Dallas, TX Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

Article VII of Chapter 27 governs registration and inspection of Dallas rental properties and condominiums, and Section 27-38 spells out what a registrant's business records must contain. Beyond the certificate of occupancy, ownership deeds, registration application and leases, the registrant must keep a record of each tenant complaint, describing the complaint and how it was resolved, restricted so only the current tenant of the unit complained of, or the city on request, can view it. The registrant must also keep a copy of the inspection report described in Section 27-32(b)(5), and must produce these records for the director or a peace officer at the single location where they are maintained; refusal lets the director seek a court order to inspect them.

The complaint record ties into Dallas's self-certification inspection program under Section 27-42. Registrants who opt into self-certification must inspect each unit before a new tenancy begins, have the tenant sign a director-approved inspection form after every inspection, give the tenant a copy of the inspection form and results within 10 calendar days, keep those self-inspection forms for at least five years after a tenant vacates, and hand every incoming tenant a director-approved notice of tenant rights and responsibilities before occupancy starts. The director can also demand copies of any self-certification inspection form within 72 hours and may run random audits; a registrant found noncompliant loses self-certification and every unit reverts to inspection by the director on the city's own form. Because Section 27-38 makes the complaint record visible to the tenant it concerns, a tenant can request their own unit's complaint history from the registrant to confirm a problem was actually logged and closed out.