Texas rent collection
Rent Collection Agency for Texas Property Managers
Elite Recovery Group recovers unpaid rent and move-out balances from former residents for property managers, multifamily operators and landlords across Texas, from Houston and Dallas to El Paso and Killeen. We work the balances your team has stopped chasing, under the federal FDCPA and Regulation F and the Texas Debt Collection Act, so recovery doesn't come at the cost of a complaint.
What we collect for Texas portfolios.
Most Texas rent debt is created at move-out: the resident leaves, the deposit doesn't cover the ledger, and the balance sits in A/R until someone writes it off. That's the balance we're built for.
Move-out balances
Rent, damage, cleaning and fees left after the 30-day deposit accounting.
Lease breaks and skips
Residents who left early or without notice, worked from the lease and re-letting records.
Eviction balances
What's left after a justice court eviction, with or without a money judgment.
Aged write-offs
Accounts inside the four-year Texas limit that your last agency or your own team gave up on.
Placement works from a standard export from AppFolio, Yardi, RealPage, Entrata, Buildium or Rent Manager. No integration is required. See how each platform handles collections.
Texas rules your collection agency should already know.
Texas rent debt has its own constraints. A good agency checks these before the first call, not after a dispute. Our Texas rent collection laws guide covers each one in detail.
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A $10,000 bond, not a license
Texas requires third-party collectors to file a surety bond with the Secretary of State before collecting (Finance Code 392.101). Check any agency's filing before you place accounts. Elite Recovery Group LLC's Texas collector bond, number 7901324742, is on file with the Secretary of State.
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The Texas Debt Collection Act binds landlords too
Chapter 392 reaches original creditors, so your in-house team is covered as well. It bars fees or interest the lease doesn't expressly allow (392.303).
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Deposit accounting comes first
You have 30 days after surrender to refund or itemize the deposit (Property Code 92.103). A balance placed before that is easy to dispute.
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Four years to sue, and no wage garnishment
Written-lease claims expire after four years, and Texas bars garnishing wages for rent debt, so most recovery comes from negotiated payment, not judgments.
Why Elite Recovery Group
Built for property portfolios, not generic consumer debt.
ERG works only with property operators, and Texas is one of our core markets. Every account follows the same five steps: discovery, compliance review, placement, recovery and reporting. Owners see recovery rate, active accounts and trends in real time.
Gross recovery rate
Measured across multifamily and single-family portfolios.
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8 days
Average first payment
Typical time from placement to a resident's first payment.
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95%
Dispute-free resolution
Resolved accounts that never escalate into a dispute.
Local guides for Texas markets.
We collect statewide, but courts, fees and local market pressures differ by county. These guides cover justice court precincts, 2026 filing fees and what drives move-out balances in each market.
- Houston
- Dallas
- Fort Worth
- Austin
- San Antonio
- El Paso
- Plano, Frisco & McKinney
- Sugar Land, Katy & Missouri City
- Round Rock, Georgetown & Cedar Park
- Corpus Christi
- Killeen & Temple
- Lubbock
Comparing agencies? See our Texas collection agency comparison and what to check before hiring one. Managing near Fort Cavazos, Fort Bliss or JBSA? Read collecting from military tenants under the SCRA.
Frequently asked
Texas rent collection questions, answered.
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Can one collection agency collect rent debt anywhere in Texas?
Yes. Texas has no city or county collector licensing, so one agency with a current state bond can collect from former residents statewide. Local rules matter mainly if a balance goes to court, where the case is filed in the justice precinct where the rental sits.
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Do Texas collection agencies need a license?
No. Texas doesn't license collection agencies. A third-party debt collector must instead file a $10,000 surety bond with the Secretary of State under Finance Code 392.101 before collecting, and you can check any agency's filing for free on the Secretary of State's portal.
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Can a collection agency garnish a former tenant's wages in Texas?
No. Texas bars wage garnishment for ordinary consumer debts, including rent. That's one reason most Texas rent debt is recovered through voluntary payment plans rather than court judgments.
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Can the agency add its fee to the former resident's balance?
Only if the lease or law expressly allows it. Finance Code 392.303 bars collecting any fee, charge or interest the agreement doesn't authorize. If the lease is silent, the commission comes out of what's recovered.
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How long do I have to collect unpaid rent in Texas?
Four years for a suit on a written lease, counted from when each amount came due. Older balances can still be collected voluntarily, but they can't be sued on, and debt buyers can't sue on time-barred consumer debt at all.
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When should I send a Texas balance to collections?
After the 30-day security deposit accounting is done and your in-house follow-up has stopped working, usually 30 to 60 days after move-out. Recovery drops as accounts age, so don't wait for year-end write-offs.
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Does Elite Recovery Group need a software integration to take Texas accounts?
No. ERG works from a standard export from AppFolio, Yardi, RealPage, Entrata, Buildium or Rent Manager: the ledger, the move-out statement and the lease.
Recover more of what your Texas portfolio is owed.
Start with a recovery review: send a sample export of former-resident balances and we'll show you what's collectible under Texas rules, how placement works and what to expect on recovery.