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. Houston can 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. In practice: visit at night and on a weekday, ask what’s being built on the empty lot next door, and be skeptical of “up-and-coming block.” 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. 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 are 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 pressure you into paying. That covers the electricity that runs your AC, water, and 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 obvious example. Put notice in writing and document the indoor temperature; that’s what opens up the statute’s remedies (including repair-and-deduct, § 92.056).

Amenities (pool fobs, gym access) are the lease’s to give and take. Utility services are not. That clause violates § 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. In Texas the lease decides most things, so know what yours says.