San Antonio guides · Updated November 4, 2026

Rats and mice in a San Antonio rental: tenant and landlord responsibilities

Under the Texas Property Code a landlord must make a diligent effort to repair conditions that materially affect a tenant's health or safety once properly notified. The San Antonio Property Maintenance Code separately says who handles extermination.

In Texas, the landlord's repair duty comes from Chapter 92 of the Property Code. If a tenant gives proper notice of a condition that materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant, and the tenant isn't behind on rent, the landlord has to make a diligent effort to repair or remedy it. San Antonio's property maintenance code adds its own rules on who exterminates: the owner before renting and in shared areas of multi-unit buildings, and the occupant in a single-family home, unless building defects caused the problem.

This page is general information, not legal advice. Whether a rodent problem counts as a condition that materially affects health or safety depends on the facts. If you're facing a dispute, talk to a lawyer or a tenant assistance group.

The landlord's repair duty in Texas

Section 92.052 of the Texas Property Code says a landlord shall make a diligent effort to repair or remedy a condition when three things are true. The tenant specifies the condition in a notice to the person, or at the place, where rent is normally paid. The tenant isn't delinquent in rent when the notice is given. And the condition materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant.

The statute doesn't list rodents by name. A few droppings in a garage may be treated differently from rats in the kitchen cabinets or a nursery. That judgment is why the details you write down matter.

Two more parts of 92.052 matter here. The notice has to be in writing only if the lease is in writing and requires written notice. And the landlord generally doesn't have to repair a condition caused by the tenant, someone living with the tenant, or a guest, unless it came from normal wear and tear.

How to give notice the right way

Even if your lease doesn't require written notice, put it in writing. Section 92.056 sets out when a landlord becomes liable, and it requires a second, later written notice after a reasonable time, unless the first notice was sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, registered mail, or another trackable mail or delivery service.

A good notice is short and specific:

• Your name, address and unit number
• What you've found: rats or mice seen, droppings, gnawing, noise, and where
• When it started and whether it's getting worse
• Any health concern: infants, asthma, someone immune-compromised
• A request that the landlord repair or remedy the condition
• The date, and a copy kept for yourself with photos

The seven-day presumption and tenant remedies

Section 92.056 creates a rebuttable presumption that seven days is a reasonable time for the landlord to repair. That presumption can be rebutted based on when the landlord received notice, how severe the condition is, and whether materials, labor and utilities are reasonably available. Rodent work often takes longer than a week to finish, since trapping and sealing happen over several visits. What the law looks at is whether the landlord made a diligent effort.

If all the conditions in 92.056 are met and the landlord hasn't made a diligent effort, the statute lists the tenant's remedies. The tenant may terminate the lease, have the condition repaired or remedied under section 92.0561, deduct the cost of repair from rent under 92.0561 without going to court, or get judicial remedies under 92.0563. Each of those has its own conditions and limits. Read them, or get advice, before you use one.

The statute also says a lease must contain language in underlined or bold print telling the tenant about these remedies. Look for it in your lease.

What San Antonio's code says about extermination

The 2021 San Antonio Property Maintenance Code splits responsibility like this:

• 309.2: before renting or leasing, the owner is responsible for extermination where an infestation exists
• 309.3: in a one-family dwelling or a single-tenant nonresidential building, the occupant is responsible for extermination
• 309.4: in buildings with two or more dwelling units, the owner handles extermination in public or shared areas, and if an occupant's failure caused the infestation, both are responsible
• 309.5: the occupant keeps the place rodent and pest free once it's clean, but the owner is responsible when defects in the structure cause the infestation

Applying it to common situations

Here's how those rules tend to play out. In an apartment complex, mice moving through shared walls and pipe chases point back to the building, which is the owner's side. In a rented single-family house, the code puts extermination on the occupant, but if rats are getting in through a broken soffit, missing crawl space skirting or open foundation cracks, section 309.5 points to the owner because a structural defect is causing it. Section 304.5 separately requires foundation walls to be kept so as to prevent rodent entry.

Landlords should also remember 309.2: if a unit had rodents, the owner should take care of it before the next tenant moves in. An inspection between tenants is cheaper than a dispute later.

Keeping a paper trail

Most rental disputes come down to what can be shown. Tenants should date every photo of droppings, gnawing and traps, and keep copies of every notice and reply. If a provider comes out, ask for the service ticket or report and keep it. Note each time you hear or see rodents after a visit, with the date and room.

Landlords should keep the tenant's notice, the date it arrived, the date the provider was called and every service report. If parts or labor delayed the work, write that down, since 92.056 lists the availability of materials and labor among the things that bear on what counts as a reasonable time. A clean record protects both sides and usually ends the argument before it starts.

Advice for San Antonio landlords

Answer rodent complaints quickly and in writing, and keep records of every provider visit. For houses, pay attention to the structure: rooflines, weep holes, crawl space skirting and garage doors. For complexes, treat the building, not the one unit that called, and keep trash enclosures clean. A provider that seals entry points and documents the work gives you a paper trail that shows diligent effort. Our rodent exclusion page explains what that work involves.

When the landlord doesn't act

If conditions on the property violate the city's code, you can report them through 311 to Code Enforcement. Our city reporting guide explains that process. For questions about your lease and remedies, a lawyer or a local tenant assistance organization can review your situation.

Related reading

• How to report rats and mice in San Antonio, and what happens next
• San Antonio trash, yard and property rules that affect rodents
• Rat droppings vs mouse droppings: how to tell them apart

Related services: Mouse Control, Sealing and Exclusion, Rodent Inspection