If you鈥檙e a renter in Texas, there may be a clause in your lease you haven鈥檛 noticed: a landlord鈥檚 lien. The clause gives your landlord the right to come into your home and take your personal belongings if you fail to pay rent.
The process is as a way to recoup unpaid rent, but it鈥檚 not as simple as your landlord walking into your apartment and taking whatever he or she wants. There are specific rules for how landlords can enforce a lien, says Fred Fuchs, an attorney with .
鈥淎 landlord鈥檚 lien is a provision in a lease agreement that has to be underlined or in bold print in order to be enforced,鈥� he says.
Fuchs says a landlord can take a tenant鈥檚 property only because of unpaid rent 鈥� not past due utilities, maintenance or other costs. There are also restrictions on what exactly landlords can take. They can鈥檛 take a tenant鈥檚 clothing, food, medicine or family portraits, for example. But they can take TVs, musical instruments and furniture, .
Fuchs, who has worked on a number of these cases over the years, says tenants usually aren't aware that a landlord has this right until they have to deal with it firsthand. Still, Fuchs says, liens are typically not the first option landlords go for to secure payment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just a better practice and better for tenant relations if a landlord does not use the practice, because there are other effective remedies,鈥� Fuchs says, 鈥減rimarily trying to get the tenant into the office to talk about the rent and then using the eviction process, where a third party 鈥� a judge 鈥� can determine whether a tenant is in default.鈥�
To invoke the lien, a landlord doesn't need a judge. But because the rules are so specific, there's a lot of room for error. Landlords could take things they鈥檙e not supposed to, or they could fail to leave the required written notice letting a tenant know they took something. In those cases, tenants have some recourse.
鈥淭he tenant can get damages,鈥� says Juliana Gonzales, executive director of the Austin Tenants鈥� Council, a renters' rights group. "They can also get a financial amount of one month鈥檚 rent or $500, whichever is larger, as well as attorney鈥檚 fees.鈥�
A landlord who violates the law would also have to return the tenant's property (provided it hasn't been sold). If the property has been sold, the tenant would get the proceeds.
Gonzales says she thinks , which went into effect in the 1980s, is outdated. For example, landlords can take tenants' phones and computers 鈥� items that are essential to people's lives and work these days.
Gonzales says it鈥檚 common for the Austin Tenants鈥� Council to see lien cases that are not executed properly.
鈥淥ftentimes, landlords know that they have the right to pursue unpaid rent, but they don鈥檛 necessarily know the precisely right process to pursue that unpaid rent,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd so at times, they may be violating the law or violating tenants鈥� rights.鈥�
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