Texas Mobile Home Park Laws

Texas Mobile Home Park Laws — Lot Rent and Evictions (2026)

By Oleg Kachko · Updated August 22, 2026

✓ Law Verified August 2026

Texas mobile home park laws are their own world: you own the home, you rent the ground, and a separate set of rules, different from ordinary landlord-tenant law, decides what the park can charge, when it can evict, and what happens if the land is sold out from under the whole community. This guide covers those rules in plain English, verified against official Texas sources as of August 2026.

Texas Mobile Home Park Laws at a Glance

The law that governs parks Texas Manufactured Home Tenancies Act, Texas Property Code Chapter 94 (Tex. Prop. Code secs. 94.001-94.303), enacted 2001 and amended through the 89th Legislature; eviction suits themselves run under Property Code Chapter 24
Notice before a lot rent increase 60 days. Under sec. 94.055(a) the landlord must deliver either a notice to vacate or an offer of lease renewal no later than the 60th day before the current lease term expires, and for a month-to-month lot lease no later than the 60th day before the landlord intends to terminate the current term; sec. 94.055(b) requires that renewal offer to state the proposed rent amount and any changed lease terms. You then have until the 30th day before expiration to reject the offer in writing, or the lease renews automatically at the new rent (sec. 94.055(c)). A rent, fee, or charge increase DURING the lease term is void unless the lease provision allowing it was separately initialed by you (sec. 94.053(d)).
Cap on lot rent increases NO CAP. Texas Property Code Chapter 94 sets no percentage limit on lot rent increases, and Local Government Code sec. 214.902 bars a Texas city from adopting rent control unless the governing body finds a housing emergency caused by a disaster under Gov’t Code sec. 418.004 and the governor approves the ordinance. Unlike New Jersey (3.5 percent) or Oregon (about 6 percent), Texas has no statewide lot-rent cap as of August 2026.
Eviction notice periods Nonpayment of rent: written delinquency notice plus a 10-day cure period (sec. 94.206(3)), then at least 3 days’ written notice to vacate before a forcible detainer suit unless the lease sets a longer or shorter period (sec. 24.005(a)). Lease or community-rule violation: at least 3 days’ written notice to vacate unless the lease contracts for a different period (sec. 24.005(a)). End-of-term nonrenewal: 60 days (secs. 94.052(b), 94.055(a)). Nonrenewal for change in land use: 180 days (sec. 94.204(a)). Lienholder notice: 3 days after the landlord files for judgment of possession (sec. 94.203(b)). After judgment, a court may not issue a writ of possession before the 30th day if you paid the rent due for that 30-day period (sec. 94.203(d)); if the landlord removes your home after the writ, it must mail you the home’s location within 10 days (sec. 94.203(f)).

Why Park Living Has Its Own Rulebook in Texas

Chapter 94 applies only where you lease a lot in a manufactured home community to place a manufactured home you own (sec. 94.002(a)); it does not apply if the landlord owns the home you live in (sec. 94.002(b)(1)), which is ordinary Chapter 92 apartment law.

Because you own the structure, Texas gives you protections an apartment renter does not have: a right to be offered an initial lease term of at least 6 months (sec.

94.052(a)), a written lease that must state the grounds for eviction and the landlord’s maintenance duties (sec. 94.053(c)(7),(11)), a right to sell your home in place to a buyer the landlord approves in writing (sec. 94.252(a)), notice of eviction proceedings to your lienholder within 3 days of filing (sec.

94.203(b)), and a landlord who may not physically block you from the lot or move your home without first getting a writ of possession (sec. 94.203(a)).

Many tenants also get a 30-day delay on the writ after judgment if they pay that month’s rent (sec. 94.203(d)).

Owning the home while renting the ground under it creates a kind of leverage no apartment landlord has: moving a manufactured home typically costs thousands of dollars, and many older homes cannot be moved at all without falling apart.

Lawmakers know that “just move” is not a real option for park residents, which is exactly why Texas mobile home park laws give lot renters protections apartment tenants never get, limited eviction grounds, longer notice periods, and rules about what happens when the park itself changes hands.

Lot Rent Increases: Your Rights Before You Pay More

Required notice: 60 days. Under sec. 94.055(a) the landlord must deliver either a notice to vacate or an offer of lease renewal no later than the 60th day before the current lease term expires, and for a month-to-month lot lease no later than the 60th day before the landlord intends to terminate the current term; sec.

94.055(b) requires that renewal offer to state the proposed rent amount and any changed lease terms.

You then have until the 30th day before expiration to reject the offer in writing, or the lease renews automatically at the new rent (sec. 94.055(c)). A rent, fee, or charge increase DURING the lease term is void unless the lease provision allowing it was separately initialed by you (sec. 94.053(d)).

Is there a cap? NO CAP. Texas Property Code Chapter 94 sets no percentage limit on lot rent increases, and Local Government Code sec. 214.902 bars a Texas city from adopting rent control unless the governing body finds a housing emergency caused by a disaster under Gov’t Code sec. 418.004 and the governor approves the ordinance.

Unlike New Jersey (3.5 percent) or Oregon (about 6 percent), Texas has no statewide lot-rent cap as of August 2026.

Whatever the number on the notice, read it against the rules above before paying. An increase served with short notice, or one that violates a cap where Texas has one, is challengeable, and park residents who organize respond far more effectively than neighbors acting alone. Many states saw lot-rent fights turn into new legislation in the last two years for exactly this reason.

The Park Cannot Evict You for Just Any Reason

Texas limits mid-lease grounds but does NOT require good cause to end a lease at term. Subchapter E allows termination and eviction for only two mid-term reasons: (1) violation of a lease provision, including a manufactured home community rule incorporated into the lease (sec. 94.205 with sec.

94.008), and (2) nonpayment where unpaid rent and other lease amounts total at least one month’s rent, the landlord gives written delinquency notice, and you do not pay in full within 10 days of receiving it (sec. 94.206).

Separately, the landlord may simply choose not to renew at the end of the term for any reason with 60 days’ notice (sec. 94.052(b)), or not renew to change the community’s land use with 180 days’ notice (sec. 94.204). A court may not approve an eviction it finds retaliatory (secs. 94.203(c), 94.251).

This list matters enormously: it means a park in Texas cannot simply non-renew you to free up the lot the way an apartment landlord might. If an eviction notice arrives, check it against the legal grounds first, park evictions fail in court most often because the stated reason is not on the list, or the notice skipped a required warning step.

If the Park Sells or Closes

When the park is sold: NONE under Texas statute. Chapter 94 contains no notice-of-sale requirement, no resident opportunity to purchase, and no right of first refusal when the community is sold, Texas has not adopted the resident-purchase laws seen in states that changed park-sale rules in 2024-2026. The only related duties are sec. 94.010, requiring written disclosure of the name and address of the owner or management company, sec. 94.011, requiring an agent for service of process, and sec.

94.106, which shifts security-deposit liability when the owner’s interest in the community ends. Your lease survives a sale as a contract, so you may be able to enforce its remaining term against a new owner; check with your court or a legal aid attorney.

When the park closes: 180 days, which is 6 months. Under sec.

94.204(a) a landlord may decline to renew your lease to change the community’s land use only if, not later than the 180th day before the land use changes, the landlord (1) sends notice to you, to the home’s owner if that is not you, and to any lienholder, specifying the date the land use will change and stating that the home must be relocated,

and (2) posts a conspicuous notice in the community stating the change and its date.

The landlord must notify the home’s owner and lienholder only if given their names and addresses in writing (sec. 94.204(b)). Texas requires NO relocation payment and funds NO state relocation trust; the dollar figure is 0. The one exception: under sec.

94.055(d) a landlord who asks you to vacate BEFORE the end of the applicable notice period must compensate you in advance for relocation expenses, including the cost of moving and installing the manufactured home at a new location.

Fees the Park Can and Cannot Charge in Texas

Every late charge, fee, or charge for any service or facility must be written into the lease (sec. 94.053(c)(5)), and any provision raising rent, fees, or charges during the lease term is void unless you initialed it (sec. 94.053(d)). Late-payment penalties are allowed only if the payment misses the date stipulated in the lease (sec. 94.056).

On resale, the landlord may not require you to use it as agent or broker, and may not require a commission or fee out of the sale of your home, unless you agreed in writing (sec. 94.252(b)).

A new or amended community rule takes effect only on the 30th day after each tenant gets a written copy, and if compliance costs you more than 25 you get at least 90 days to comply (sec. 94.008(c)). Security deposits are limited by Subchapter C (secs.

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94.101-94.109), including refund duties and landlord liability for bad-faith retention. Water submetering: under Water Code sec.

13.503 and TCEQ rules the community may not charge more than the cost per gallon plus taxes and surcharges the retail public utility charges it, with a submetering service charge capped at 9 percent of allocated submetering costs and a late fee on a submetered water bill capped at 5 percent; electric submetering is governed by Utilities Code sec. 184.013 and Public Utility Commission rules.

Texas has NO statutory ban on entry fees, exit fees, or guest fees, those are limited only by what the lease discloses.

The park’s side of the bargain: Section 94.151 gives an implied warranty of suitability for the leased lot.

Section 94.152 requires the landlord to (1) comply with every code, statute, ordinance, and administrative rule applicable to the community; (2) keep all common areas clean and useable; (3) maintain all utility lines it installed, unless a public utility or municipality maintains them; (4) maintain tenant mailboxes to U.S. Postal Service regulations unless mailboxes sit on individual lots;

(5) maintain community roads to the extent necessary to give access to each tenant’s lot; (6) provide common garbage and solid-waste collection and removal; and (7) repair or remedy conditions that materially affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant. Common area facilities must be open or available to tenants, with hours posted conspicuously at the facility (sec. 94.005).

If the landlord will not repair, you may be able to use the notice-and-time-for-repair process in sec. 94.156, repair-and-deduct under sec.

94.157, or judicial remedies under sec. 94.159, check the exact notice steps with your court.

The Trapped-Equity Problem and How to Protect Yourself

The economics of a mobile home park in Texas are unlike any apartment: you own the home, but moving it typically costs thousands of dollars, often more than an older home is worth, and many parks will not accept a home past a certain age. That is why lot-rent disputes feel so different here: walking away is rarely a real option, and park owners know it.

The law is what balances that power gap, which makes knowing the exact notice rules, fee limits, and eviction grounds in Texas worth more to a park resident than to almost any other kind of tenant.

Protect yourself the way the long-time residents do: keep every rent notice and rule change in writing, photograph the condition of your lot and the park’s common areas a couple of times a year, and read the community rules before signing anything, in most states the written rules you were given are what a court will hold both sides to.

Selling Your Home Without Losing Its Value

When it is time to leave, most residents sell the home in place rather than move it, and this is where park rules matter most.

Many states limit a park’s power to block an in-place sale: the park can usually screen the buyer the way it screens any new resident, but it generally cannot force you to remove a home just because you are selling, and it cannot demand a cut of your sale price unless it actually acted as your sales agent.

Get the park’s buyer-approval requirements in writing early, keep the lot rent current through the sale, and never sign a rule change mid-sale without reading it, a home that can stay on its lot is worth far more than one that has to be moved.

The Strongest Protection Is the Lot Next Door

Everything about park life is shared, the roads, the water lines, the rent schedule, the fate of the land itself. That is why the single most effective move a park resident in Texas can make is joining or forming a residents association. A park owner can ignore one complaint about a rent increase; ignoring a letter signed by sixty households is a different decision.

Associations are also how residents use park-sale rights in the states that grant them, organized communities have bought their own parks across the country, usually with help from nonprofit lenders who specialize in exactly this.

Keep your own records the same way any tenant should: the lease for your lot, every rent notice, every rule change, photos of anything the park fails to maintain. Texas mobile home park laws reward the resident who can show a judge dates and documents, and most disputes never reach a judge once the park realizes you have them.

Recent changes in Texas: H.B. 2037 (89th Legislature, effective September 1, 2025) added Property Code secs. 94.110 and 94.111, letting a manufactured home community and tenant send Subchapter C notices by e-mail once they have previously e-mailed each other, and naming managing, leasing, and resident managers as the landlord’s agent for those notices.

S.B. 785 (89th Legislature, effective September 1, 2026) bars Texas cities from outright banning manufactured homes or manufactured home communities and requires a city with a comprehensive zoning map to designate at least one area where they are allowed, though cities keep control over placement, size, and appearance.

Texas has enacted no lot-rent cap, no park-sale notice or resident-purchase right, and no relocation assistance requirement, and city rent control remains barred except after a disaster-based housing emergency approved by the governor under Local Government Code sec. 214.902.

Texas Mobile Home Park Laws: Quick Answers

Can the park raise lot rent whenever it wants? The Texas mobile home park laws above set the notice rules, and any cap, that apply before an increase is valid.

Can the park make me remove my home? Only for the legal grounds listed in the Texas mobile home park laws, and only through the court process, never by padlock or tow truck.

Do apartment tenant rights apply to me? Partly. The Texas mobile home park laws are their own chapter, and this page plus the state guides linked below cover both layers.

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Official Texas Sources & Resources

Making Texas Mobile Home Park Laws Work for You

The Texas mobile home park laws only protect residents who use them, and parks count on most residents never reading the act. Read your lot lease against this page, calendar every notice deadline the moment a letter arrives, and talk to your neighbors, nearly every protection in the Texas mobile home park laws gets stronger when residents act together.

If the park ignores the rules, the state agency and local legal aid both handle park disputes, and a written complaint citing the act gets a very different response than a phone call. Under the Texas mobile home park laws, the resident with documents and neighbors is never as trapped as the park hopes.

This guide to texas mobile home park laws was last verified against official sources in August 2026. Lot-rent caps and park-sale laws are moving fast in many states, re-check before acting on a deadline.

More Texas Tenant Rights Guides

Disclaimer: This guide is informational only and is not legal advice. Landlord-tenant laws change and vary by city and county within a state. Verify current rules with your state, your local court, or a free legal-aid office before acting. If you are facing eviction, contact a local tenant attorney or legal-aid organization right away.

Renting? Protect your belongings — compare renters insurance at Home Insure Guide. Divorce involving a lease? See Divorce Help Guide. Unsafe housing / toxic mold injury? Some cases qualify — see Mass Tort Info.