Tenant & Renter Rights in Houston, TX

Houston's Multi-Family Habitability Code requires the owner of any rental building with three or more units to register that building with the city building official and to post a hard copy of the completed registration form in or on the building. Buildings with fewer than three units are not covered by this article.

Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The code's definition of unit excludes rooms rented primarily so the occupant can receive services regulated by federal or state government, rooms in buildings owned by a college or university, an apartment in a condominium regime under Texas Property Code Chapter 81, and a unit in a condominium under Chapter 82. Duplexes and single-family residences are outside this article; the City's own habitability page states they are handled by a different department.

Houston requires every multi-family rental building of three or more units to post at all times a valid Certificate of Occupancy or Life Safety Compliance Certificate and a large bilingual NOTICE TO ALL RESIDENTS sign in English and Spanish telling residents to report hazardous conditions to the manager or owner and to the City by calling 311.

Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The requirement applies only to multi-family rental buildings as the code defines them, so the same exclusions apply: condominium apartments and units under Texas Property Code Chapters 81 and 82, college and university rooms, and rooms rented primarily to receive government-regulated services. Duplexes and single-family rentals are outside this article.

Under Houston's Multi-Family Habitability Code, no City employee inspecting an apartment building under the MFRB Inspection Program may enter your unit without the written permission of a person with a legal right to occupy it. The protection is specific to City inspectors under that program.

Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The provision is scoped to city employees inspecting under the MFRB Inspection Program in multi-family rental buildings of three or more units. It says nothing about police, fire or emergency entry, and it does not address landlord entry at all.

Houston adopted a High-Risk Rental Building program in 2026 that designates an apartment building as high-risk when it receives ten or more citations in a six-month period for listed violations, and directs the building official to publish tenant assistance and referral information for residents of those buildings on the City website.

Exceptions, scope, and the exact source: The same exclusions from the definition of unit apply as elsewhere in the article, namely condominium apartments and units under Texas Property Code Chapters 81 and 82, college and university rooms, and rooms rented primarily to receive government-regulated services. Multiple citations issued on one calendar day count as one. An owner or manager may appeal a high-risk designation within 15 days, and registration terminates after six months of compliance or when the building no longer houses residents.