What counts as landlord retaliation in Texas? The six-month rule
By Andrew ChavisUpdated September 23, 20267 min readFor six months after a tenant in good faith exercises a lease or statutory right, gives a repair notice, complains to a code or utility authority, or joins or forms a tenant organization, a landlord may not respond by filing an eviction, depriving the tenant of the premises, decreasing services, raising rent, terminating the lease, or engaging in bad faith in conduct that materially interferes with the tenant's lease rights (Tex. Prop. Code Sec. 92.331(a), (b)). The statute does not freeze the landlord: an eviction for delinquent rent, for intentional property damage or threats, for a material breach other than holding over, or for holding over after the tenant's own notice is not retaliation (Sec. 92.332(b)), and a rent increase under an escalation clause or as part of a project-wide pattern is not either, unless the increase violates a prior court order under Sec. 92.0563 (Sec. 92.332(a)). Get it wrong and the tenant recovers one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, costs, and attorney fees, and retaliation is a complete defense to the eviction (Secs. 92.333, 92.335). The practical rule for an owner is a calendar: the day a repair request or code complaint arrives, the next six months of decisions about that tenant have to stand on their own documented grounds. This is general information, not legal advice.
The Four Protected Acts
Retaliation in Texas is defined by what the tenant did first. The protected acts are: exercising or attempting in good faith to exercise a right or remedy granted by the lease, a municipal ordinance, or state or federal law; giving the landlord a notice to repair or exercising a remedy under Chapter 92; complaining to a government entity that enforces building or housing codes, to a public utility, or to a civic or nonprofit agency about a code violation or utility problem the tenant believes in good faith exists; and establishing, attempting to establish, or participating in a tenant organization (Sec. 92.331(a)). The most common one in a single-family rental is the second: a repair notice. The moment a tenant tells you the water heater is out, the six-month window opens.
The Six Things a Landlord May Not Do in Response
Within six months after the tenant's protected act, a landlord may not, because of it, file an eviction proceeding except on the grounds in Sec. 92.332; deprive the tenant of the use of the premises except as authorized by law; decrease services; increase rent or terminate the lease; or engage in bad faith in a course of conduct that materially interferes with the tenant's rights under the lease (Sec. 92.331(b)). The word that does the work is because: the statute reaches actions taken for purposes of retaliation, and the landlord who can prove the action was not retaliatory is not liable (Sec. 92.332(a)). A non-renewal at the end of the term with no other reason, sent five months after a code complaint, is the fact pattern that draws a retaliation claim and puts the landlord to proving the real reason; timing alone does not settle the case either way.
What Is Not Retaliation
The statute lists the grounds that are valid whatever the timing. An eviction or termination is not retaliation where the tenant is delinquent in rent when the notice to vacate is given or the eviction is filed; where the tenant, a household member, or a guest intentionally damages the property or threatens the safety of the landlord, staff, or another tenant; where the tenant has materially breached the lease other than by holding over, such as by violating written provisions against serious misconduct or criminal acts; where the tenant holds over after giving their own notice; where the tenant holds over after the landlord's end-of-term notice and only then raises a Sec. 92.331 act; or where the tenant holds over and the landlord's termination is motivated by a good-faith belief about quiet enjoyment, health and safety, or property damage (Sec. 92.332(b)). Rent increases under a written escalation clause for utilities, taxes, or insurance, or as part of a pattern across an entire multi-dwelling project, are also outside the statute, unless the increase violates a prior court order under Sec. 92.0563 (Sec. 92.332(a)). The common thread: the ground existed on its own and is written down.
What It Costs
A tenant who proves retaliation recovers a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees, in an action for property damages, moving costs, actual expenses, civil penalties, or declaratory or injunctive relief, less any delinquent rent or other sums the tenant owes the landlord (Sec. 92.333). Where the tenant's rent is subsidized, the penalty is measured on the fair market rent of the dwelling plus $500 (Sec. 92.333). And in the eviction itself, retaliation under Sec. 92.331 is a defense to possession (Sec. 92.335): the case a landlord filed to recover the house can end with the tenant still in it. The money comes in a separate suit; the statute bars joining the other Chapter 92 actions with an eviction or asserting them as a counterclaim in one (Sec. 92.335).
The Backstop Against Bad-Faith Complaints
The statute cuts the other way too, narrowly. If a tenant sues for retaliation based on a code or utility complaint and the inspector or utility representative visits and determines in writing that no violation or problem exists, there is a rebuttable presumption that the tenant acted in bad faith (Sec. 92.334(a)). A tenant who files or prosecutes a retaliation suit in bad faith is liable to the landlord for one month's rent plus $500, costs, and attorney fees, and the landlord may recover possession (Sec. 92.334(b)). The presumption reaches only complaints to a code, utility, or civic authority under Sec. 92.331(a)(3); a frivolous repair notice sent straight to the landlord gets no presumption, and the landlord carries the whole burden of proving bad faith. A repair notice given in good faith is protected; a complaint invented to block an eviction is not.
How We Run It
Every repair request and every code contact goes in the property file with its date, because the six-month clock runs from that date and the file is what proves a later decision stood on its own grounds. Non-renewals inside a window carry a documented reason in the file that would have been true without the request; the notice to the tenant itself states no reason, because Texas requires none and a volunteered one is what gets argued. Rent changes at renewal are priced to the comps the same way on every door and the comp set is kept, which is the evidence that an increase was not made for purposes of retaliation under Sec. 92.332(a). The statute's pattern safe harbor in Sec. 92.332(a)(2) is written for an entire multi-dwelling project, not for scattered single-family doors, so a single-family owner does not get to lean on it; the comps are the defense. And a repair request gets a diligent effort at an actual repair, not just an acknowledgment, inside the seven-day presumption in Sec. 92.056, which is the cheapest way there is to never need this page.
Common Questions
- Can a landlord evict a tenant for requesting repairs in Texas?
- Not because of the request. For six months after a good-faith repair notice, an eviction filed because of it is retaliation (Prop. Code Sec. 92.331(b)(1)) and a defense to the eviction (Sec. 92.335). An eviction for delinquent rent, damage, threats, or a material breach is valid in any event (Sec. 92.332(b)).
- How long is the retaliation window in Texas?
- Six months after the date of the tenant's protected act (Sec. 92.331(b)).
- Can a landlord raise rent after a tenant complains to code compliance in Texas?
- Not because of the complaint, within six months (Sec. 92.331(b)(4)). A rent increase under a written escalation clause for utilities, taxes, or insurance is outside the statute, and so is a pattern increase across an entire multi-dwelling project, unless the increase violates a prior court order under Sec. 92.0563 (Sec. 92.332(a)); a scattered single-family owner relies instead on proving the increase was priced to the market, not to the complaint.
- What is the penalty for landlord retaliation in Texas?
- A civil penalty of one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and attorney fees, less any rent owed (Sec. 92.333). Retaliation is also a complete defense to the eviction (Sec. 92.335).
- Can a landlord refuse to renew a lease after a repair request in Texas?
- Terminating the lease because of the request within six months is listed as retaliation (Sec. 92.331(b)(4)). A non-renewal for a documented reason that would have been true without the request is a different case; the landlord is not liable if the action was not made for purposes of retaliation (Sec. 92.332(a)).
- What if the tenant's code complaint was false?
- If the tenant sues for retaliation based on that complaint and the inspector visits the premises and determines in writing that no violation exists, the tenant is rebuttably presumed to have acted in bad faith (Sec. 92.334(a)), and a bad-faith retaliation suit makes the tenant liable for one month's rent plus $500, costs, and fees, with the landlord able to recover possession (Sec. 92.334(b)).
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