Pet Policy Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Texas law says, what's specific to Austin - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- Texas caps nothing on pet money, while Denver renters get a $300 ceiling on the pet deposit itself.
- A refundable pet deposit is security deposit money in Texas, so it must come back within 30 days of move-out.
- You have to give a written forwarding address, or that 30-day refund clock never starts running.
- Nonrefundable pet fees are legal in Texas when the lease states them clearly, unlike Colorado, which bans them outright.
- Assistance animals are never pets, so no pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent can be charged for them.
Understanding the Pet Policy Clause
The pet policy clause is where your lease prices your animal - a deposit, a one-time fee, monthly pet rent, or all three at once. In Texas that paragraph carries more weight than in most states, because state law sets no ceiling on any of those charges.
Austin adds nothing of its own, so the figure the leasing office quotes is the figure. The only part you're guaranteed to see again is the refundable deposit, and that comes back within 30 days of move-out - the fee doesn't.
What renters assume
Renters assume some reasonable cap exists on pet charges, and that whatever they hand over comes back if the dog never chews anything.
What is actually true
Texas sets no cap at all, and money labeled a nonrefundable pet fee is gone the day you pay it. Only a true pet deposit has to be returned, within 30 days.
Texas sits at the permissive end of this chart, and that's the whole point. Denver caps a pet deposit at $300 and Los Angeles folds every pet dollar into a one-month total, while Texas names no figure and hands the pen to your lease.
Plain English Version
A pet deposit is a refundable damage bond, like the hold a hotel puts on your card and releases once the room checks out clean. A pet fee is the cover charge at the door: you pay it to walk in, and you never see it again.
Pet Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Austin, TX
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
PETS. NO PETS ARE PERMITTED. IF THERE ARE PETS, LESSEE(S) AGREES TO PAY AN ADDITIONAL $10 PER MONTH PER CAT OR DOG UNDER 40 POUNDS AND $20 PER MONTH PER DOG OVER 40 POUNDS. ONE DOG PERMITTED, NO ADDITIONAL FEE.
Quoted from the published opinion in Oldendick v. Crocker, 2016-Ohio-5621, 70 N.E.3d 1033 (Ohio Ct. App. 8th Dist.). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“NO PETS ARE PERMITTED”
Enforceable, and in Texas there is nothing behind it to soften the result. No statute grants a right to keep a pet, no ordinance in Austin changes that, and an unapproved animal is a straightforward lease breach. If pets matter to you, this is a clause to fix before signing, not after.
“$10 PER MONTH PER CAT OR DOG UNDER 40 POUNDS”
Lawful, at any number. Texas caps neither security deposits nor pet deposits nor pet rent, and local governments are barred from imposing their own deposit limits - which is why Austin has no answer here the way Seattle and Chicago do. What the lease says is what you pay.
“PER DOG OVER 40 POUNDS”
The one thing Texas does regulate is the label on the money. A refundable pet deposit is security deposit money under Tex. Prop. Code ch. 92 and must come back within 30 days of you surrendering the unit and giving a forwarding address. A nonrefundable pet fee is permitted when the lease clearly says so - and it never comes back. Which word your lease uses is worth more than the amount.
“NO ADDITIONAL FEE”
Three words worth protecting. In a state with no caps, a written carve-out is the only ceiling you will get, so it belongs in the signed addendum rather than buried at the end of a paragraph that begins by banning pets. The one exception that needs no negotiating: an assistance animal is not a pet, and no pet deposit, pet fee or pet rent may be charged for one however the lease is written.
The court called it what it is - an “internally inconsistent pet clause”. It bans pets and prices them in the same breath, so the court refused to read the rent out of it at all and used the parties' own stipulation instead. The tenant then won the part that matters: because the pet fee paid for pet-related risk, and the next tenant had no pet, the landlord suffered no actual loss and had no business keeping that money out of her deposit. She recovered the $640 balance plus $640 more in statutory double damages - $1,280 - under Ohio's deposit statute.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Texas Law on Pet Policy Clause
- Texas caps neither security deposits nor pet deposits.
- Refundable pet deposits count as security deposits and must be returned within 30 days of surrender plus a forwarding address.
- Nonrefundable pet fees are permitted when clearly stated in the lease.
- Assistance animals are never pets under fair-housing law, so no pet deposit, fee, or pet rent may be charged.
Tex. Prop. Code § 92.102 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Texas does not limit what a landlord charges for a pet. There's no deposit cap, no fee cap, and no pet-rent cap, which puts it in a different world from Colorado, where a pet deposit can't exceed $300 and pet rent is capped at $35 a month or 1.5 percent of rent, whichever is greater. New York and California don't allow a separate pet deposit at all, because every dollar of security is squeezed into a one-month ceiling.
What Texas does regulate is the label on the money. A refundable pet deposit counts as a security deposit, so it follows the same return rules - back to you within 30 days of surrendering the unit, once you've supplied a forwarding address in writing. A nonrefundable pet fee sits outside that protection entirely, which is exactly why leasing offices prefer it.
Texas Tenant Protections
A refundable pet deposit is treated as security deposit money under Texas Property Code chapter 92, so it carries the same return obligations as the rest of your deposit. Your landlord has 30 days from the day you surrender the unit to refund what's refundable, once you've given a forwarding address in writing. A nonrefundable pet fee is only permitted when the lease clearly states it, so a charge that never appeared in writing is one worth challenging.
What's Specific to Austin
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Austin adds nothing. Texas Property Code chapter 92 governs deposits statewide, and no Austin ordinance caps pet deposits, pet rent, or pet fees. Whatever the leasing office quotes you is the rule here.
That makes negotiation the entire game in a city carrying this much new apartment supply. Complexes around The Domain, East Riverside, and Mueller compete hard on concessions, and pet rent is one of the easiest lines to get cut - but ask before you sign, and get it into the lease rather than a text thread. Breed and weight limits usually trace back to the property's insurance carrier rather than any city rule, so "we can't" often just means "our policy says no."
It should, line by line. Only the refundable portion comes back, and it has to come back within 30 days of move-out.
A fair Austin lease names exact figures. Texas caps nothing, so a blank or a "to be determined" means whatever the office decides later.
Red flag. Calling every pet dollar a fee strips away the 30-day return protection a deposit would have carried.
That isn't allowed. Assistance animals aren't pets under fair-housing law, so no deposit, fee, or pet rent applies to them.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Tex. Prop. Code § 92.102 on tcss.legis.texas.gov, Texas's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
-
Entire pet charge marked nonrefundable
A lease where every pet dollar is a fee rather than a deposit. Texas permits it, and nothing then requires the money back - the 30-day refund rule covers deposits only.
-
Pet rent with no stated amount
Monthly pet rent the office says it will "set at move-in." Texas caps pet rent at nothing, so an unnamed figure is an unlimited one.
-
Verbal pet approval, nothing written
An agent says the dog is fine while the lease still reads no pets. Texas has no cure like New York City's 90-day pet law - get a signed amendment.
-
Pet fee charged for assistance animal
Service and support animals are never pets under fair-housing law. A lease charging them pet rent or a pet deposit is charging something it can't.
-
Refund tied to undefined pet damage
Language letting the landlord keep the deposit for vague "pet-related wear." Demand itemized deductions in writing - a refundable pet deposit follows your security deposit's 30-day rules.
Your Rights as a Austin Tenant
-
Your pet deposit is deposit money
A refundable pet deposit counts as a security deposit in Texas, so it carries the same protections as the rest of your deposit instead of sitting in a weaker category.
-
Refund within 30 days
Once you surrender the unit and provide a written forwarding address, your landlord has 30 days to return the refundable portion of your pet money.
-
Fees must be spelled out
A nonrefundable pet fee is only permitted when the lease states it clearly, so a pet charge that surfaces after signing is one to dispute in writing.
-
Assistance animals cost nothing extra
Service and support animals aren't pets under fair-housing law. No pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent may be charged for them, in Austin or anywhere else.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find every pet line
Read the pet clause and write each charge down separately: deposit, one-time fee, monthly pet rent. A Texas lease is free to carry all three.
Ask which part is refundable
Get the answer by email before you sign. Only the refundable deposit comes back, and only within 30 days of surrendering the unit.
Negotiate before you sign
Austin's supply-heavy market gives you real room. Pet rent and pet fees are routinely reduced or waived when you ask - after signing, they aren't.
Document the unit first
Photograph floors, baseboards, carpet, and door frames before the animal moves in. Timestamped photos are what stop a pet-damage deduction later.
Send a written forwarding address
The 30-day refund clock depends on it. Email the address and keep your sent copy the same week you hand back the keys.
Escalate if refund stalls
Send a written demand naming the amount and the surrender date, then take it to Travis County justice court or an Austin tenant-rights group.