Texas Mobile Home Park Lease Law: What Operators Need to Include

What must a mobile home lot lease include in Texas?

If you rent lot space in a Texas manufactured home community, your lot lease is governed by the Texas Manufactured Home Tenancies Act, Tex. Property Code Chapter 94. It sets hard rules for what the lease must say, what you must hand the tenant, and what you may never put in the lease.

The lease must be in writing. Section 94.053(a) requires that a lease agreement be typed or printed in legible handwriting and signed by the landlord and the tenant. A handshake or verbal lot tenancy does not satisfy the statute.

Section 94.053(c) then spells out 16 items the written lease must contain, and Chapter 94 layers on front-end disclosures (Section 94.051), a minimum six-month term (Section 94.052), limits on fees and increases (Sections 94.053 and 94.056), and voiding of any clause that waives a tenant's statutory rights (Sections 94.003 and 94.053(e)). The sections below break down each obligation with the statutory text.

The written lease and its required contents

Before an applicant ever signs, Section 94.051 requires you to give the prospective tenant a copy of the proposed lease, any community rules, and a separate disclosure statement printed in at least 10-point type telling them they have the legal right to an initial lease term of six months. Section 94.052 backs that up by requiring you to offer an initial term of at least six months, though the parties may mutually agree to a shorter or longer period.

The lease itself must be legible and signed by both the landlord and the tenant (Section 94.053(a)). Section 94.053(c) requires the lease to contain, among its 16 items: the lot address and any parking spaces; the lease term; the rental amount; the interval and due date for rent; any late charge or fee or charge for any service or facility; the security deposit amount; a description of the landlord's maintenance responsibilities; an emergency-maintenance phone number; the name and address of the person designated to accept official notices for the landlord; the early-termination penalty under Section 94.201; the grounds for eviction under Subchapter E; the landlord's right not to renew on a land-use change under Section 94.204; any utility-submetering addendum; and a prominent disclosure that Chapter 94 governs certain rights granted to the tenant.

After signing, you owe the tenant paperwork. Section 94.053(b) requires the landlord to provide the tenant with a copy of the lease agreement and a current copy of the manufactured home community rules after the lease has been signed. Separately, the tenant must disclose any lienholder on their home before signing (Section 94.054).

Disclosing rules and fees up front

Fees cannot be hidden or improvised. Section 94.053(c)(5) requires the lease to state any late charge or fee or charge for any service or facility, so every recurring or service charge you intend to collect belongs in the written lease. A late penalty may be assessed only when payment is not remitted by the date stipulated in the lease (Section 94.056).

You also cannot raise the price mid-term without the tenant's sign-off. Section 94.053(d) provides that a lease provision requiring an increase in rent or in fees or charges during the lease term must be initialed by the tenant or the provision is void. An un-initialed increase is unenforceable.

Community rules must be disclosed the same way. You must give the applicant the rules up front (Section 94.051(2)) and a current copy after signing (Section 94.053(b)), and Section 94.008(b) provides that manufactured home community rules are considered part of the lease agreement. If you later change the rules, Section 94.008(c) requires the change to take effect no sooner than 30 days after written notice, and if compliance would cost a tenant more than 25 dollars, you must give at least 90 days.

Prohibited provisions and rules limits

Chapter 94 rights cannot be signed away. Section 94.003 states that a provision in a lease agreement or a manufactured home community rule that purports to waive a right or to exempt a landlord or a tenant from a duty or from liability under this chapter is void. That means a clause waiving the six-month term, the required disclosures, the landlord's repair duties, or the eviction and retaliation protections is unenforceable no matter what the tenant signed.

On top of that, Section 94.053(e) provides that any illegal or unconscionable provision in a lease is void, and the invalidity of one provision does not affect other provisions that can be given effect without it. So a single bad clause is severed rather than voiding the whole lease.

Your rules are constrained too. Section 94.008(a) allows a landlord to adopt manufactured home community rules that are not arbitrary or capricious. A rule that is arbitrary, capricious, or that operates to waive a statutory right will not hold up. Note that Chapter 94 does not include a distinct undisclosed-fees-are-automatically-uncollectible rule; instead it requires all fees to be in the lease (Section 94.053(c)(5)) and voids un-initialed in-term increases (Section 94.053(d)).

Lease requirements at a glance in Texas

• Written and signed
  The lot lease must be typed or in legible handwriting and signed by both landlord and tenant (Tex. Prop. Code Section 94.053(a)).
• Six-month term offered
  Tenants have the legal right to an initial term of at least six months, disclosed in 10-point type up front (Sections 94.051, 94.052).
• 16 required contents
  The lease must state the lot address/parking, term, rent, payment interval and due date, all fees and late charges, deposit, maintenance duties, emergency contact, notice agent, early-termination penalty, eviction grounds, land-use non-renewal right, submetering addendum, and a prominent Chapter 94 disclosure (Section 94.053(c)).
• Copy after signing
  Landlord must give the tenant a copy of the signed lease and a current copy of the community rules (Section 94.053(b)).
• All fees in writing
  Any late charge or fee or charge for a service or facility must be in the lease; a late penalty applies only if payment is not made by the stated date (Sections 94.053(c)(5), 94.056).
• In-term increases initialed
  A provision increasing rent, fees, or charges during the term is void unless initialed by the tenant (Section 94.053(d)).
• Rules are part of the lease
  Community rules are part of the lease, must not be arbitrary or capricious, and changes need 30 days' notice (90 days if compliance costs a tenant over 25 dollars) (Section 94.008).
• No waiver of rights
  Any clause or rule purporting to waive a Chapter 94 right or duty is void, as is any illegal or unconscionable provision (Sections 94.003, 94.053(e)).
• Tenant lienholder disclosure
  The tenant must disclose any lienholder on the manufactured home before signing (Section 94.054).
• Renewal notice
  Landlord must give a notice to vacate or an offer of renewal at least 60 days before expiration; a renewal offer must state the proposed rent and any changes (Section 94.055).

Operator best practices in Texas

• Use a Chapter 94-compliant lease template
  Build one master lot-lease form that hits all 16 items in Section 94.053(c) and includes the prominent Chapter 94 disclosure, so no required term is ever missed.
• Deliver the pre-lease packet at application
  Give every applicant the proposed lease, community rules, and the 10-point six-month-term disclosure at the time you receive their application (Section 94.051).
• Get signatures and hand back copies
  Require both signatures and, immediately after signing, deliver a copy of the lease and the current rules to the tenant to satisfy Section 94.053(b).
• Put every fee in the lease
  List all late charges and service or facility fees in the lease itself; do not invoice for charges that were never disclosed in writing (Section 94.053(c)(5)).
• Initial any mid-term increase
  Never raise rent or fees during a term without the tenant initialing the increase, or the increase is void (Section 94.053(d)).
• Vet your community rules
  Review rules to confirm none are arbitrary, capricious, or waive a Chapter 94 right, and give proper 30- or 90-day notice before changing them (Sections 94.003, 94.008).
• Calendar the 60-day renewal notice
  Track lease expirations and send the notice to vacate or renewal offer at least 60 days out, with proposed rent and any changes stated (Section 94.055).
• Build a relationship with a Texas MHP attorney
  Have counsel who specializes in Texas manufactured-home community law review your lease template and rules and confirm current Chapter 94 compliance before you roll out changes.