Rental Inspections in Austin, TX (2026)
2 verified rental inspections rules for Austin, Texas, sourced directly from the municipal code and official government pages.
Verified from official government sources
Inspection Programs
Austin forces problem rental properties into its Repeat Offender Program. A property that racks up two or more uncorrected violation notices, five notices, or two citations in a rolling 24 months must register with the Code Compliance Department and submit to inspection.
Austin Rental Repeat Offender Program Registration & Inspection
Significant RestrictionsAustin City Code § 4-14-3 (Registration Required; Exceptions)
Except as provided in Subsection (C), a rental registration issued under this article is required for multi-family rental property or single-family rental property occupied by a non-owner if the following conditions are met: (1) two or more separate notices of violation are issued for the same property within a consecutive 24 month period and the owner ... fails to correct the violations ...; (...
Tenant Complaint Process
Austin's Code Compliance Department can inspect a rental property's exterior, and any occupied single-family unit, after receiving a complaint from a tenant, with no periodic schedule required first. Landlords or tenants may refuse consent to the inspection, in which case the code official can seek an administrative search warrant under Article 18 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.
Austin Rental Inspections After Tenant Complaints
Some RestrictionsAustin City Code Sec. 4-14-40
(A)The code official may conduct:(1)inspections based on indications of Code violations, including complaints received by the City;(2)periodic inspections; and(3)follow-up inspections. ... (C)The following areas of a single-family property will be subject to inspection by the code official:(1)all building exteriors;(2)vacant dwelling-units, with the owner's consent; and(3)occupied dwelling unit...
Looking for Travis County county-wide rules?
County ordinances apply to unincorporated areas and may supplement Austin city rules.
Rental Inspections in Travis County →