.
How a Switch Should Feel
Quiet. The tenant gets one letter and pays the right place on the first. The deposit moves with its paperwork. The owner gets a final statement from one side and an opening statement from the other that agree. We take on owners mid-lease regularly, and the handoff standard we hold ourselves to is the same one described here: a dated list, no gap, and the tenant told before the first of the month.