Texas Month-to-Month Lease Agreement Explained (+ Free Template)

A Texas month-to-month lease agreement is an oral or written lease contract, valid for 30 days at a time, that allows a tenant to rent a property from a landlord.

The tenant has to pay rent monthly, and the contract is valid until either the tenant or landlord gives the other notice to terminate the rental agreement.

Texas Month-to-Month Agreement

Month-to-month leases are not required to be written contracts under Texas law; verbal agreements are also valid.

Both parties are granted full rights under Texas landlord-tenant law once the lease is in effect. This covers all rights and obligations, such as the tenant's obligation to pay rent on time and the landlord's responsibility to provide an appropriate living area.

Required Notice

There is no state law governing the amount of notice required for a rent increase in Texas. However, it is common practice usual and customary for a landlord to give a tenant at least 30 days' notice before raising the rent. The notice must be delivered in person or by letter, according to Texas law.

If the delivery is made in person, it must be made to a resident of the dwelling unit who is 16 years of age or older. A copy may be attached to the inside of the main entry door if no one can be located.

However, if the notice is mailed, it must be delivered via certified, registered, or normal mail with the return receipt requested. The landlord may attach a copy to the outside of the main entry door if the dwelling unit doesn't have a mailbox or if it has an alarm system, a keyless bolting device, or a dangerous animal that would prevent the landlord from accessing the property to leave a copy inside the main entry door.

Ending The Lease

According to Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001In terms of Tex. Prop. Code § 91.001, a month-to-month tenancy in Texas may be terminated by either the landlord or tenant with at least one month's notice. Therefore, the tenant's lease will expire one month after the day the notice is provided. 

It's important to note that the notice must be in writing.

Keep in mind that the landlord can terminate the lease for any reason in Texas. However, there are two primary exceptions to this rule:

1. Discrimination against race, gender, etc.
2. Retaliation against the tenant for exercising their legal rights.

Therefore, a landlord may not terminate the lease for these reasons.

Evictions

The lease expires and ceases to be in effect after the landlord provides the required notice and the specified amount of time has passed.

If a tenant stays on the property after the lease has ended, the landlord may continue the eviction procedure to get the renter out by submitting a complaint to the relevant Texas county court.

Depending on the situation, the eviction procedure can be finished in four to 10 weeks; however, it may take longer.

Establishing Month-To-Month Tenancy

In Texas, there are three ways to establish a month-to-month lease, namely:

1. The tenant continues paying rent monthly without a written agreement.
2. The landlord and tenant have signed a month-to-month rental agreement.
3. The landlord and tenant had a fixed-term lease that expired, but the tenant continued to pay rent, and the landlord accepted the payments.

Build Your Own

Do you need help building and customizing your own Texas month-to-month lease? We have just what you're looking for. You can create a month-to-month tenancy with this template.

The Bottom Line

As you can see, establishing a month-to-month lease is much simpler than a fixed-term lease in Texas, as there's no need to worry about stringent security deposit or eviction laws.

If you need help creating leases for your residential property, we have you covered! Download all the forms you need for your rental property in Texas here, from month-to-month to fixed-term leases.