Rekeying, Deadbolts and Smoke Alarms: Texas Security Device Rules for Landlords

Texas is specific about locks. Subchapter D of Property Code chapter 92 lists the security devices every rental home must have, requires the landlord to rekey after every tenant turnover at the landlord's cost, and Subchapter F sets separate duties for smoke alarms. The rules are statewide, so they are the same for a rental in Fort Worth, Keller or North Richland Hills, and the lock and rekey duties cannot be waived in the lease (92.006).

The list is short and the hardware is cheap. This guide walks through what the law requires, section by section, the deadlines it sets, what a tenant can do if something is missing, and the documents that prove you did it.

Texas residential door lock regulations and key requirements at a glance

Here is every security device and alarm the Texas Property Code requires in a rental home, where it goes, the specification and the section to read:

How to read this table: walk the house with it. Every exterior door should show three devices, every window one, every sliding door two. The 48-inch maximum applies to devices installed on or after September 1, 1993; older installations may be as high as 54 inches (92.154, 92.155).

The devices every Texas rental must have

Under Property Code 92.153 a rental dwelling must be equipped, at the landlord's expense and without the tenant asking, with the following:

• A window latch on each exterior window.
• A doorknob lock or keyed deadbolt on each exterior door.
• A keyless bolting device on each exterior door. That is a deadbolt with a thumb turn inside and nothing outside: it can be locked and unlocked only from the interior.
• A door viewer, the peephole, on each exterior door.
• On each exterior sliding glass door, a pin lock plus either a handle latch or a security bar.
• On a pair of French doors, one door must meet the list above and the other must have bolts into the frame above and the floor or threshold below (92.153(b)).

The definitions in 92.151 matter. An exterior door includes the door between the living area and the garage. A chain latch, flip latch, surface-mounted slide bolt or swing bar door guard is not a keyless bolting device, however solid it looks. The subchapter covers single-family houses, duplexes, apartments, condominiums and townhomes alike (92.152).

Section 92.154 sets the installation details. A keyed deadbolt or keyless bolting device must sit not lower than 36 inches and not higher than 48 inches from the floor (54 inches if it was installed before September 1, 1993), with a strike plate screwed into the doorjamb, and a deadbolt installed since that date needs a bolt throw of at least one inch. A hardware-store deadbolt mounted at the wrong height does not comply.

Two narrow exemptions exist. A keyless bolting device may be left off when a tenant over 55 or with a disability asks for that in a separate written request (92.153(f)), and in certain senior or disability housing where the landlord checks on tenants (92.153(e)). Otherwise the devices must stay operable the whole time a tenant is in possession (92.153(h)).

Rekeying between tenants

Section 92.156(a) is one sentence: a security device operated by a key, card or combination must be rekeyed by the landlord, at the landlord's expense, not later than the seventh day after each tenant turnover date. The turnover date is the day the new tenant moves in after all previous occupants have moved out (92.151(15)).

Seven days after move-in is the legal limit, not a good plan. The practical standard is that the new tenant never receives a key a previous occupant could still hold, so the rekey belongs in the make-ready, before key handover. Rekeying is not the same as changing the locks. A locksmith re-pins the existing cylinders so the old keys stop working, which costs less than new hardware and keeps a deadbolt that already meets the statute.

During the tenancy, the tenant may ask for another rekey or a changed lock at any time and as often as they like, and the landlord must do it, at the tenant's expense (92.156(b)). The rule does not reach closet or other interior doors (92.156(d)).

One clause is worth checking in your lease. If a tenant moves out in breach of a written lease, the landlord may deduct the reasonable cost of the rekey from the security deposit only if the lease has an underlined or boldface provision authorizing it (92.156(e)).

Devices a tenant can request, and who pays

Beyond the baseline list, section 92.157 lets a tenant request specific additions at any time, at the tenant's expense: a keyed deadbolt on an exterior door that has only a doorknob lock or only a keyless bolt, and a handle latch or security bar on a sliding glass door that lacks one. If a device the landlord was required to install is simply missing, the tenant may ask for it to be installed immediately, and it goes in at the landlord's expense (92.157(c)).

The landlord must also repair or replace a security device when the tenant reports that it is inoperable (92.158). A landlord may not charge the tenant for normal wear and tear. A charge for misuse or damage by the tenant or a guest is allowed only if an underlined lease provision authorizes it, and it may not exceed what a third-party contractor charged for material, labor, taxes and extra keys (92.162).

The clock is in section 92.161. A reasonable time to comply is presumed to be not later than the seventh day after the landlord receives the request. It drops to 72 hours if the tenant tells the landlord that an unauthorized entry occurred or was attempted at the dwelling.

A request may be made orally unless the written lease requires it in writing and that requirement is underlined or in boldface (92.159). The lease should say so and point tenants to the same portal used for repairs, which keeps the request, the date and the response in one place.

Smoke alarm duties

Smoke alarms have their own subchapter. Under section 92.255 the landlord must install at least one smoke alarm in each separate bedroom. If several bedrooms open onto the same corridor, at least one more goes in the corridor in the immediate vicinity of the bedrooms, and a home with more than one level needs at least one on each level.

Placement follows the manufacturer's instructions, on a ceiling or wall: on a ceiling, no closer than six inches to a wall; on a wall, six to twelve inches below the ceiling (92.257). A home first occupied before September 1, 2011 may use battery-powered alarms that are not interconnected (92.255(b)).

At the beginning of the tenant's possession, the landlord must determine that each alarm is in good working order by testing it with smoke, pressing the test button or following the manufacturer's test procedure (92.258(b)). After that, the landlord's duty to inspect or repair an alarm arises only when the tenant gives notice of a malfunction or asks for an inspection (92.258(c)). The landlord is not obligated to supply batteries after move-in if the alarm worked when the tenant took possession (92.258(f)).

A tenant who removes a battery without immediately replacing it, or knowingly disconnects or damages an alarm, is liable under section 92.2611. To use the statute's remedies, including a civil penalty of one month's rent plus $100, the lease must carry an underlined or boldface notice about it, and the landlord must first give a separate written notice allowing seven days to fix the alarm.

The duty to install smoke alarms cannot be waived, and the duty to inspect and repair them can be waived only by written agreement (92.006(a)). Hard-wired alarms with battery backup and sealed long-life battery units remove most of the battery argument and are worth specifying when alarms are replaced.

Carbon monoxide detectors and what the lease should say

Chapter 92 of the Property Code does not mention carbon monoxide alarms. Its smoke alarm subchapter does leave cities free to adopt and enforce fire safety rules as part of a building, fire or housing code (92.252(a)(2)), so a local code can ask for more than the state statute does. Before assuming you are clear, confirm the current requirement with the building or fire department of the city the home is in, whether that is Fort Worth, Keller or North Richland Hills.

Even where no rule applies, a combination smoke and carbon monoxide unit near the bedrooms of a home with gas appliances or an attached garage is a small cost against a serious risk. Fire extinguishers work the same way under state law: chapter 92 does not require one in a rental house, but if one was installed under a local ordinance or other law, the landlord must inspect it at the beginning of the tenant's possession (92.263).

The move-in inspection report is where this gets locked in. Have the tenant sign that each alarm was tested and worked at move-in. A documented move-in inspection with dated photos is the record a court or an insurer asks for after a fire.

The three documents that prove compliance

Meeting the standard is only half the job. If a tenant claims a device was missing, or an insurer asks after a loss, you need to show it. Three documents do that:

1. The locksmith invoice for the rekey, dated after the previous tenant's move-out and no later than the seventh day after the new tenant's move-in (92.156(a)). It should list the doors serviced.
2. The move-in inspection report, signed by the tenant, with a line item for each exterior door, each window latch, each sliding door, and each smoke alarm tested.
3. Photos of each exterior door showing the deadbolt, the keyless bolt and the viewer, stored with the move-in file.

That file is quick to build at turnover and answers most disputes before they start. It also makes the next turnover faster, because the technician knows what is already installed. Who checks smoke alarms, locks and other safety requirements before move-in covers how the work is divided. The guide on the move-in process checklist shows where the security items sit in the full sequence.

What happens if a device is missing

The remedies depend on which duty was missed. Here is what the Property Code allows in each case, and how long the landlord has:

How to read this table: the first row is the dangerous one, because the tenant does not have to ask before acting. A missing keyless bolt or a skipped rekey can be fixed by the tenant and deducted from rent with no request at all, and the three-day clock runs from a single written request.

A landlord has a defense if the tenant had not paid all rent due when the request or notice was given (92.1641, 92.261). That is a defense in court, not a reason to leave a door without a deadbolt.

Worse than the statutory penalty is the liability if someone is hurt. After a break-in through a door with no deadbolt, or a fire in a bedroom with no working alarm, the owner's own records are the first thing requested. The guide to the first thirty days with a property manager shows where a compliance check fits when a manager takes over a home. This is general information, not legal advice.

Who pays and who answers: the owner or the manager

The statute defines "landlord" to include the owner, a management company and a managing agent (92.151(7)), so both are responsible to the tenant. Between the two of them, the cost is the owner's. Section 92.162(e) says the owner must reimburse a management company for what it spends complying with the subchapter, and lets the manager pay itself from owner funds it holds.

An owner who refuses to fund a required device puts the lease at risk. If a management company notifies the tenant in writing that the owner has not provided or will not provide the funds, the tenant may end the lease or use the other remedies (92.168). A rekey and a few latches are small invoices next to a vacated lease. A managing agent, or an agent to whom rent is regularly paid, is also the landlord's agent for receiving the tenant's requests and notices (92.169).

Smart locks, keypads and the rekey rule

Keypad and smart deadbolts can fit Texas law when they are installed correctly. The statute defines a keyed deadbolt as one operated from outside by a key, card or combination and from inside by a knob or lever without one (92.151(5)), and it defines rekeying as changing the device so that a different key, card or combination is needed (92.151(10)). So at each turnover the old codes are wiped and new ones issued, and if the lock also has a keyed cylinder, that cylinder is rekeyed too.

A smart lock does not replace the keyless bolting device. That device must be operable only from the interior and not in any manner from the exterior (92.151(6)), which a lock with a keypad or an app cannot be. A door with a smart deadbolt still needs its separate interior-only bolt, its viewer, and the window and sliding door hardware elsewhere in the house. The guide on smart locks and technology for rentals covers the practical side.

If you want a second opinion on whether your home meets the standard before the next lease, ask us. This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the details of your situation with a Texas attorney.

How Perpetual handles this

Locks, latches and alarms are checked at the two moments the statute cares about: before a tenant takes possession, and when a tenant reports a problem. Under The Perpetual Promise, subject to its Guarantee Addendum, every home we manage gets 360-degree move-in and move-out inspections. Our move-in condition report is photo-documented room by room, timestamped and acknowledged by the tenant, which is the natural place for the lock and alarm record.

During the lease, tenants report issues through their portal, which creates a dated record of the request. That matters when a statute counts your response in days. Repairs under the spending limit you pre-approve are done without waiting on you, and the original vendor invoice, including a locksmith's, is always in your owner portal.

How rekeying and alarm testing are scheduled and billed for your home is confirmed in writing before you sign; ask us and we will show you where it sits in the make-ready. We are 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. Our leasing and move-in service and inspection service describe the process. To talk it through, call 682-593-7033.

The takeaway: Rekey within seven days of every turnover, check every exterior door and window against Property Code 92.153, test every smoke alarm when the tenant takes possession, and keep the invoice and the signed report together in the file.

Questions owners ask

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