Key takeaways
- You approve the renewal unless your management agreement delegates it; read the renewal clause to see which.
- Start early. Our renewal work starts 120 days before the lease ends with a rent check against leased comparables, and renewal conversations typically happen 60 to 90 days out.
- Texas has no statute that sets a non-renewal notice period for a fixed-term lease: the lease governs. For a month-to-month tenancy, Property Code 91.001 sets a default of one month unless a signed agreement says otherwise.
- A rent increase or lease termination cannot be retaliation for a tenant's repair request or code complaint made in the previous six months (Property Code 92.331).
- Weigh any increase against a turnover, which typically costs one to two months of rent: about $2,000 to $5,000 on a typical Tarrant County home.
Yes, you approve lease renewals. For a rental in Fort Worth, Keller or North Richland Hills, the manager's job is to put a recommendation in front of you early enough to act on it: whether to renew this tenant, at what rent, for what term, and with what conditions. Your job is to decide, and to decide on time, because the renewal calendar has deadlines on the tenant's side that do not wait for an owner who has not opened the email.
This guide explains the calendar, what a useful recommendation contains, the three decisions you actually make, your right not to renew and how it works in Texas, how the management agreement should word renewal authority, and the mistakes that cost owners good tenants at renewal time.
Lease renewal in Fort Worth: who does what
Here is how the renewal work divides between the manager and the owner, and what governs each step:
| Step | Manager | Owner | What governs it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Track the lease end date and notice deadlines | Does it | Nothing to do | The lease |
| Check market rent against leased comparables | Prepares it | Reviews it | The management agreement |
| Renew or not | Recommends, with reasons | Decides | The management agreement; Property Code 92.331 bars retaliation |
| New rent | Recommends and negotiates | Approves | The lease and the market |
| Term | Recommends | Approves | Your plans for the house |
| Non-renewal notice | Drafts and serves it | Approves it | The lease notice clause; Property Code 91.001 for month-to-month |
| Renewal paperwork | Prepares, gets it signed, files it | Receives a copy | The lease |
How to read this table: the third column is short on purpose. An owner makes three decisions (renew or not, rent, term) and approves one notice. Everything else is process, and it belongs to the manager. If you are doing the tracking or the paperwork yourself, you are doing the manager's part.
Who decides what: the manager recommends, the owner approves
A management agreement gives the manager authority to lease the home within the parameters you set, and the same logic applies to renewals. The manager cannot commit you to another year with a tenant you want out, or to a rent you consider too low, unless the agreement says it can. In practice most agreements require owner approval for every renewal, and a good manager asks for it in writing.
What the manager owns is the process: tracking the lease end date, assessing the tenant, checking the market, drafting the offer, negotiating with the tenant and executing the paperwork. What you own is the decision. Managers who renew without asking are either working under a delegation you signed and forgot, or working outside the agreement, and it is worth knowing which. How rent is set at the start of a lease, and who has the final word, is in who sets the rent, the owner or the manager; renewal follows the same division.
The renewal calendar
A renewal has to start early because the tenant needs time to decide and, if they leave, you need time to market. A workable sequence for a twelve-month lease:
- About ninety days out: the manager reviews the tenant file and the market and sends you a recommendation.
- About seventy-five days out: you decide. The manager sends the tenant a written renewal offer with the rent, the term and a response deadline, or a non-renewal notice if that is the decision.
- About sixty days out: the tenant's deadline to accept, counter or give notice. Most Texas leases require the tenant to give written notice of at least a month, and often more, if they are leaving.
- Signed renewal or move-out plan: either the renewal is executed and filed, or the manager starts pre-marketing and schedules the make-ready.
The exact days depend on the lease's notice clauses, and the manager's calendar should be built around them. The point of starting early is that a tenant who gets an offer thirty days out with a large increase feels cornered, and a cornered tenant leaves. One who gets it ninety days out feels respected and usually stays.
What a useful renewal recommendation contains
A recommendation is not "renew at a five percent increase, reply yes." It should give you enough to decide without asking follow-up questions:
- Payment history: on-time record, late fees charged, any notices served during the term.
- Condition and conduct: the latest inspection report with photos, any lease concerns, maintenance behavior, how they treat the house and the neighbors.
- Market rent: what comparable homes are leasing for now, the gap between that and the current rent, and what the home would likely lease for vacant after a turnover.
- The cost of not renewing: an illustrative turnover estimate covering vacancy, make-ready, and the leasing fee, so the increase is weighed against a real number rather than a feeling.
- Tenant requests: anything the tenant has asked for as a condition of staying, such as a repair, a pet, or a longer term.
- A specific recommendation on renew or not, rent, and term, with the reasoning in two or three sentences.
If your manager's recommendation is a one-liner, ask for the file behind it. The decision is worth a page.
The three decisions you actually make
Renewal is three choices, and they should be made in order.
Renew or not. A tenant who pays on time, keeps the house and does not generate complaints is the most valuable thing a rental can have. Keeping them is almost always cheaper than replacing them; the reasoning is laid out in keeping good tenants longer. A tenant with a late-pay pattern, a lease violation they never cured, or a house that inspects worse every visit is a different conversation, and non-renewal may be the cleanest exit you will get.
Rent. The question is not the maximum the tenant will tolerate. It is the number that keeps a good tenant while closing the gap to market, with the turnover cost in view. Owners who push to the ceiling every year lose tenants over small sums and pay large ones to replace them. How to size and deliver an increase is in how much to raise rent and how to notify.
Term. Another twelve months is the default. A longer term suits a tenant you want to keep and a market you expect to soften. A shorter term, or month-to-month, suits an owner who may sell or move back, with the tradeoff that the tenant may leave on short notice too. If the lease sets a different rent for a month-to-month period, it should say so in plain words.
Choosing not to renew: your right and how it works
At the end of a fixed term in Texas, an owner generally does not need a reason to decline renewal, provided the decision is not retaliatory, not discriminatory under fair housing law, and the notice follows the lease. No Texas statute sets a non-renewal notice period for a fixed-term lease, so the lease sets it for both sides. The manager serves a written non-renewal notice within that window, confirms the move-out date and schedules the move-out inspection.
If the lease has already rolled to month-to-month, Property Code 91.001 supplies the default: the tenancy ends on the later of the date in the notice or one month after the notice is given, unless landlord and tenant agreed to a different period in a signed writing.
The retaliation rule is specific. Under Property Code 92.331, a landlord may not, within six months after a tenant in good faith asks for a repair, exercises a lease or legal right, or complains to a code enforcement agency, retaliate by raising the rent, terminating the lease, cutting services or filing an eviction, with the exceptions listed in 92.332. A non-renewal that follows closely on a repair demand deserves a call to an attorney first.
Where owners stumble is timing and tone. A non-renewal served late can leave a tenant holding over past the term, which creates its own process. Keep the notice short, keep it to the lease, and let the manager deliver it. Non-renewal is also the moment to decide whether you are re-leasing or selling; if selling, the sequence in selling an investment property starts now. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm notice requirements with your lease and an attorney.
How the management agreement should word renewal authority
There are three workable models, and the agreement should pick one in plain language:
- Owner approves everything. The manager recommends, the owner signs off on rent, term and conditions every time. Most control, most owner attention required.
- Delegated within limits. The manager may renew a tenant in good standing at a rent increase up to a stated percentage, for a term of twelve months, without further approval, and must seek approval for anything outside those limits. Less owner attention, same protection.
- Full delegation. The manager renews on its judgment and reports afterward. Suitable for some portfolio owners, rarely for a single-home owner.
Whichever you pick, add the default: what happens if the owner does not respond by the deadline. The usual choice is that the manager proceeds with its recommendation, because an unanswered email should not turn into an accidental month-to-month at the old rent. Also state who pays any renewal fee and what it covers; what a reasonable one looks like is in lease renewal fees explained.
The mistakes that cost owners good tenants
Four come up more than any others. The first is silence: the recommendation goes unanswered, the deadline passes, and the tenant either rolls to month-to-month on the old rent or starts looking because they heard nothing. The second is squeezing: a large increase on a good tenant to match a listing price that assumes a vacant, freshly painted house, when the tenant in place is worth a discount to that number.
The third is ignoring the tenant's asks. A tenant who stays for a fence repair or a ceiling fan is cheaper than a turnover, and the request usually improves the house anyway. The fourth is auto-renewal clauses nobody read. Some leases convert to month-to-month or renew for a full term automatically unless one side gives notice, and an owner who did not know that may find a tenant with another year they did not intend to grant. Read the renewal clause of the lease you inherited before the calendar reaches it.
A worked example
Illustrative only: say rent is $2,000 a month, comparable homes are now leasing around $2,150, and the tenant has paid on time for a year and left the house in good shape at the last inspection. A turnover would mean perhaps a month vacant, a make-ready and a leasing fee. We put a typical turnover at one to two months of rent, about $2,000 to $5,000 on a typical Tarrant County home, against a full year's difference between $2,000 and $2,150 of $1,800.
The recommendation might be: renew for twelve months at $2,075, with a note that the home is somewhat below market and the next renewal will close more of the gap. The tenant keeps a house they like at a rent they can absorb, the owner gets an increase without a vacancy, and the manager has a reason to put in front of the tenant that is honest. The owner replies with approval, the offer goes out seventy-five days ahead of the end date, and the renewal is signed within two weeks. That is the whole process working as intended, and it is what our renewal service is built to produce.
How Perpetual handles this
On every home we manage in Keller, North Richland Hills and Fort Worth, the renewal decision is yours. What we publish about the process is short. Renewal work starts 120 days before the lease ends and includes a rent check against leased comparables, the same discipline we use for initial pricing. You get a recommendation with reasoning: keep at market, adjust moderately, or let them go, with the turnover math shown. Conversations with the tenant happen well before lease end, typically 60 to 90 days, so if the tenant is leaving, marketing starts early.
The renewal fee is in your written quote before you sign: $150 on the Full Service plan, $200 on Standard and $149 on Investor Special, as listed on our pricing page. If you prefer to delegate renewals within limits, put the limits and the no-response default in the management agreement. If a renewal is coming up and you are not sure what to do with it, request a rental analysis or call 682-593-7033, and we will show you where the rent sits against the market.
The takeaway: The manager's job at renewal is to put a complete recommendation in front of you early; your job is to decide on time, with the cost of a turnover in view.
Questions owners ask
Do I get to approve lease renewals?
Yes. Under most management agreements the owner approves every renewal, including whether to renew at all, the rent and the term. The manager tracks the lease end date, sends a written recommendation a few months ahead with the tenant's record, market rent and a turnover cost estimate, and acts on your decision. Some owners delegate renewals within set limits, such as a maximum increase, and the agreement should say what happens if you do not respond by the deadline.
Can a property manager renew a lease without my permission?
Only if the management agreement gives them that authority, either fully or within stated limits. Read the renewal clause of your agreement; if it is silent, the manager should be asking you every time. If a renewal was signed without your approval and the agreement did not allow it, raise it in writing right away, because the lease with the tenant is likely still binding on you.
How much notice do I need to give a tenant not to renew in Texas?
The lease sets it. No Texas statute fixes a non-renewal notice period for a fixed-term lease, and many Texas leases require written notice of at least a month before the end of the term from either side. If the tenancy is already month-to-month, Property Code 91.001 sets a default of one month unless a signed agreement says otherwise. If the lease has an automatic renewal clause, the notice has to be served inside that window or the tenancy continues. Confirm the period with an attorney if the clause is unclear.
Should I raise the rent at every renewal?
Usually a modest increase that tracks the market is right, but the size should be weighed against the cost of a turnover, which for a good tenant is often more than a year of the difference. A manager's recommendation should include current comparable rents and a turnover estimate so you can see both numbers. Pushing a good tenant to the market ceiling every year tends to cost more than it earns.
What if I want to sell or move back in when the lease ends?
Serve a non-renewal notice within the lease's notice window and let the manager handle the move-out inspection and deposit accounting. If you plan to sell, decide early whether to sell vacant or with a tenant in place, since the timing and marketing differ. Tell the manager your plan at least a few months before the lease ends so the calendar and the tenant's notice line up.
When should a property manager start the lease renewal process?
Months ahead, not weeks. At Perpetual, renewal work starts 120 days before the lease ends with a rent check against leased comparables, and renewal conversations with the tenant typically happen 60 to 90 days before lease end. That leaves time for the owner to decide and, if the tenant is leaving, for marketing to start early.
Can I decline to renew because the tenant asked for repairs?
No. Property Code 92.331 bars a landlord from retaliating, including by raising the rent or terminating the lease, within six months after a tenant in good faith requests a repair or complains to a code enforcement agency. Section 92.332 lists what is not retaliation, such as acting on unpaid rent. If a non-renewal follows soon after a repair demand, speak with a Texas landlord attorney before the notice goes out.
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