Normal Wear and Tear vs. Damage in Texas: What a Landlord Can Deduct
You can never keep any part of a security deposit for normal wear and tear, so this line decides more deposit disputes than any other. Here is what the Texas statute actually says, the two-part test every deduction must pass, and where the line commonly sits, category by category. Statutes verified June 25, 2026.
The statute, verbatim
"Normal wear and tear" means deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling, including, for the purposes of Subchapters B and D, breakage or malfunction due to age or deteriorated condition, but the term does not include deterioration that results from negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse of the premises, equipment, or chattels by the tenant, by a member of the tenant's household, or by a guest or invitee of the tenant. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.001(4)
Unpacking the clauses:
- "Intended use" is the heart of it: deterioration from a home simply being lived in is wear.
- The age clause ("breakage or malfunction due to age or deteriorated condition") counts as wear too, with a scoping wrinkle covered in the callout below.
- The four exclusions are what make damage chargeable: negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse, by the tenant, a household member, or a guest. Note that accidental damage is still chargeable; the definition says so explicitly, and summaries that soften "accident" out of the list are rewriting the statute.
Commonly miscited. Three different sections get mixed up in write-ups of this rule. § 92.001(4) is the definition of normal wear and tear. § 92.104(b) is the rule with teeth: the landlord may not retain any portion of the deposit to cover normal wear and tear. § 92.103 is the refund deadline and says nothing about wear. One more nuance done honestly: the § 92.001 definitions open "in this chapter," so the core definition applies chapter-wide, including deposits; only the age-breakage clause is expressly tied to Subchapters B and D. § 92.104(b)'s bar stands on its own regardless.
The two-part deduction test
(a) Before returning a security deposit, the landlord may deduct from the deposit damages and charges for which the tenant is legally liable under the lease or as a result of breaching the lease. (b) The landlord may not retain any portion of a security deposit to cover normal wear and tear. Tex. Prop. Code § 92.104(a)–(b); definition at § 92.001(4)
Every deduction must clear both halves: it must be a charge the tenant is legally liable for under the lease or for breaching it (a), and it must not be normal wear and tear (b). "The carpet is old and I want new carpet" fails the test. "The tenant's dog soaked the carpet in the back bedroom" passes it.
Normal wear vs. chargeable damage, at a glance
The statute gives no examples, so this table shows where the line is commonly drawn, with each entry labeled by its authority: TX guidance means Texas-specific guidance sources, case law means a Texas appellate decision, and common practice means a broad consensus with no primary Texas authority, which you should read as "commonly treated as," not as settled law.
| Category | Usually normal wear (not deductible) | Usually damage or a lease charge (may be deductible) |
|---|---|---|
| Walls & paint | A few small nail holes from hanging pictures; minor scuffs; faded or peeling paint TX guidance / common practice | Large holes in drywall; unauthorized paint colors; smoke staining TX guidance / common practice |
| Carpet & flooring | Carpet worn or thinned along walking paths TX guidance | Burns, oil spills, large or permanent stains; carpet saturated by pet urine TX guidance / case law |
| Appliances & fixtures | Wearing out from age or ordinary deterioration (see the scoping note); dusty fixtures TX guidance | Misuse, like a disposal jammed with objects or a cracked cooktop from impact Common practice |
| Cleaning | Ordinary dust and the light cleaning any turnover needs Common practice | Filth well beyond ordinary use, or cleaning charges the lease makes the tenant responsible for Common practice |
| Pets | Shedding-level wear from an authorized pet Common practice | Chewed trim, scratched doors, urine-soaked carpet or pad Case law / common practice |
| Doors, windows & surfaces | Loose handles and hinges; worn finishes; dirty or loose grout; worn tub enamel Common practice | Gouged or broken doors; missing fixtures or hardware; broken windows TX guidance / common practice |
Walls and paint
Texas guidance lists peeling paint as normal wear, and a hole in the wall as damage. In between, a few small nail holes from hanging pictures and minor scuffs are commonly treated as wear, while ripped-out anchors, large drywall holes, unauthorized paint colors, and smoke staining are commonly treated as chargeable. Texas sets no repaint interval and no nail-hole count; the statutory question is always whether the deterioration came from intended use or from negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse.
Carpet and flooring
Carpet worn or thinned along walking paths is the canonical wear example in Texas guidance. Burns, oil spills, and large stains are damage in the same guidance, and pet-urine-saturated carpet has real case law behind it: in Pulley v. Milberger, 198 S.W.3d 418 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2006, pet. denied), the landlord documented urine-soaked carpet with photographs and professional estimates, and the court held the retention reasonable. On age and cost, see the depreciation note below.
Appliances and fixtures
Breakage or malfunction from age or deteriorated condition is the statute's own language for the wear side (subject to the Subchapters B and D scoping note above), and dusty fixtures appear in Texas guidance the same way. Misuse is the other side of the line: a disposal jammed with bottle caps or a cooktop cracked by impact is commonly treated as chargeable damage.
Cleaning
There is no Texas cleaning-fee statute. A cleaning charge stands or falls on the two-part test: it is deductible when the lease makes the tenant liable for it or the condition goes beyond ordinary use, and it is not deductible when it is really a charge for ordinary turnover dust dressed up as damage.
Pets
Because § 92.102 defines a security deposit by what the money does (an advance "intended primarily to secure performance" of the lease), a refundable pet deposit is a security deposit, whatever the lease calls it, and the same rules govern it. Shedding-level wear from an authorized pet is commonly treated as wear; chewed trim, scratched doors, and urine-soaked carpet or pad are chargeable, with Pulley as the documented example.
What Texas law does not say
- No statutory repaint interval.
- No statutory carpet lifespan.
- No photo, receipt, or invoice requirement for the itemized list.
- No cleaning-fee statute.
- No requirement to prorate deductions by age.
Write-ups that state a "legal life of carpet" or a mandatory depreciation schedule are importing rules Texas does not have. The honest framing on depreciation has two layers. What the statute says: deductions are limited to what the tenant is legally liable for (§ 92.104(a)), wear can never be charged (§ 92.104(b)), and in a dispute you bear the burden of proving the retention was reasonable (§ 92.109(c)). What practice says: charging full replacement cost for an item near the end of its useful life invites a court to find the retention unreasonable, so prorating to remaining useful life is a common, defensible practice, a choice courts may weigh, not a statutory command.
Documentation: how the line gets proven
None of this documentation is required by statute. It matters because § 92.109(c) puts the burden on you to prove retention was reasonable, and because § 92.106 requires accurate deposit records in as many words. The pattern that holds up is the one from Pulley v. Milberger: move-in condition records, dated photos at move-out, professional estimates or invoices for the work, and a written, itemized return letter sent on time.
The cost of getting it wrong
Charging for wear is retention the statute bars, and § 92.109 prices bad faith in two distinct ways: bad-faith retention costs $100, plus three times the portion wrongfully withheld, plus the tenant's reasonable attorney's fees, while a bad-faith failure to itemize forfeits the right to withhold any portion of the deposit and the right to sue the tenant for damages to the premises, plus fees, with no $100 and no tripling. Missing the 30th day after surrender raises a rebuttable presumption of bad faith, and the burden of proving reasonableness sits with you either way. The wear-versus-damage line is the most litigated question in deposit law; for a genuinely contested case (mold, settling cracks, disputed causes), talk to a licensed Texas attorney rather than guessing.
Frequently asked questions
Can a landlord charge for painting in Texas?
It depends on the cause, not the paint. Fading, minor scuffs, and paint at the end of ordinary life are commonly treated as normal wear, which § 92.104(b) bars you from charging for. Damage the tenant caused, such as unauthorized colors, crayon, or smoke staining, can be a lawful deduction under § 92.104(a). Texas sets no statutory repaint interval.
Can a landlord charge for carpet replacement?
Carpet worn thin by ordinary walking is normal wear, and Texas guidance treats it exactly that way. Burns, permanent stains, and pet-urine saturation sit on the damage side in Texas guidance and case law; a Texas appellate court upheld retention for urine-saturated carpet in Pulley v. Milberger. Texas sets no statutory carpet lifespan, and charging full replacement cost for old carpet invites a court to find the retention unreasonable.
Can a landlord charge a cleaning fee in Texas?
There is no Texas cleaning-fee statute. A cleaning charge is lawful when the lease makes the tenant liable for it or the condition goes beyond ordinary use (§ 92.104(a)), and unlawful when it is really a charge for normal wear (§ 92.104(b)).
Are nail holes normal wear and tear?
A few small nail holes from hanging pictures are commonly treated as normal wear under the definition. Large holes, anchors ripped out of drywall, or a wall full of mounting damage cross into chargeable territory. Texas law sets no per-wall count; the question is always ordinary use versus negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse.
How long does a landlord have to return the deposit?
30 days after the tenant surrenders the property, and your duty is suspended until you have the tenant's written forwarding address (§§ 92.103, 92.107). The free deadline calculator computes your exact window from your dates.
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About this page
The definition above is quoted in full from Tex. Prop. Code § 92.001(4), including the clause most summaries drop, and every rule is cited to its section. Statutes verified June 25, 2026. Primary source: Texas Property Code Chapter 92 (official), with a readable mirror at Public.Law. Read how we verify the law. This page is general information for landlords, not legal advice, and it never classifies your specific deduction; that judgment is yours, and a court's in a dispute. Deposit Record is not a law firm.