Move-Out Cleaning and Getting Your Security Deposit Back in Texas

We are a cleaning company, not lawyers. This guide summarizes Chapter 92 of the Texas Property Code and the Texas Attorney General’s guidance as published when we checked them in November 2026, with links to each. Your lease matters too, so read it alongside this guide, and talk to a lawyer about a dispute.

Security deposits for Texas residential rentals are governed by Subchapter C of Chapter 92 of the Property Code. Four rules matter most when you move out:

• 30 days. The landlord must refund the deposit on or before the 30th day after you surrender the premises (section 92.103).
• No charge for normal wear and tear. The landlord may not keep any part of the deposit to cover normal wear and tear (section 92.104).
• An itemized list. If the landlord keeps part of the deposit, they must give you the balance with a written description and itemized list of all deductions (section 92.104), unless the deductions are for unpaid rent that you do not dispute.
• Your forwarding address. The landlord does not have to return the deposit or send the list until you give a written statement of your forwarding address (section 92.107).

A lease can require advance notice before you move out as a condition of the refund, but only if that requirement is underlined or printed in conspicuous bold in the lease (section 92.103). Check your lease for bold or underlined move-out terms.

Texas defines normal wear and tear as deterioration that results from the intended use of a dwelling. It does not include deterioration caused by negligence, carelessness, accident or abuse by the tenant, a member of the household or a guest.

Cleaning sits on the other side of that line. Faded paint, light scuffs and carpet worn along a walking path are wear. A greasy oven, soap scum, a dirty refrigerator, dust on every baseboard and debris in the closets are not, and they are the easiest deductions to avoid because they can be fixed in a day.

• Often treated as wear and tear: sun-faded blinds, light scuffs on walls, carpet worn flat along hallways.
• Usually not: grease and food inside the oven or refrigerator, mildew and soap scum in showers, stains, pet hair and odors, trash or belongings left behind, holes and broken fixtures.

Most move-out inspections follow the same path: kitchen first, then bathrooms, then bedrooms and closets, then floors and walls. These are the places a move-out cleaning should cover:

• Inside the oven, refrigerator, freezer, dishwasher and microwave
• Inside every cabinet and drawer, including the pantry and under the sinks
• Showers, tubs, toilets, vanities and mirrors, with hard-water spots removed where possible
• Baseboards, door frames, light switches, vent covers and ceiling fans
• Window sills, tracks and blinds
• Closets, shelves and floors, vacuumed and mopped throughout

Our full move-out cleaning checklist goes room by room. If your landlord or property manager gives you their own checklist, follow it first: it is the list your walkthrough will be scored against.

1. Read the lease for any notice requirement and a move-out cleaning standard or fee.
2. Ask for the landlord’s move-out checklist, and schedule the walkthrough if your landlord offers one.
3. Book the cleaning for after the movers leave and before you return the keys, with water and power still on.
4. Photograph every room once it is clean, with the date visible on your phone.
5. Give your forwarding address in writing (email or letter you keep a copy of) when you return the keys.
6. Mark day 30 on your calendar from the day you surrendered the home.

The Property Code presumes a landlord acted in bad faith if they do not return the deposit or send the itemized list within 30 days, and a landlord who keeps a deposit in bad faith can owe $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney’s fees (section 92.109). If you gave your new address in writing and nothing has arrived within 30 days, the Texas Attorney General’s Renter’s Rights page suggests contacting the landlord first, then considering an attorney.

One rule cuts the other way: you may not withhold your last month’s rent on the grounds that the deposit covers it (section 92.108). Pay the rent, clean the home, and let the deposit come back the way the law intends.

We clean rentals as they empty across Benbrook, West Fort Worth, Walsh Ranch and Aledo. Our move-out cleaning follows your landlord’s checklist alongside our own, and our apartment cleaning is sized for smaller units.