Short answer: in most Texas leases, yes. A landlord can charge a pet deposit, a one time pet fee, and monthly pet rent on the same animal. I have not found a Property Code section that caps any of the three, and I looked for one before writing this. The risk is not stacking them. The risk is calling one thing by the wrong name, then booking and refunding it the wrong way.
This is one of the questions my mom asks me most, because she gets it from other landlords. I practice law in Fort Worth, I run my own rentals, and I built KeyTurn for people in the same spot. So here is how I explain it to her.
What the Property Code does and does not say
I read Sections 92.102, 92.103, 92.104, 92.107, 92.108, 92.110, and 92.111 of the Texas Property Code, and I checked the section titles for Chapter 92. None of the sections I read mention pets, pet deposits, pet fees, or pet rent, and none sets a dollar cap. I did not read every section of the chapter, so treat "no cap" as my reading, not a guarantee. The text is on the Texas Legislature's statute site, and I used the copies at texas.public.law.
That silence matters. Because the statute says nothing about pets, a pet charge gets sorted by what it actually is, using the definitions that do exist. Three charges, three buckets.
The pet deposit is a security deposit
Section 92.102 defines a security deposit as "any advance of money, other than a rental application deposit or an advance payment of rent, that is intended primarily to secure performance under a lease of a dwelling." A pet deposit is an advance of money meant to cover damage from the animal under the lease. In my reading, that fits the definition, so the normal deposit rules apply to it.
Those rules, from the sections I read, are concrete:
- Under 92.103, the landlord refunds the deposit on or before the 30th day after the tenant surrenders the premises.
- Under 92.104, the landlord may deduct damages and charges the tenant is legally liable for, but "may not retain any portion of a security deposit to cover normal wear and tear."
- Also under 92.104, if you keep any part of it, you owe the tenant the balance plus a written description and itemized list of deductions.
- Under 92.107, you are not obligated to return the deposit or give the itemized list until the tenant gives you a written forwarding address.
My practical advice: if you take a pet deposit, handle it on the same 30 day clock as the regular deposit, and put it in the same itemized accounting. I walk through that process in the security deposit checklist. A common mistake is a landlord who deducts carpet cleaning from the regular deposit and forgets the pet deposit exists, then holds it past day 30.
Pet rent is rent, not a deposit
Pet rent is a recurring monthly charge, for example $25 a month per animal. It is not an advance to secure performance, so it does not fit the 92.102 definition. It behaves like rent. It is income when you collect it, it shows up on the tenant ledger each month, and it is never refunded at move out because it was payment for something the tenant already used.
Two things to get right. First, put the amount and the per animal rule in the lease so the charge is a term of the contract and not a surprise. Second, keep it as its own ledger line so the owner statement shows it separately. An owner who sees $50 a month of unexplained extra income on a two pet house will ask about it, and a labeled line answers the question before it is asked. I cover statement layout in the owner statement template post.
The one time pet fee is where people get hurt
Landlords like the one time pet fee because they want it to be nonrefundable. For example, a $300 fee at move in that the landlord keeps no matter what. Here is what I can verify. The one section I found that talks about fees and the security deposit definition is 92.111, which covers a fee paid in lieu of a security deposit. Under that section, a fee collected is treated as a security deposit for purposes of the chapter unless an agreement was signed and the fee is used to buy insurance coverage for damages and unpaid rent. That section is about a fee in place of a deposit, not a pet fee, so I am not claiming it controls here.
What it does show is how the Legislature thinks. When a nonrefundable fee does the job of a deposit, the law pulls it back into the deposit rules unless specific conditions are met. A pet fee that you actually spend on something and that is not meant to secure the lease is on firmer ground than a "fee" that is really a second deposit with a different label. In practice I tell landlords to do four things:
- Name it for what it is. If you intend to keep it, call it a nonrefundable pet fee and say what it pays for, such as one time cleaning and treatment of the unit.
- Put that language in the lease, near the pet addendum, where the tenant signs or initials it.
- Do not also deduct the same dollars again for the same cleaning when you itemize the deposit.
- If you cannot explain what the fee pays for, treat it as a deposit and refund it the deposit way.
If a fee ever gets challenged, a judge will look at what it did, not what the lease called it. That is my opinion as a lawyer, not a quote from a statute, so run it past your own attorney if the dollars are large.
A worked example
Say a tenant has one dog. The lease has a pet addendum with a $300 pet deposit, a $150 nonrefundable pet fee, and $25 a month in pet rent. Here is where each dollar goes:
| Charge | Amount | What it is | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pet deposit | $300 | Security deposit | Held for the tenant, refund or itemize within 30 days |
| Pet fee | $150 | Income, if documented as a fee | Income on the date collected |
| Pet rent | $25 a month | Rent | Income each month, $300 over a 12 month lease |
Move in cost for the pet is $450 plus the first month of pet rent. Over a 12 month lease the landlord collects $750 total, and $300 of that is the tenant's money until move out. If you lump the $450 together as "pet money," you will get the 30 day refund wrong, because only the $300 belongs on that clock. That is exactly the kind of mistake a clean ledger prevents.
Assistance animals are a different category
Everything above is about pets. Service animals and emotional support animals are a separate fair housing question. Here is what I verified. HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity signed a memo dated May 22, 2026. It says that effective immediately FHEO will find reasonable cause only in cases involving animals trained to provide disability related assistance, and it permanently rescinds the 2020 assistance animal notice. A footnote in the memo says both the 2013 and 2020 notices were rescinded on September 17, 2025. A separate footnote describes the 2020 notice as having said pet fees could not be assessed for untrained emotional support animals. The memo is posted on the DREDF site.
Two cautions. The memo says nothing in it affects the right to bring a private action in court, and it says HUD intends to do rulemaking later with no timeline. So a tenant could still sue, and the rules could change again. Second, I did not find anything in the memo that directly authorizes charging pet fees, deposits, or pet rent for an assistance animal. My advice is simple: do not assess pet charges on an assistance animal request without talking to a lawyer first. Handle the request in writing, keep a record, and ask questions you are allowed to ask rather than guessing.
Checklist before you add a pet addendum
- Separate the three charges in the lease, each with its own name and amount.
- Say whether the fee is nonrefundable and what it pays for.
- Tie the deposit to the same 30 day refund clock as the regular deposit.
- Decide whether pet rent is per animal or per household, and write it down.
- Book each charge on its own ledger line so the owner statement and the deposit accounting both reconcile.
See how a small Texas manager keeps this clean
Lockwood Property Management moved its ledger, deposits, and owner statements onto KeyTurn. The case study shows what changed and what it cost.
Read the Lockwood case studyIf you want to try KeyTurn on your own portfolio, the beta request form is on the KeyTurn home page. Tell me your door count and I will tell you honestly whether it fits.
Related reading
- Security deposit rules in Texas: a property manager checklist
- Owner statements for small property managers
- Texas property management software: what small operators actually need
Sources
- Tex. Prop. Code 92.102, 92.103, 92.104, 92.107, 92.111, retrieved October 26, 2026
- HUD FHEO enforcement memorandum dated May 22, 2026 (copy hosted by DREDF), retrieved October 26, 2026
I am the founder of KeyTurn. This post is general information, not legal advice for your situation, and it does not create an attorney client relationship. Statutes and agency guidance change, so confirm the current text before you rely on it.