Top 7 Texas Landlord Myths That Will Get You Sued: Bryan & College Station Real Estate Guide

Every single day, my Facebook feed fills up with angry tenants posting their landlord horror stories. Half the time when I'm reading these posts, I'm thinking that landlord has no idea they're about to get sued.

Last year alone, 3.7 million lawsuits involved landlords in the United States. Here's what most DIY landlords don't realize: when a tenant takes you to court and wins, tens of thousands of dollars are at stake. The scariest part? The stuff that gets landlords sued usually isn't obvious fraud or bad intent. It's the standard practices. It's the normal habits. It's the things that self-managing landlords do without thinking twice.

Here in Texas, a lot of those "standard practices" are 100% illegal.

I'm Greg Schwartz, and I've been investing in Bryan and College Station for 6 years. I self-manage my own portfolio of over 25 units. I've watched enough landlords learn these lessons the hard way to know you don't want to be the person ordered by a judge to write a massive check for a mistake you didn't even know you were making.

Whether you are managing traditional multi-family properties or navigating student housing near Texas A&M, you need to know the law. Let’s walk through the seven most common landlord myths that are flat-out illegal in Texas.

The Hardware Mistakes That Get Landlords Sued

Let's start with the physical property features you touch every day and don't even think about.

Myth #1: A standard deadbolt is good enough for my rental property

It's not. Texas law requires keyless bolt devices on every single exterior door. That means a one-way lock that nobody—and I mean nobody—can open from the outside. Not with a key, not with a credit card, not with anything.

There are also specific height requirements you must follow. This isn't a friendly suggestion. If a break-in happens and you don't have the right hardware installed, you could be held 100% liable as if you were the criminal.

Myth #2: If a tenant hands back all the keys, I don't need to rekey the property

A lot of local DIY landlords think, "It's just too expensive. It's not worth the cost." You are absolutely wrong.

Texas law states that you must rekey or replace every exterior lock within 7 days of a new tenant moving in. It doesn't matter how many keys they gave you, and it doesn't matter if they seemed trustworthy. If a prior tenant kept a copy—and trust me, they do—and something happens to that new tenant, you're done.

Here in College Station, we've got thousands of student rentals turning over every August. In a college town where student leases turn every summer, this isn't optional. It's the price of doing business. Just rekey the locks.

Planning out your student housing investment strategy? Use our Aggie Parent Buy vs. Rent Calculator to break down the math for properties in the Aggieland area.

The Money Mistakes That Wreck Your ROI

Now let's talk about how DIY landlords bleed money without realizing it.

Myth #3: You can charge whatever you want in late fees

Nope. Texas caps late fees hard. For properties with four or fewer units, the total late fee cannot exceed 12% of the monthly rent.

Furthermore, the fee has to be tied to a reasonable estimate of your actual damages, not just whatever number feels good to you. If you're charging a flat $150 late fee on a $900 unit, you're over the legal limit, and a tenant who knows the law can come after you.

Let's put that in real numbers:

• Say your rent is $2,000 a month (pretty standard for a nice single-family house here in Bryan/College Station).
• 12% of that is $240.
• Charge even a single dollar more, and you're handing the tenant ammunition to get out of any kind of eviction you try to file.

Myth #4: If a tenant disappears, I can just keep their unclaimed security deposit

This one gets real ugly. Let's say a tenant bails a month early, disappears, and never gives you a forwarding address. You have nowhere to send the leftover deposit, so can you pocket it? No.

The 30-day clock to return a deposit pauses until that tenant gives you a forwarding address in writing. If they never do, you still don't get to keep it. You have to hold those funds. After 3 years, if nobody claims them, they don't become yours—they go to the Texas Comptroller as unclaimed property. Pocketing that money is actually considered theft.

If you want to make sure your investment numbers remain legally compliant and highly profitable, check out our Rental Property Calculator.

Eviction Tactics That Completely Backfire

This next section is where landlords don't just lose money; they fund their tenant's next vacation. What's crazy is how many people think these next two myths are just standard operating procedures. Spoiler alert: they're not.

Myth #5: If they stop paying rent, I'll just change the locks until they pay up

I get why this feels logical to people: no pay, no access. But the law doesn't see it that way at all.

You cannot lock a tenant out of their home, even if they're behind on rent, even if they're a nightmare tenant, and even if every landlord instinct in your body screams to do it. Changing the locks is an illegal eviction. An illegal eviction comes with damages, civil penalties, and the tenant's attorney's fees. You're not just losing the case; you're writing a check for the lawyer who beat you in court.

Myth #6: I'll just shut off the utilities to force them out

This is the same illegal playbook, just a different move. Never, ever do this.

Shutting off water, gas, or electricity to force someone out or force them to pay is a textbook self-help eviction. Judges in Texas have absolutely zero patience for it. You will lose, you will pay damages, and you will pay for their lawyer. A professional landlord should never have this on the table as an option.

Myth #7: They signed a 12-month lease, so they owe me for the full year if they leave early

It sounds legit on paper, and literally, the lease might state they owe you to the end of the term. But Texas law doesn't work that way.

Landlords have what's called a duty to mitigate. That means the second a tenant breaks a lease or skips out on you, you have to make a good faith, documented effort to find a replacement tenant as fast as possible. You cannot leave the unit empty, let the months tick by, and then send them a bill for the full year. You also cannot double-dip by collecting rent from the old tenant while a new tenant is already paying. Both are illegal and both will get you sued.

Conclusion: Stop Assuming, Start Verifying

There they are—seven things that probably sound like normal landlord behavior, but every single one of them can cost you thousands of dollars or more. The landlords who stay out of court aren't just the ones who memorize the Texas Property Code; they're the ones who stop assuming and start verifying.

Keeping up with every single legal requirement while screening tenants, collecting rent, and handling maintenance is not an easy side hustle. If you own a few doors here in the Bryan/College Station area and you're trying to scale your portfolio without feeling completely overwhelmed, we can help.

Let's get the conversation started and protect your cash flow. Email us at info@schwartzrealtygroup.com with the word "cash flow" in the subject line, and we'll show you how to effectively protect your investments and self-manage right here in BCS.

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