Key takeaways
- Perpetual begins renewals 120 days before lease expiration, with a rent check against leased comparables.
- You get a recommendation with reasoning: keep at market, adjust moderately, or let the tenant go. The decision is always yours.
- The conversation with the tenant typically happens 60 to 90 days before the lease ends, so a move-out still leaves time to market the home.
- We found no section in Texas Property Code chapters 91 or 92 that sets a deadline for offering a renewal on a house lease. The lease decides the notice dates.
- For a month-to-month tenancy, Property Code 91.001 sets at least one month's notice unless a signed agreement says otherwise.
How far ahead should renewal discussions start? Three to four months before the lease ends. At Perpetual we begin renewals 120 days before lease expiration on the homes we manage in Fort Worth, Keller and North Richland Hills. That is when the rent is checked against what comparable homes have actually leased for and a recommendation is prepared for you. You decide first; the conversation with the tenant typically follows 60 to 90 days before the end.
The early start is not about paperwork. It exists so that if the tenant declines, or you choose not to renew, there is still time to list and show the home before it sits empty. This guide gives the timeline step by step, what the offer contains, what Texas law says and what can shift the dates.
A lease renewal timeline, from 120 days out to the last day
Here is the renewal timeline for a lease ending June 30, with who acts at each point (the dates are an illustration; your lease sets the real deadlines):
| Days before lease end | Example date | What happens | Who acts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | March 2 | Renewal work begins: the rent is checked against leased comparables and the tenancy is reviewed | Manager |
| About 100 to 90 | Mid to late March | You receive a recommendation with reasoning: keep at market, adjust moderately, or let the tenant go | Owner decides |
| 90 to 60 | April 1 to May 1 | The renewal conversation with the tenant: rent, term and a date to reply | Manager and tenant |
| The notice deadline in your lease | Depends on the lease | Last day for either side to give the written notice the lease requires | Tenant or owner |
| About 30 | May 31 | The renewal is signed, or the home is being prepared for marketing | Manager |
| 0 | June 30 | The new term starts, or the tenant moves out and the move-out inspection follows | Manager |
How to read this table: the first and third rows are how we work, as stated on our site; the other rows are the sequence we recommend to any owner. The one date nobody can move is the notice deadline in your lease, so find that clause first and count backward from it.
What happens at each step, and why it starts so early
Each step in the table has a reason.
- The review, about four months out. The manager looks at the tenant's ledger, the maintenance history and the inspection reports, and checks the rent against leased comparables. Asking prices show what other owners hope to get; leased comparables show what tenants actually agreed to pay.
- The recommendation. You receive a short written recommendation: renew or not, at what rent, for what term, with the turnover math behind it.
- The conversation with the tenant. Once you approve, the tenant gets the offer and a date to reply.
- The outcome. The renewal is signed, or the home is prepared for marketing because one side declined.
The step owners most often skip is the first one. Renewing a tenant who pays late every month, just because the rent is fine, is a mistake that an early review would have caught. And a renewal conversation that starts thirty days out has already given away your best option, which is time.
Why the owner decides before the tenant hears anything
The tenant should never receive a renewal offer the owner has not approved. The recommendation comes to you first, with the rent figure, the term and the reasoning, and you say yes, change it, or decline. Do owners approve lease renewals? explains how that approval works in practice and what a manager may do without you.
This is also where the decision not to renew gets made, which needs the most time. If you plan to sell, move back in, or replace a tenant who has been difficult, the lease will usually require written notice a set number of days before the end, and the house will need make-ready and marketing after that. Starting four months out leaves room for all of it. Starting at thirty days does not.
What the renewal offer to the tenant contains
A good renewal offer is short and specific: the proposed rent, the term options (often twelve months, sometimes a longer term or a different end date to land in a better leasing season), any changes to lease terms, a response deadline, and a reminder of what the lease requires if the tenant plans to move out. Many leases require the tenant to give written notice of intent to vacate a set number of days before the end, and the offer should restate that date plainly.
An offer made 60 to 90 days out gives the tenant time to think, ask for a repair or a small adjustment, and respond without pressure. It also gives the manager time to learn early if the tenant is leaving, which is the information that protects you from a vacant month. How to keep good tenants longer covers why the tone and timing of this offer matter as much as the number in it.
What Texas law says about renewal and non-renewal notice
Less than most owners expect. We read chapters 91 and 92 of the Texas Property Code and found no section that sets a deadline for offering a renewal, or for telling a tenant that a fixed-term lease on a house will not be renewed. The lease sets those dates, which is why the notice clause is the first thing to read.
Three sections do matter around the end of a lease:
- Property Code 91.001 covers a month-to-month tenancy. Either side can end it by giving notice, and where rent is paid monthly the tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after the notice is given, unless landlord and tenant signed an agreement setting a different period.
- Property Code 24.005 applies if a tenant stays past the end without your consent. Before filing an eviction suit you must give at least three days' written notice to vacate, unless the lease sets a shorter or longer period, and for a holdover the landlord must also comply with the termination requirements of 91.001.
- Property Code 92.331 bars a landlord from retaliating, within six months after a tenant in good faith asks for a repair or exercises a legal right, by raising the rent or terminating the lease. A renewal decision made on the ledger, the inspections and the leased comparables, and documented that way, is the protection.
For the notices themselves, see lease termination notices in Texas. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example of the timeline paying off
Illustrative scenario, not a real case. A North Richland Hills lease ends on July 31. Renewal work starts in early April, 120 days out. The ledger is clean, the last inspection is good, and the leased comparables support a modest increase. The owner approves in mid April. The tenant hears the offer in early May and replies within a week: a job transfer means they will move out at the end of the lease.
Because that answer arrived about eleven weeks before the end, there is time to plan. The make-ready is scoped from the inspection report, vendors are lined up for the first days of August, and marketing is prepared so the listing goes live as soon as the lease and the tenant's cooperation allow.
Run the same scenario with a conversation that starts thirty days out. The move-out news arrives at the end of June, nothing is scheduled, and every step starts after the tenant has left. The difference between the two versions is weeks of rent, and at $2,000 a month each empty week is about $460.
What can shift the timeline
A few situations change the schedule:
- A lease ending in the slow season, such as late fall or winter, where the manager may propose a term that shifts the next end date into spring or early summer. Seasonality in the DFW rental market explains why that matters in Keller, North Richland Hills and Fort Worth.
- A tenant who asks about renewing early, which is a good sign and worth answering promptly.
- An owner planning to sell, where the manager needs a decision earlier still to coordinate with a listing.
- A lease with a longer notice requirement than usual, which pushes every step earlier.
Whatever the shift, the principle holds: the owner's decision comes first and early, the tenant's answer comes next, and the manager's listing plan is ready either way. The market check uses the same leased comparables as our rental pricing work.
How Perpetual handles this
Perpetual Property Management is broker-owned, with our office at 5755 Rufe Snow Dr in North Richland Hills, and we manage homes in Keller, North Richland Hills, Fort Worth and nearby. We begin renewals 120 days before lease expiration and check the rent against leased comparables, the same discipline we use for initial pricing, so the renewal reflects today's market and not last year's.
You then receive a recommendation with reasoning: keep at market, adjust moderately, or let the tenant go, with the turnover math shown. The decision is always yours. Renewals are negotiated well before lease end, typically 60 to 90 days out, so if the tenant is leaving, marketing starts early and the vacancy gap shrinks.
The lease renewal fee is $150 on our Full Service plan, $200 on Standard and $149 on Investor Special, and it is listed on the price sheet. The lease form, and the notice dates in it, are confirmed in writing before you sign. More on the process is on the renewals and turnovers page.
If you have a lease ending in the next four months and nobody has mentioned renewal yet, call 682-593-7033.
The takeaway: Renewal work should start three to four months before the lease ends; we begin at 120 days, you decide before the tenant hears anything, and the early start is what leaves time to re-lease if the tenant is leaving.
Questions owners ask
How much notice does a tenant have to give before not renewing in Texas?
It depends on the lease. We found no section in Texas Property Code chapters 91 or 92 that sets a notice period for the end of a fixed-term house lease, so the lease's own clause controls. For a month-to-month tenancy, Property Code 91.001 requires at least one month's notice when rent is paid monthly, unless a signed agreement sets a different period. This is general information, not legal advice; check the lease wording.
What happens if the tenant does not respond to the renewal offer?
The manager follows up in writing and by phone before the reply date, since silence often means the tenant is weighing a move. If the date passes with no answer, the lease governs what happens next: some leases continue month to month, others treat the end date as final. A good manager begins preparing the listing at that point instead of waiting for the last day.
Can I decide not to renew a good tenant because I want to sell?
Generally yes, with the written notice the lease requires, as long as the decision is not discriminatory and is not retaliation for a repair request or another protected action under Property Code 92.331. Tell your manager as early as possible, ideally at the four-month review, so the notice is on time and the sale and move-out can be coordinated. Some owners sell with the tenant in place instead. This is general information, not legal advice.
Should I offer a longer lease at renewal?
For a tenant with a clean record in a well-kept house, a longer term reduces turnover risk and is often worth a slightly smaller increase. The trade-off is less flexibility to raise rent or sell during the term. A middle path is a twelve-month renewal with an end date moved into the strongest leasing season, which protects against a winter vacancy without locking the rent for two years.
How early should a landlord send a lease renewal offer?
Early enough that a "no" still leaves time to re-lease: 60 to 90 days before the lease ends is the usual window for the conversation with the tenant, and it must come before the notice deadline in the lease. The owner's own decision should be made before that. We begin the work 120 days before lease expiration.
Does a lease renew automatically in Texas if nobody signs anything?
Only if the lease says so. We found no section in Property Code chapters 91 or 92 that renews a fixed-term house lease by itself; the lease's renewal or holdover clause decides whether it continues month to month or simply ends. If it becomes month to month, Property Code 91.001 governs how either side ends it. Read the clause before the term runs out. This is general information, not legal advice.
Does Perpetual charge a fee for a lease renewal?
Yes. The lease renewal fee is $150 on the Full Service plan, $200 on Standard and $149 on Investor Special, as listed on our price sheet. Plans are negotiable case by case, and every number is confirmed in writing before you sign.
Related services
Property management in Keller, North Richland Hills and Fort Worth. How full-service management works in Tarrant County →
