Renting in Houston: floodplains, no zoning, and the questions to ask before signing

Flood first: the disclosure Texas wrote for Houston

After Harvey put a third of Harris County underwater, the legislature added a rental disclosure that every Houston renter should treat as question one:

Read the disclosure, then verify it — FEMA’s flood maps are public and searchable by address, and “not in the 100-year floodplain” is a statement about maps, not about Houston’s ability to flood anywhere it rains hard enough. Ground-floor units near bayous, garage apartments, and anything with suspiciously new flooring in an old building deserve the follow-up question in writing.

No zoning: what it means for where you rent

Houston’s famous lack of zoning shapes renting in quiet ways: your garden-style complex can lawfully neighbor a machine shop, a bar, or a concrete plant, and the character of a block can change with one land sale. Deed restrictions do some of zoning’s work in many neighborhoods, but they protect the deed holders — not tenants. The practical translation: visit at night and on a weekday, ask what’s being built on the empty lot next door, and treat “up-and-coming block” with an engineer’s skepticism. Nothing in your lease will protect you from the concrete batch plant that opens across the street in March.

The money rules: deposits and late fees

Texas sets no cap on deposit size and no rent control — the lease governs both. What the Property Code does regulate, it enforces hard:

• Deposit return: 30 days from surrender, itemized, no deductions for normal wear — and bad-faith retention costs the landlord $100 + three times the amount withheld + attorney’s fees, with the burden of proof on them (§§ 92.103, 92.109).
• The bold-print trap: a lease may condition the refund on advance notice of surrender only if that requirement is underlined or in conspicuous bold print. Hidden in ordinary text, it doesn’t count — check yours.
• Late fees: written, reasonable (10% safe harbor for big complexes), never before rent is two full days late — worked examples in our Texas late-fee guide.

Utilities, AC, and the shutoff ban

In a city with 100-plus days over 90°F, two rules carry outsized weight. First, the shutoff ban: a landlord may not interrupt utility service to squeeze payment out of you — not the electricity that runs your AC, not water, not gas (§ 92.008). Bona fide repairs and emergencies are the only exceptions. Second, the repair duty: once you give written notice, the landlord must diligently fix conditions materially affecting an ordinary tenant’s health or safety (§ 92.052) — and a dead AC in a Houston August is the canonical argument. Put notice in writing, document the indoor temperature, and the statute’s remedies (including repair-and-deduct, § 92.056) come online.

Amenities (pool fobs, gym access) are the lease’s to give and take. Utility services are not — that clause crosses § 92.008 the moment it touches your power or water.

The Houston pre-signing checklist

1. Get the § 92.0135 flood disclosure — then check FEMA’s map yourself.
2. Ask about 2017 (Harvey) directly; the 5-year window no longer reaches it.
3. Price flood contents coverage; standard renters insurance excludes it.
4. Find the deposit-refund notice requirement and confirm it’s in bold.
5. Scan the lease — Texas hands the lease the power, so know what yours says.