Security Deposits for San Antonio Landlords: Collecting, Holding, and Returning Without a JP Court Judgment

Texas does not cap a residential security deposit. What it does regulate — hard — is what happens when the tenant moves out. Under Texas Property Code § 92.103, you have 30 days from the day the tenant gives you a forwarding address to return the deposit or send an itemized list of deductions. Miss that window in bad faith, or withhold for something that is not damage, and § 92.109 lets the tenant sue for the deposit plus $100 plus three times the wrongfully withheld amount, plus attorney's fees. That is the single most common way a new San Antonio landlord loses a case in a Bexar County Justice of the Peace court.

The rules are not complicated. They are just specific, and they punish sloppy paperwork. Here is how to run a deposit the way a landlord who has done this a hundred times runs one.

What Texas caps (nothing) and what the market actually pays

There is no statutory maximum on a residential security deposit in Texas. You can ask for two months. You can ask for three. What you cannot do is ask for something the market will not pay, then wonder why the unit sits vacant while you burn through the median $1,725/mo asking rent that RentInSA's active listings show as of September 2026.

In practice, San Antonio-area landlords land in a narrow band:

• Standard: one month's rent, collected at lease signing, held for the term.
• Pet deposit: $200–$500 per pet, sometimes refundable, sometimes not. State this in the lease.
• Pet rent: $25–$50/pet/month, non-refundable, on top of rent.
• Higher deposit for weaker file: an applicant who passes screening on income but has a thin credit file or an old collection can be offered the unit at 1.5x or 2x deposit instead of a flat denial. Document the criterion in writing before you make the offer or you have a Fair Housing problem.

A 3BR in Converse renting at the area median of roughly $1,700/mo does not support a $5,000 deposit demand. A 4BR in Boerne at $2,970/mo can support two months if the applicant is borderline. Match the deposit to the risk, not to your mood.

The 30-day clock and exactly when it starts

Section 92.103 is unambiguous: the clock starts when the tenant gives you a forwarding address in writing. Not when they move out. Not when they hand you the keys. When you have an address in writing.

That matters two ways:

1. If the tenant vanishes and never provides an address, your obligation to refund is suspended. You are not off the hook forever — you still have to account for the money — but the 30-day damages clock has not started.
2. If the tenant emails you the address on the day they move out, day one is the next day. Put a calendar reminder in whatever system you use. Do not rely on memory.

Build this into the lease: a clause requiring the tenant to provide a forwarding address in writing at move-out, and a move-out form (I use a one-page PDF) that captures it along with the returned-keys count and the walk-through date.

Normal wear and tear vs. damage

Property Code § 92.104 lets you deduct for damage but not for normal wear and tear, which the statute defines as deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling, not from negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse.

The practical line in a Bexar County JP court:

• Wear and tear (not deductible): faded paint after a 3-year tenancy, minor carpet matting in traffic lanes, small nail holes from hanging pictures, worn weatherstripping.
• Damage (deductible): pet urine stains soaking the pad, cigarette burns, large holes in drywall, broken blinds, missing smoke detectors, a fridge full of rotted food you had to haul off.

Carpet is where new landlords lose money. You cannot charge a tenant the full replacement cost of a 7-year-old carpet you were going to replace anyway. Depreciate it. If the carpet had a useful life of 7 years, it was 5 years old, and the tenant destroyed it, you can bill for the remaining 2 years of value plus removal — not a brand-new install.

The itemized deduction list

If you are keeping any part of the deposit, § 92.104(c) requires a written, itemized description of the damages and charges. Not "cleaning: $400." That is a losing exhibit. Instead:

• Line item per issue ("master bath: mildew removal and re-caulk tub — $185")
• Vendor invoices attached where possible
• Before/after photos tied to the move-in inspection
• The math showing depreciation for anything with a useful-life calculation

Mail it certified to the forwarding address along with any refund check. Keep the green card. In a JP hearing, the landlord who walks in with a labeled photo binder wins. The one who walks in with a shoebox of receipts and a story loses.

Holding the deposit: commingling and records

Texas does not require a separate trust account for residential security deposits (unlike some states). It does require you to account for the money. Practical setup:

• Keep deposits in a separate savings or money-market account, one line per property. Commingling with your operating cash makes an audit — or a lawsuit — miserable.
• If you own through an LLC, the deposit belongs to the LLC, not to you personally. Do not move it to your personal account "until you need it."
• Retain the ledger for at least four years past move-out. The statute of limitations on a deposit claim is four years.

Pet deposits, pet rent, and non-refundable fees

Texas allows non-refundable fees if they are clearly labeled as such in the lease. Where landlords get in trouble is calling something a "deposit" and then treating it as non-refundable. If the lease says "$300 pet deposit," that money is refundable minus documented pet damage. If you want it non-refundable, call it a "non-refundable pet fee" in writing and price it separately from the security deposit.

A note on assistance animals: under federal Fair Housing law, a service animal or documented emotional support animal is not a pet. You cannot charge a pet deposit or pet rent for one. You can still charge for actual damage the animal causes.

Military tenants and the SCRA

A large share of San Antonio renters are stationed at JBSA-Lackland, JBSA-Randolph, or JBSA-Fort Sam Houston. Under SCRA § 3955, a servicemember with qualifying PCS or deployment orders can terminate a lease with 30 days' written notice after the next rent due date. That termination does not forfeit the security deposit. Return it under the normal § 92.103 timeline once they give you the forwarding address — which for a PCS tenant is often the gaining base housing office or an APO.

What most people get wrong

• Starting the 30-day clock at move-out instead of at the written forwarding address. Wait for the address, then start the clock, then document both.
• Charging a full carpet replacement to a tenant who lived there long enough that the carpet was on its last legs anyway. Use a depreciation schedule. Write it into your accounting from day one.
• "Cleaning fees" with no invoice. If you did the cleaning yourself, bill your actual time at a reasonable rate with a dated log. A round number pulled from the air reads as retaliation.
• Withholding the deposit as leverage for a disputed last month of rent. § 92.108 forbids using the deposit to cover the final month unless the tenant designated it as such in writing. If the tenant owes rent, sue for rent. Don't self-help out of the deposit and give them a § 92.109 counterclaim.
• Not mailing the itemization certified. If the tenant claims they never got it, and you have no green card, you are arguing against a presumption. Spend the $4.
• Labeling a fee as a "deposit" when you mean it to be non-refundable. Call it what it is in the lease. Ambiguity gets construed against the drafter.

Building the system before you need it

The landlords who never get sued over a deposit are not smarter. They just built the paperwork before the first tenant moved in: a move-in inspection with dated photos, a lease that names the deposit amount and the forwarding-address requirement, a separate account for deposit funds, and a calendar reminder set to day 25 after any move-out. When the tenant moves, they execute the checklist. The 30-day letter goes out on time. The math is defensible.

If you are getting a unit ready to rent, you can list it free at /list-your-home and pull comps from RentInSA's active inventory across San Antonio, Converse, Schertz, Cibolo, and Boerne to price it against real competition. If you want to hand the whole operation to someone who does this full time, /agents will connect you to Bexar County property managers who run the paperwork the way this article describes.