Can a Texas Landlord Charge You for Cleaning?

“They took $300 out of my deposit for cleaning” is one of the most common complaints in Texas renting, and one of the least understood. Most people argue about whether the place was clean. That is not actually the legal question, and arguing it is how tenants lose and how landlords end up owing treble damages.

The real question has a statutory answer. Texas Property Code Chapter 92 sets out what can be deducted, what cannot, how it has to be documented, how long the landlord has, and what happens when they get it wrong. This guide walks through the four sections that decide almost every cleaning dispute in the state.

This is general information about how Chapter 92 works, not legal advice, and we are a cleaning company rather than a law firm. Every section below is linked to the statute so you can read the words yourself. For your own dispute, the Texas State Law Library guide and a tenant attorney are the right next stops.

At a Glance

The Four Sections That Decide It

Chapter 92, Subchapter C is short. Four provisions do nearly all the work:

• 92.103 — the clock. The landlord must refund the deposit within 30 days of the date the tenant surrenders possession.
• 92.104 — what may be deducted, and the paperwork. The landlord may deduct damages and charges for which the tenant is legally liable under the lease or as a result of breaching it — and may not retain any portion of a deposit to cover normal wear and tear. If anything is kept, the tenant gets the balance plus a written description and itemised list of all deductions.
• 92.001 — the definition. This is where “normal wear and tear” is actually defined, and the definition is narrower and stranger than most people expect. See the next section.
• 92.109 — the consequences. Bad faith retention carries $100, three times the portion wrongfully withheld, and the tenant’s reasonable attorney’s fees. Missing the thirtieth day creates a presumption of bad faith. And the burden of proving that a retention was reasonable sits on the landlord.

What “Normal Wear and Tear” Actually Means Here

This is the part that decides cleaning disputes, and almost everyone reads it wrong.

The statutory definition is deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling, including breakage or malfunction due to age or deteriorated condition. It then excludes deterioration that results from negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse by the tenant, a member of the tenant’s household, or a guest or invitee.

Read that again and notice what it does not say. It does not say “minor”. It does not say “reasonable amount of dirt”. It does not set a threshold of severity at all. The test is cause, not degree.

That single point flips how both sides should argue. A tenant saying “it was not that dirty” is arguing degree, which the statute does not care about. A landlord writing “cleaning — $300” with no explanation is asserting a charge without identifying a cause, while carrying the burden of proving it was reasonable.

Cause on the wear-and-tear side

• Carpet flattened and greyed along the traffic lane from years of ordinary walking
• Paint faded, or scuffed where furniture ordinarily sits
• An appliance that failed because it reached the end of its life
• Grout and caulk discoloured with age in a bathroom in ordinary use
• Loose hinges, worn finishes and general dulling in a unit that has been lived in

Cause on the chargeable side

• Grease baked hard onto an oven interior, range hood or cabinet fronts
• Pet urine soaked through carpet into the pad and subfloor
• Mould from a leak that was never reported, or from a bathroom never ventilated
• Rubbish, food or belongings left behind for someone else to remove
• Damage from a spill, an accident or plain neglect — the statute names accident explicitly
• Smoke residue on walls and ceilings, or a smell that requires remediation rather than cleaning

The honest summary: a professionally clean unit is not the legal standard, and a filthy one is not defensible. The line is whether ordinary living explains the condition.

The Itemised List Is Your Strongest Lever

Under 92.104, if the landlord keeps any part of the deposit they owe the tenant the balance plus a written description and itemised list of all deductions. This is a requirement, not a courtesy.

There is one exception, and it is narrow: no description or list is required if the tenant owed rent when they surrendered possession and there is no controversy about the amount of rent owed. If you are disputing the rent figure, that exception is not available to the landlord.

Practically, a line reading “cleaning” against a number does very little work when the landlord has to prove reasonableness. A defensible entry identifies a cause and a scope — which room, what condition, what was done. That is a real asymmetry, and it is why the paperwork matters more than the argument about how dirty the place looked.

The 30-Day Clock and What Happens If It Is Missed

The clock starts when the tenant surrenders possession, not when the lease ends on paper, and it runs 30 days for both the refund and the itemisation.

Missing it is expensive. Under 92.109 a landlord who fails either to return the deposit or to provide the written itemisation by the thirtieth day is presumed to have acted in bad faith. A landlord who retains a deposit in bad faith is liable for $100, three times the portion wrongfully withheld, and the tenant’s reasonable attorney’s fees. On top of that they forfeit the right to withhold any part of the deposit at all, and the right to bring a suit against the tenant for damage to the premises.

So a landlord sitting on a deposit past day 30 to build a case for a cleaning charge has, by that act, given up both the charge and the counterclaim. The direction of the risk is not intuitive, and it is worth knowing on both sides of the transaction.

Evidence: The Part Both Sides Fight Over

The statute allocates the burden but it does not take photographs for anyone. In practice these are what disputes turn on:

1. Move-in condition, documented. Whatever was already worn or marked when you arrived cannot be charged to you, but only if it can be shown. Date-stamped photos of every room on the day you get the keys cost nothing.
2. Move-out condition, documented the same way. Photograph the empty unit after cleaning, including inside the oven, under the sinks, and the floors.
3. Your forwarding address in writing. Give it to the landlord and keep proof. Refund obligations run to an address the landlord actually has.
4. The lease itself. The deposit statute talks about charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease. If your lease imposes a specific obligation such as carpet cleaning, that is a contractual question sitting alongside the wear and tear rule, not overridden by it.
5. A receipt, if you paid for a clean. Not required by statute, but it converts “I cleaned it” into a document with a date on it.

Our room-by-room move-out cleaning checklist for San Antonio and Austin covers what property managers actually inspect, which is the practical companion to this page.

Where a Move-Out Clean Pays for Itself

Here is our commercial interest stated plainly, since we sell move-out cleaning and you should read this section knowing that.

Nothing in Texas law requires you to hire anyone. Plenty of tenants clean their own unit properly and get the full deposit back. What a booked clean actually buys you is the removal of an argument: a documented, dated, receipted clean of the whole unit, done to a checklist, before the keys go back. It converts a dispute about degree — the argument the statute does not care about — into a matter of record.

It is also worth comparing the two numbers before deciding. A cleaning line item on a deduction list is set by the landlord and their vendor, after you have lost access to the unit and any ability to fix the problem yourself. A clean you book is a price you agree in advance, while you can still walk through and check the work. Those are different positions to be in, whatever the amounts happen to be.

If you want the numbers for our region before deciding either way, see house cleaning prices in Central Texas, and whether cleaning services are taxable in Texas for what appears on the invoice. Our service page is move-out and move-in cleaning, across San Antonio, Austin, New Braunfels and San Marcos.

If You Are the Landlord or Property Manager Reading This

The same four sections cut the other way, and we clean for property managers as well as for tenants, so this is not a one-sided page.

• Never charge wear and tear. 92.104 forbids retaining any portion of the deposit for it, and a single indefensible line item invites scrutiny of the whole list.
• Itemise with a cause, not a category. You carry the burden of proving reasonableness under 92.109. “Cleaning” is a category. “Oven interior, baked-on grease, degreased and detailed” is a cause with a scope.
• Diary the thirtieth day. Missing it forfeits the withholding and the counterclaim and triggers the treble exposure. No cleaning charge is worth that.
• Keep a consistent turn standard. A documented standard applied to every unit is far easier to defend than a judgement made unit by unit.
• Use a contractor who invoices with scope. An invoice that names rooms and tasks becomes your evidence; a lump sum does not.

For portfolio work we handle apartment and HOA cleaning including unit make-readies, and commercial carpet cleaning for turnovers. Before appointing anyone, how to check a Texas cleaning company is licensed and insured covers the verification most property managers are required to do anyway.

Sources

• Texas Property Code — 92.103, Obligation to Refund Security Deposit
• Texas Property Code — 92.104, Retention of Security Deposit; Accounting
• Texas Property Code — 92.001, Definitions
• Texas Property Code — 92.109, Liability of Landlord
• Texas State Law Library — Security deposit refunds

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a landlord charge you for cleaning in Texas?

Yes, but only for cleaning that goes beyond normal wear and tear. Texas Property Code 92.104 lets a landlord deduct damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for under the lease, and in the same breath says the landlord may not retain any part of a deposit to cover normal wear and tear. So a unit left in the condition ordinary living explains cannot be charged; a unit left with baked-on grease, pet stains or neglected filth can be.

What counts as normal wear and tear in Texas?

The statutory definition in Texas Property Code 92.001 is deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling, including breakage or malfunction due to age or deteriorated condition. It expressly excludes deterioration caused by negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse by the tenant, a member of the household, or a guest. Notice that the test is the cause, not how bad it looks.

How long does a Texas landlord have to return a security deposit?

Thirty days from the date the tenant surrenders possession, under Texas Property Code 92.103. The same clock applies to the written itemisation of any deductions.

Does the landlord have to give me an itemised list of deductions?

Yes in almost every case. Under Texas Property Code 92.104, if the landlord keeps any part of the deposit, they must give the tenant the balance together with a written description and itemised list of all deductions. There is one exception: no list is required if the tenant owed rent when they surrendered possession and there is no controversy about the amount of rent owed.

What if the landlord misses the 30-day deadline?

Texas Property Code 92.109 says a landlord who fails either to return the deposit or to provide the written itemisation by the thirtieth day is presumed to have acted in bad faith. A landlord who retains a deposit in bad faith is liable for $100, three times the portion wrongfully withheld, and the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees. They also forfeit the right to withhold any part of the deposit and the right to sue the tenant for damage to the premises.

Who has to prove the cleaning charge was fair?

The landlord. Under Texas Property Code 92.109 the landlord carries the burden of proving that retaining any portion of the security deposit was reasonable. That is the opposite of how most tenants assume it works, and it is why a vague line item such as cleaning with no description is weak.

Do I have to have the unit professionally cleaned before moving out?

Texas law does not require a professional clean, and no statute says a receipt from a cleaning company is needed. What matters is the condition you hand the property back in, and whether that condition is explained by ordinary use. Your lease may separately require specific cleaning, such as carpet cleaning — read what you signed, because the lease is what creates the liability the deposit statute refers to.

Can they charge me for carpet cleaning or painting?

It depends entirely on cause, not on the item. Traffic-lane wear in a carpet after years of ordinary walking is deterioration from intended use. A pet stain soaked into the pad, or paint damaged by something other than age, is not. If the lease contains a specific carpet cleaning obligation, that is a separate contractual question from the wear and tear rule.