Month-to-Month Leases in Texas: How § 91.001 Notice Actually Works for Both Sides

A month-to-month tenancy in Texas can be ended by either the landlord or the tenant with a single written notice. Under Texas Property Code § 91.001, if rent is paid monthly, the tenancy terminates on the later of (1) the date stated in the notice or (2) one month after the notice is delivered. That is the default. The catch — and this is where most San Antonio renters lose money — is that § 91.001(e) lets the lease override the default, and almost every form lease in Bexar County does exactly that.

So the real question is never just "what does Texas law say." It is: what does my lease say, and where does § 91.001 fill the gaps.

How § 91.001 actually works when the lease is silent

If you and your landlord never agreed in writing to a specific notice period (which is common on expired leases that rolled to month-to-month without a renewal addendum), the statute controls. The mechanics:

• Monthly rent-paying period. Notice terminates the tenancy on the later of the date written in the notice or one month after the notice is given. § 91.001(b).
• Shorter rent periods (weekly, for example). Termination is the later of the stated date or the end of a period equal in length to the rent-paying period counted from the notice date. § 91.001(c).
• Either party can give it. The statute is symmetric. A landlord who wants you out and a tenant who wants to leave use the same rule.
• No cause required. Month-to-month termination under § 91.001 is not eviction. The landlord does not need a reason. Neither do you.

One important nuance: § 91.001 does not require that notice line up with a rent due date. If you give notice on the 10th, the tenancy ends no earlier than the 10th of the next month — not the end of that month. That creates the next issue.

The prorated-rent rule most landlords ignore

Section 91.001(d) says it plainly: "If a tenancy terminates on a day that does not correspond to the beginning or end of a rent-paying period, the tenant is liable for rent only up to the date of termination."

Translation: if your tenancy ends on the 10th, you owe ten days of rent for that final month, not thirty. You do not owe a full month just because rent is normally due on the 1st.

Landlords in San Antonio — especially small owner-managed properties in places like Converse, the South Side, or older stock near downtown — routinely demand a full final month anyway. They are wrong unless your written lease says otherwise. Push back in writing, cite § 91.001(d), and if the landlord withholds the difference from your deposit, that is a security deposit dispute under §§ 92.103–92.109, not a rent dispute.

When your lease overrides the statute

Section 91.001(e)(1) kills the default any time landlord and tenant have agreed in a signed writing to a different notice period — or to no notice at all. The Texas Apartment Association (TAA) lease used by most larger San Antonio properties (Stone Oak high-rises, Alamo Ranch garden-style complexes, most Northside and NEISD-zone apartments) requires 60 days' written notice to terminate after the lease goes month-to-month, and often adds a month-to-month premium of $100 to $300 on top of base rent.

Read the specific paragraph. On the TAA residential lease it is typically the "Move-Out Notice" section. You will commonly see:

• A 60-day (sometimes 30-day) written notice requirement.
• A requirement that notice end on the last day of a rental month, not mid-month — which contracts around § 91.001(d) and kills your proration right.
• A month-to-month rent bump.
• A reletting fee if you leave before the notice period runs.

If the lease says 60 days ending on the last day of a month and you give notice on November 10, your earliest termination date is January 31 — not January 10 and not December 31. That is enforceable. § 91.001 does not save you.

Delivering notice that actually counts

Whether you are operating under the statute or a 60-day lease clause, how you deliver the notice matters as much as the timing.

• Put it in writing. Verbal notice is technically allowed under § 91.001 but is useless when the landlord denies receiving it.
• Date it, sign it, and state the exact termination date. "I am terminating my month-to-month tenancy at [address]. My last day of occupancy will be [date]."
• Deliver it in a way you can prove. Email to the address the landlord uses for rent notices, plus certified mail with return receipt to the address listed on the lease for notices. Many TAA leases specify a delivery method — follow it.
• Keep a copy of everything. Screenshots of portal messages, certified mail green cards, delivery confirmations.

If your lease names a specific notice address or management company (common with out-of-state owners who use a local property manager in Schertz or Cibolo), sending notice to the wrong address can be treated as no notice at all.

If the landlord gives you notice

The same statute lets the landlord end a month-to-month tenancy with the same notice you would give them. In Bexar County, this is common when:

• The owner wants to sell and needs the unit vacant.
• The owner is converting a single-family rental back to owner-occupied (often tied to a § 11.13 homestead exemption filing with BCAD).
• The landlord wants to raise rent significantly and is using termination as leverage.

A month-to-month termination notice from the landlord is not a § 24.005 eviction notice to vacate. It does not by itself get you out. If you do not leave by the termination date, the landlord still has to file a forcible detainer in the correct Bexar County Justice of the Peace precinct (there are four), win a judgment, and wait for the constable to execute the writ of possession. That process typically runs three to six weeks from filing.

That said: staying past the termination date without a new agreement makes you a holdover tenant, and most TAA leases impose holdover rent at 1.25x to 2x the normal rate. Do not do this casually.

What most people get wrong

• Assuming 30 days is always enough. If your lease requires 60 days, 30 days of notice leaves you on the hook for an extra month of rent plus possibly a reletting fee. Read the clause.
• Giving notice mid-month on a TAA-style lease. If the lease requires notice to end on the last day of a rental month, notice on the 10th does not shave 20 days off — it just means your termination date is the last day of the following qualifying month.
• Paying a full final month when the statute applies. If § 91.001 controls and you vacate on the 15th, you owe 15 days. Do not volunteer a full month because the portal auto-bills it.
• Relying on verbal or text notice. Landlord turnover happens — the leasing agent you told in July is gone by September, and the file shows nothing. Written, dated, delivered by a provable method.
• Confusing month-to-month termination with eviction. A § 91.001 notice from the landlord is not a three-day notice to vacate under § 24.005. Different statute, different purpose, different consequences.
• Forgetting the security deposit clock. Once you actually move out and give a forwarding address in writing, the landlord has 30 days under § 92.103 to refund or itemize. Month-to-month status does not change that.

After the last day: holdover vs a new tenancy

If you stay past the termination date and the landlord accepts another rent payment without objection, Texas courts have generally treated that as a new month-to-month tenancy on the same terms. If the landlord refuses rent and files for possession, you are a holdover and the JP court is the next stop. The cleanest move, on either side, is to confirm in writing what the continued occupancy is: a short extension, a renewed month-to-month, or a move-out date.

Month-to-month is flexible by design — and the flexibility cuts both directions. Know which document controls before you send anything.

If you are about to give notice and need to line up the next place, browse current Bexar County listings at /rentals, or if you are a landlord trying to turn a unit after a § 91.001 termination, you can list it free at /list-your-home. For deeper reading on deposits, notices, and lease clauses, see /resources.