Unless it is addressed in a a lease to the contrary Texas Property Code Chapter 92 addresses Tenant's and Landlord's rights.
If the lease does not address when and how the Landlord may Enter it is going to be determined by a Judge at whatever point one party brings the other into court. It is in the best interests of Tenants and Landlords to use documents that address all these things.
I am not a Lawyer but I have been in court on many occasions and witnessed many cases where these matters come up.
I have never seen a judge rule against or tell the owner or landlord of a property they needed permission from a tenant in order to enter the property to conduct an inspection, make a repair or even to take your personal property into their possession if you are behind on the rent.
The single point of control a Tenant consistently has is a Privacy Lock that the Landlord HAS to install. If you are in the property and have that locked he cannot enter obviously. Standard TAA and TAR forms used for the vast majority of leases do state that a tenant must provide access as well as a fee that an owner/landlord can charge you if you deny access.
For example. I might exercise my right to drop by a property and conduct an inspection to see what kind of work I might need to do in preparation to selling the property or re letting it again when a lease was up. If the Tenant was home and refused entry the lease I use allows the assessment of a $150 Trip Charge. It also become grounds for a Termination.
Nothing you have written here seems to indicate any nefarious reason and other than someone losing their cool when told NO it hardly sounds like harassment. In the absence of terminology in your lease that says otherwise, whatever chance you have at raising an issue probably evaporates if he enters when you are not home. I can't imagine a judge taking issue with an owner entering a property he owns to make a repair while someone is not home.
It's a lot of money on both sides of the fence to need to go to court to resolve these kinds of matters. That is why a well prepared lease clearly addresses most possibilities... for both sides of the lease.
The TAR lease was drawn up and approved by attorneys that regularly dealt with both landlord and tenant's rights... It is 16 pages long!
In court cases where either of these standard leases are not used, where there exists no specific terminology to address something I have seen judges consistently go with the "norm" and rule based on what "most people find acceptable".
These always start in small claims justice of the peace style courts.... Unless you have a lease that states anything to the contrary I think you would waste a considerable amount of time and money trying to convince a court that the owner of a property did not have the right to effect repairs. Especially as serious as a water leak which can greatly damage the property. Jusges in these courts walk to the beat of a different drummer than when you get into district court which is where the appeal lands you.
I think you probably have a language barrier confusing the issue and you might want to have a friend that speaks the language go with you to sit down with and discuss what is going on.
It is not very difficult for the Owner to serve you a Notice of Termination and press the issue into court and if successful, a judgement against you for a termination ends up on your record making future rentals extremely difficult, almost impossible in some markets.
Believe it or not, most TAR leases and TAA leases do actually give them the rights to enter and notice, although mentioned and suggested is not required.
Which is why that provision for a Privacy Lock exists.
It sounds like you are going to be in some grey areas and will need a lawyer to navigate it.... Is it worth the cost?
Visit with the people at
http://www.houstontenants.org/ for specific advice on your problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pasco727
I am in Florida and I have many homes that I rent out!
Florida Law is different than Texas Law and you are wrong on most of the points you make in regards to owning property here.
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I would like to add that a very probably explanation for his suspicion that you have a leak as well as surprise that one was not found is that he has a much higher than normal water bill. In checking the primary residence he can find no explanation of it and he came to the conclusion that it must be a problem in the garage unit.
Not finding the problem there seemed to be a surprise to him right?
It is to a lot of people until they get someone experienced to looking for it and if he is chasing an explanation for a high water bill he could have a leak in the ground between the supply and the property or even in the slab caused by settling or shifting in the soil...... It's not the first thing people tend to think of.
