Security Devices in Texas Rentals: The Deadbolts, Keyless Bolts, and Peepholes Your Landlord Must Install Under § 92.153

Every residential rental in Texas — apartment, single-family house, duplex, condo — must be equipped with a specific list of security devices before you move in, and the landlord pays for all of it. This is not a lease term you negotiate. It is Texas Property Code § 92.153, and it applies whether your lease says anything about it or not. A tenant cannot waive it. A landlord who ignores it is exposed to statutory penalties, actual damages, attorney's fees, and a court order forcing installation.

Most San Antonio renters have no idea this chapter exists. They move into a house off Nacogdoches or a rebuilt duplex in Beacon Hill, notice the back door has a knob lock and nothing else, and assume that is normal. It is not normal, and it is not legal.

What § 92.153 actually requires

On every exterior door of a rental dwelling, the landlord must install:

• A keyed deadbolt or keyless deadbolt on the interior (or, in some configurations, a doorknob lock with a keyed deadbolt above it).
• A keyless bolting device — a security bar, door chain, or drop bolt that can only be operated from inside. This is separate from the keyed deadbolt.
• A door viewer (peephole) — required unless the door has a window that lets the tenant see who is outside.

On every exterior sliding glass door:

• A pin lock or security bar (or equivalent) in addition to the door's regular latch.
• A handle latch or deadbolt that engages the door frame.

On every exterior window that opens (with limited exceptions for windows more than one story up that are not accessible from a balcony, roof, or ladder-height ledge):

• A window latch.

All of this must already be installed when you take possession. It is the landlord's obligation to complete under § 92.153, and the cost falls on the landlord under § 92.162 — not on you.

The keyless bolting device is the one landlords skip

Of the five categories above, the keyless bolting device is the most commonly missing item in older San Antonio housing stock — the 1950s ranch homes on the near south side, the 1970s garden-style apartments off Blanco, the converted single-family rentals in Tobin Hill. Owners install a keyed deadbolt and stop, because they think a deadbolt is a deadbolt.

It is not. The keyed deadbolt lets a person with a key in. The keyless bolting device — a night latch, security bar, or interior drop bolt — cannot be opened from outside by anyone, including the landlord, including a locksmith with a bump key, including someone who copied your key at a hardware store. § 92.153 requires both.

The statute carves out one narrow exception: a rental occupied by a person 55 or older or with a disability may waive the keyless bolting device in writing so that a caregiver can enter. Nothing else waives it.

Rekeying — you have the right under § 92.156

Separate from initial installation, § 92.156 gives you the right to have every keyed lock rekeyed within seven days after you take possession, at the landlord's expense. This is the single most important security right most renters never exercise.

Think about who has had a key to your unit before you: the last tenant, that tenant's boyfriend, the cleaning crew, the maintenance tech who quit, the property manager who left the company, the appliance installer, the previous owner's kid. Unless the locks were rekeyed at turnover, all of those people can still open your front door. § 92.156 puts the cost of rekeying on the landlord, one time, if you request it within the first seven days.

After that first week, you can still request rekeying at any time during the lease — but if it is not tied to a specific security concern (a stalker, a stolen key, a change in household), the landlord can charge you for it. Get it done in week one.

Put the request in writing. Text and email count. Keep the timestamp.

What the landlord can and cannot charge you for

Item	Who pays
Initial installation of § 92.153 devices	Landlord
First rekey within 7 days of move-in	Landlord
Rekey after a documented security event (stolen key, break-in, roommate move-out with your notice)	Landlord, in most cases
Rekey for tenant convenience later in the tenancy	Tenant, at reasonable cost
Repair of a broken deadbolt, latch, or door viewer during tenancy	Landlord, unless tenant caused the damage
Additional locks you install for your own preference	Tenant

A lease clause that tries to shift the cost of the initial § 92.153 installation to the tenant is void. So is a clause that waives the seven-day rekey right. § 92.006 makes most of Chapter 92 non-waivable.

If the devices are missing or broken, here is the sequence

1. Written request. Email or a dated letter, describing exactly what is missing or not working — "the back door off the kitchen has no keyless bolting device" is better than "the locks are bad." Keep a copy.
2. Wait a reasonable time. § 92.153 does not use the seven-day repair window from § 92.056, but courts read "reasonable" as short — a few days for a security defect, not weeks.
3. If the landlord does not install or repair, the tenant's remedies under § 92.164 include: a court order compelling installation, a judgment for one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, attorney's fees, and court costs. Alternatively, you may terminate the lease under § 92.164(a)(4) — you walk, with no penalty, and the landlord owes you a prorated refund of rent and your deposit.
4. Justice court is the venue. In Bexar County, that is one of the four JP precincts, filed through eFileTexas. This is the same court that hears evictions, and the filing fee is modest. You do not need a lawyer, though the statute lets you recover fees if you use one.

What most people get wrong

• Assuming the deadbolt satisfies the whole statute. A keyed deadbolt is one required device. The keyless bolting device is a separate, additional requirement. Two locks, not one.
• Skipping the seven-day rekey. Renters move in, unpack, and forget. By day eight the free rekey right is functionally gone. Send the request the day you get the keys.
• Accepting "the HOA won't allow it" or "the door is too old." § 92.153 obligates the owner, not the HOA. If the door will not accept a deadbolt, the landlord's remedy is a new door, not a waiver.
• Treating a chain lock as a keyless bolting device. A flimsy chain latch does not qualify if it is not a bolting device the statute recognizes. Read § 92.151 for the definitions — the device has to actually bolt the door, not just chain it.
• Confusing repair-and-deduct with security-device remedies. Repair-and-deduct under § 92.0561 has a narrow set of triggers and requires multiple notices. Security devices have their own remedy track under § 92.164 — faster and, in most cases, stronger. Do not lump them together.
• Not documenting move-in condition. Walk every exterior door and window on day one with your phone. Photograph what is present and what is missing. Missing devices you did not document at move-in become disputed later.

Where San Antonio's stock tends to fail

The older the building, the more likely the security devices are incomplete. Rehabbed 1940s bungalows in Highland Park, unrenovated 1960s fourplexes off Fredericksburg Road, and manufactured homes in unincorporated Bexar County are the frequent offenders. Newer construction in Cibolo, Schertz, and the Alamo Ranch corridor is usually compliant on delivery because builders install to a spec — but rekeying between tenants still gets skipped by property managers turning units quickly.

RentInSA's active listings show roughly 4,453 rentals available across the San Antonio metro as of September 2026, with 861 newly listed in the last thirty days. Turnover is constant, which is exactly why the seven-day rekey right matters — someone else's key ring almost certainly still opens the door you are about to move behind.

If you are still shopping, browse verified rentals at /rentals, and use the move-in walkthrough to check § 92.153 compliance before you sign. If you are already in a unit and the devices are missing, /resources has the statutory citations and letter templates to put the request in writing today.