That the Texas Property Code regulates certain aspects of both residential tenancies and commercial tenancies? Chapter 91 applies to both types of landlords and tenants, Chapter 92 applies only to residential tenancies and Chapter 93 applies only to commercial tenancies.
It is imperative that commercial real estate professionals know what aspects of a commercial lease agreement and tenancy are subject to laws codified under Chapters 91 and 93, what those laws say, and how they differ from residential tenancies. Commercial rental property is defined broadly as rental property that is not a residential tenancy. A residential tenancy generally means a lease for a dwelling of one or more rooms rented for use as a permanent residence.
Most commercial real estate professionals will inevitably have to lock-out a tenant. Both commercial and residential landlords may lock-out a tenant (i) if the tenant is delinquent in paying at least part of the rent, (ii) to remove the contents of a premises abandoned by a tenant, or (iii) to make bona fide repairs, perform construction or in the event of an emergency. However, only a commercial landlord can lock out the tenant and thereafter condition the provision of the delivery of a new key upon the payment of the delinquent rent. A residential landlord has to provide a new key via a 24 hour on-site location or within 2 hours of a call from tenant requesting access even if the tenant does not pay the delinquent rent.
Another interesting nuance is the time within which a landlord must return a security deposit to a tenant. A commercial landlord is required to refund the security deposit not later than 60 days after the date the tenant surrenders the premises and provides notice to the landlord of the tenant’s forwarding address. In contracts, a residential landlord must refund a security deposit to the tenant on or before the 30th day after the date the tenant surrenders the premises. However, both commercial and residential landlords can deduct from the security deposit any damages and charges for which the tenant is legally liable under the lease or that result from a breach of the lease. These deductions must be described and itemized in a writing provided to the tenant, unless the tenant owes rent when it surrenders possession of the premises and there is not a dispute about the amount of rent owed.
Stay tuned for more blogs to come where I make a deeper-dive into other aspects of commercial tenancies that are specifically addressed by the Texas Property Code. If you’d like to request that I cover a particular area, please feel free to comment below!
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