Demand letters in Texas.

Security deposit demand letters in Texas

If your former landlord is holding your deposit, Texas law is on your side. A landlord must return your security deposit within 30 days, along with an itemized statement of any deductions. Bad-faith retention can expose the landlord to $100 plus three times the portion wrongfully withheld plus attorney’s fees.

Statutes of limitation in Texas

A demand letter doesn't pause the clock — you must file suit within these windows:

Small claims court in Texas

The relevant court is Justice Court (Small Claims docket). Limit: $20,000 (includes attorney fees; excludes statutory interest and court costs). Filing fee information: Check the filing court’s current fee schedule; service charges may be additional. A dollar limit alone does not establish eligibility; check the court’s claim, venue and service requirements.

Small-claims limit source checked: 2026-09-29. This date does not apply to the other laws on this page.

How Texas compares

The same dispute is worth pursuing in one state and barely worth the paperwork in another. Here is where Texas actually sits.

• Justice Court (Small Claims docket) in Texas: $20,000 (includes attorney fees; excludes statutory interest and court costs). Filing fee information: Check the filing court’s current fee schedule; service charges may be additional. Limits are not directly comparable across states because court, plaintiff and claim-specific rules differ.

• Texas sits on the national norm — 30 days for a landlord to return the deposit, 15th tightest of the 51 and level with the 30-day median. Diarise the date you moved out and count from there. Miss it and Texas exposes the landlord to up to 3× the amount withheld, which is the figure to quote in the letter.

• Do not sit on it. Texas allows only 4 years to sue on a written contract — 2 years shorter than the 6-year median for written contracts, and 41st longest of the 51. Oral agreements expire sooner still, at 4 years, and a demand letter does not pause either clock.

Worth putting a number on: withhold $1,500 wrongly in Texas and the exposure reaches $4,500 once the 3× penalty applies, still inside what Justice Court (Small Claims docket) can award. A landlord reading your letter is weighing that figure, not the deposit.