Free Texas Commercial Lease Agreement Template

A Texas commercial lease agreement rents non-residential property — a storefront, an office, a warehouse, a restaurant space — to a tenant who will trade from it. Chapter 93 of the Property Code is headed Commercial Tenancies, and § 93.001 states that it applies only to the relationship between landlords and tenants of commercial rental property, defined as rental property not covered by Chapter 92.

Chapter 92, the residential chapter, runs to roughly a hundred sections. Chapter 93 has thirteen. That contrast is the point: Texas left commercial parties to their contract, so the lease carries far more weight here than a residential one would.

Chapter 93 concentrates on what a landlord may and may not do to a tenant in possession.

Utilities, Fixtures, and Property

Texas Property Code § 93.002(a) bars a landlord or a landlord’s agent from interrupting, or causing the interruption of, utility service paid for directly to the utility company by the tenant — unless the interruption results from bona fide repairs, construction, or an emergency.

Subsection (b) bars removing the tenant’s doors, windows, or other fixtures. A lockout under this section restricts access; it is not a seizure, and the landlord may not remove the tenant’s personal property from the premises in the course of one.

The Lockout and the Door Notice

Section 93.002 lets a commercial landlord change the door locks of a tenant who is delinquent in paying rent. It is a statutory self-help remedy with no residential counterpart, and it is available for unpaid rent rather than for non-monetary defaults.

Where the landlord changes the locks, § 93.002(f) requires a written notice posted on the tenant’s front door stating the name and the address or telephone number of the individual or company from which a new key may be obtained. The landlord is obliged to hand over that key only within the tenant’s ordinary trading hours, and only once the arrears are cleared.

Three days before an eviction suit, unless the lease says otherwise. Commercial evictions run through the same Chapter 24 framework as residential ones. Before filing a forcible detainer suit, the landlord serves a written notice to vacate giving the tenant at least three days, unless the lease specifies a different period under § 24.005.

Most negotiated commercial leases do specify a different period, and the statute accommodates that. A landlord filing on a holdover ground must also comply with the tenancy termination requirements of § 91.001.

Section 93.003 gives the tenant a route back after an unlawful lockout, through a right of reentry. A Texas commercial lease agreement that restricts or modifies the lockout procedure will generally control over the statutory baseline, so the lease is where both sides should look first.

1. Settle base rent, additional rent, the term, and where taxes, insurance, and repairs land.
2. Address the § 93.002 lockout expressly: preserve it, restrict it, or remove it, and say which.
3. Set the notice-to-vacate period you want, since § 24.005 yields to a period the lease specifies.
4. Establish who contracts directly with the utility companies, because the § 93.002(a) protection turns on the tenant paying them.
5. Execute the lease and make sure site staff know what the lockout clause says.

With Chapter 93 running to thirteen sections, a Texas commercial lease agreement carries the rest:

• Legal names of landlord and tenant, and the entity behind each signature.
• A description of the demised premises and any common areas.
• Base rent, additional rent, the due date, and the escalation basis.
• The term, renewal options, and holdover terms.
• The lockout provision, stated as preserved, restricted, or waived.
• The notice-to-vacate period, if different from the statutory three days.
• Repair, insurance, and tax allocation, plus assignment and subletting consent.