Security Device Requirements for San Antonio Rentals: Rekeying, Deadbolts, and Smoke Alarms Under Texas Law

Before a new tenant moves into your San Antonio rental, Texas law requires you to install a specific list of security devices and rekey the locks — at your expense, without waiting for the tenant to ask. The rules live in Texas Property Code Chapter 92, Subchapters D (security devices) and F (smoke alarms). They are not optional, they cannot be waived in the lease, and violating them exposes you to statutory damages of one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, court costs, and attorney's fees under § 92.164 and § 92.260.

This is the area where self-managing landlords in Bexar County get burned most often, because the requirements sound like general safety advice and are actually a checklist with deadlines attached. Here is what has to be in place, who pays, and what happens when a tenant sends you a written demand.

What Texas requires by default in every rental

Under Texas Property Code § 92.153, every residential rental in Texas must have the following, installed at the landlord's expense, without any request from the tenant:

• A keyless bolting device (often a night latch or interior deadbolt with no keyway) on each exterior door.
• A keyed deadbolt or a keyless deadbolt on each exterior door.
• A sliding door pin lock or sliding door security bar plus a sliding door handle latch on each exterior sliding glass door.
• A window latch on each exterior window that can be opened.
• A door viewer (peephole) on each exterior door that is not a sliding door — unless the door has a window or sidelight the tenant can see through.

There are narrow exceptions: for example, the keyless bolting device requirement does not apply if the unit is designed for occupancy by an elderly or disabled tenant who has requested its removal in writing, or if a fire marshal has restricted it in a certain unit type. Otherwise, if the door doesn't have it, you have to install it.

These are not building-code items you can hand off to "whatever the builder put on." A 1960s bungalow in Beacon Hill (78201) with a single knob lock and no peephole is out of compliance the day you list it. A 2015 tract home in Alamo Ranch (78253) usually has the deadbolts and window latches but is often missing the keyless bolt on the interior side of the front door.

The rekey rule — 7 days, every turnover

Section 92.156 is the one landlords miss most. You must rekey or replace all keyed security devices — every exterior deadbolt, every keyed knob — no later than the 7th day after the new tenant takes possession. This applies whether or not the previous tenant returned their keys, whether or not the locks look new, and whether or not the new tenant asks.

A locksmith rekey in San Antonio typically runs $15–$30 per cylinder as of recent cycles, or you can swap in new Kwikset SmartKey cylinders yourself and rekey them with the learn tool. Either is fine; what is not fine is skipping it. Document the date and keep the invoice — if a tenant later claims a break-in involved a prior key, that receipt is your defense.

You also have to rekey on written request from the tenant at any point during the lease, but they pay for that one. The 7-day turnover rekey is on you.

Smoke alarms — Subchapter F, and it is stricter than most landlords think

Smoke alarms are governed separately under §§ 92.251–92.262. The requirements:

• One smoke alarm outside each separate bedroom, in the corridor or area serving those bedrooms.
• In units with more than one story, at least one alarm on each level.
• Local city codes can require more (San Antonio's adopted IRC requires alarms inside each sleeping room as well as outside, and interconnected + hardwired in newer construction). When the local code is stricter, the local code wins.
• Alarms must be in good working order at the beginning of the tenancy — § 92.258. That means fresh batteries and a test on move-in day, documented.
• If a tenant gives written notice that an alarm is malfunctioning or missing, you have a reasonable time to repair or replace (courts treat this like the § 92.052 repair duty — 7 days is the safe zone).

You cannot charge the tenant for the initial installation of a required alarm, and you cannot deduct battery replacement from the security deposit unless the lease specifically shifts that obligation and the tenant failed to do it — even then, § 92.2611 limits what you can pass through.

What triggers the tenant's remedies

A tenant cannot just sue because a peephole is missing. They have to follow the demand procedure in § 92.157 (security devices) or § 92.259 (smoke alarms):

1. Tenant delivers a written request for installation, repair, or rekey.
2. Landlord has a reasonable time to comply — generally 7 days, shorter if the request is urgent (broken deadbolt on the front door of an occupied unit is not a 7-day repair).
3. If the landlord ignores it, the tenant can sue for one month's rent plus $500, actual damages, a court order requiring compliance, attorney's fees, and court costs. They may also be able to terminate the lease.

A Bexar County JP court will hear these cases in the same precinct that would hear an eviction. I have seen tenants file § 92.164 counterclaims when a landlord tries to evict for nonpayment — and when the landlord never rekeyed and never installed the keyless bolt, the tenant walks out with a judgment even though they owed rent.

The move-in documentation that protects you

On or before the day the tenant takes possession, do a walkthrough with a written checklist that names each device by location. Sample line items:

• Front door: keyed deadbolt (rekeyed [date], locksmith invoice attached), keyless bolt installed, door viewer installed.
• Back door: keyed deadbolt (rekeyed [date]), keyless bolt installed.
• Sliding patio door: pin lock installed, handle latch functional.
• Bedroom 1 window: latch functional.
• Smoke alarm hallway outside bedrooms: tested [date], battery replaced [date].
• Smoke alarm inside primary bedroom: tested [date].

Tenant signs and dates. Give them a copy. Keep the original and photographs of each device with a timestamp. When the tenant sends a written demand six months later claiming the deadbolt was never installed, you produce the signed sheet and the photo.

What most people get wrong

• Assuming the builder or the previous landlord handled it. The obligation is on the current landlord at the start of each tenancy. A 2019 build in Cibolo can still fail because someone removed the keyless bolt during a prior tenancy.
• Skipping the rekey because "the last tenant was fine." The statute doesn't care. Rekey within 7 days, every time, or budget for a $500-plus-rent judgment.
• Using the lease to waive these requirements. § 92.006 makes waivers of Subchapter D and F rights void with narrow, technical exceptions. A clause that says "tenant accepts locks as-is" is not enforceable.
• Confusing keyless bolt with keyed deadbolt. They are two separate required devices on the same door. A single Schlage deadbolt is not both.
• Charging the tenant for the initial install. You cannot. You can charge for a mid-lease rekey the tenant requests, and for replacement of devices damaged by the tenant, but not for the baseline installation the statute requires.
• Treating smoke alarm batteries as a deposit deduction by default. Only allowed if the lease specifically assigns battery duty to the tenant in the form § 92.2611 requires, and only after written notice. Otherwise it comes out of your pocket.
• Ignoring the written demand. The 7-day clock starts when the tenant sends written notice, not when you get around to reading it. Track incoming maintenance requests the same way you track rent.

When to bring in a pro

If you own one or two rentals and turn them yourself, a Saturday morning with a checklist and a $150 hardware run at the Loop 410 Home Depot solves most of this. If you own more than a handful, or your units are older stock in 78201, 78207, or 78210 where the original hardware is a mix of everything, hire a locksmith on a per-turnover contract and have your property manager sign off on the checklist as part of every move-in.

When the statutory language starts to matter — a tenant demand letter, an eviction with a counterclaim, a lease clause you're not sure survives § 92.006 — talk to a Texas landlord-tenant attorney before you respond. A one-hour consult is cheaper than the judgment.

HomeFinder helps San Antonio owners list rentals at /list-your-home and connects landlords with local property managers and attorneys through /agents when a situation outgrows a checklist. More landlord-side guides live at /resources.