Resident FAQ: Rent, Maintenance, Renewals & Move-Out

Rent is due on the date stated in your signed lease—typically the first day of each month. Weekends, holidays, and processing or mail delays do not extend the due date. Submit payment early enough for it to be received by the deadline shown in your lease.

Use the AustinVestors resident portal to make an approved electronic payment. Cash is not accepted. Your lease and portal show the available payment methods, processing options, and any applicable fees.

Late fees are assessed according to the dates and amounts in your signed lease and applicable law. A partial payment or prior acceptance of a late payment does not change future due dates. Check your resident ledger in the portal for the amount currently due.

A returned or dishonored payment may result in a returned-payment charge, late charges, and a requirement that current or future amounts be paid with certified funds. Contact your assigned property manager through the resident portal promptly if a payment does not clear.

No. The security deposit cannot be substituted for rent, including the final month of the lease. Rent and other charges must continue to be paid when due through the end of your tenancy.

Unless your lease identifies a utility paid by the landlord, residents are responsible for connection, service, usage, and related fees. Required services—including electricity, gas, water, wastewater, and garbage when available—must remain active throughout the lease.

Only the tenants and approved occupants named in the lease may reside in the home. Contact AustinVestors before another person moves in; additional occupants may require an application, approval, and written lease documentation.

Guest limits are stated in your lease and may also be restricted by HOA rules. The AustinVestors standard lease generally requires written permission for extended stays. Review your signed lease before allowing a guest to stay beyond the permitted number of days.

No animal may be kept at the property—even temporarily—unless it is authorized in writing or is an approved assistance animal. Do not bring an animal into the home until all required screening, documentation, agreements, and deposits or fees are complete.

Submit the request and supporting documentation through the process provided by AustinVestors. Assistance animals are handled separately from pets and according to applicable fair housing requirements. Approval should be completed before the animal is brought to the property whenever possible.

Use only approved driveways, garages, designated spaces, or legal street parking. Do not park in the yard or keep inoperative, stored, or unauthorized vehicles at or adjacent to the property. HOA rules and your lease may contain additional vehicle limits.

Get written approval before painting, changing flooring, installing fixtures or security systems, adding cables or satellite equipment, changing locks, or making other alterations. Unauthorized changes may be removed or restored at the resident’s expense.

The AustinVestors standard lease prohibits smoking and vaping throughout the property, including the garage and outdoor areas. Smoke-related stains, burns, odors, or debris may be treated as lease violations and charged as damages.

Yes. Residents must follow all applicable HOA rules and restrictive covenants. Fines, charges, and administrative costs caused by a resident, occupant, guest, vehicle, or animal may be charged back to the resident.

Submit every repair request in writing through the resident portal. Include a clear description, photos or video when helpful, and information about access. The move-in condition form documents existing condition but does not create a repair request.

First protect people from immediate danger and contact emergency services when appropriate. Then use the emergency maintenance instructions in your resident portal or lease. Take reasonable steps to limit property damage—such as shutting off water when safe—and report the condition immediately.

Not without written permission. AustinVestors coordinates repair decisions and authorized contractors. Residents may be responsible for unauthorized work, incomplete repairs, or damage caused by attempting a repair without approval.

Residents must keep the property clean and sanitary, dispose of trash, replace HVAC filters, light bulbs, and common device batteries, replace applicable water filters, prevent standing water and frozen pipes, and promptly report needed repairs. Yard, pool, or pest responsibilities depend on the lease and addenda.

The landlord generally pays for covered property-system repairs not caused by a resident, occupant, guest, animal, or failure to follow the lease. Residents may be charged for damage, misuse, clogged exclusive lines caused by improper objects, denied access, missed appointments, or conditions they are responsible for maintaining.

AustinVestors will generally attempt to contact you before routine entry. The lease permits reasonable access for repairs, inspections, property-condition documentation, and showings, and allows entry without prior contact in certain circumstances such as emergencies. Please secure animals and provide access when an appointment is arranged.

The form records the home’s condition at the beginning of the tenancy. Complete it accurately, attach supporting photos, and return it by the deadline in your lease. Conditions not reported may later be treated as having occurred during the tenancy.

No. Do not disconnect, disable, or intentionally damage smoke alarms, carbon-monoxide detectors, locks, or other required safety devices. Report any malfunction in writing through the resident portal and replace resident-supplied batteries when required.

Unless properly terminated, the standard lease automatically continues month to month after the primary term. Review your signed lease for the exact notice deadline. AustinVestors’ standard form generally requires 60 days’ written notice before the expiration date.

Send written notice through an approved method in your lease and keep confirmation that it was received. A verbal conversation or maintenance message is not a termination notice. Your notice must satisfy the required deadline even if you plan to leave earlier.

A job change, home purchase, school transfer, change in household, or other personal circumstance does not automatically end the lease. Contact your property manager before making plans. An approved replacement resident must qualify and sign a new lease, and the current resident may remain responsible for rent and reletting costs until then. Certain statutory protections may apply to military orders, family violence, qualifying sexual offenses, or stalking.

Remove every occupant, pet, vehicle, and personal item; dispose of all trash; clean the home; restore unauthorized alterations; and return all keys, remotes, and access devices. Charges may apply for cleaning, damage beyond normal wear, missing items, abandoned property, unpaid balances, or other lease obligations.

The deposit accounting period begins after you surrender the property and provide a written forwarding address. Texas law generally allows up to 30 days for the accounting and any refund. The refund is payable to all tenants named in the lease, less lawful deductions.

Deductions may include unpaid rent or other lease charges, cleaning, damage beyond normal wear and tear, missing keys or access devices, unauthorized alterations, abandoned-property costs, and resident-responsible repairs. If charges exceed the deposit, the remaining balance is still due.

No. The landlord’s policy does not insure a resident’s personal property or many resident liability risks. Review your signed lease for any renters-insurance or liability-coverage requirement and maintain the required coverage throughout the tenancy.

Submit the request through your resident portal after giving the required lease-termination notice. The lease permits AustinVestors to wait until proper notice has been received and the account is not in breach before responding to a prospective landlord or mortgage company.