First, read the notice for two dates
The renewal deadline: when the property needs your answer.
The move-out notice deadline: how many days before your lease ends you have to tell them in writing that you're leaving. Sixty days is common in Dallas leases, and some use 30. The number is written in your lease.
The notice deadline usually comes first. Miss it and you can end up on a monthly rate that's higher than both the renewal and the market. Put it on your calendar before you do anything else, then read our page on renew or move.
Then work out why it went up
If you signed with a concession, the increase is partly a reset rather than a rise. Concessions apply to year one. In month thirteen, rent goes back toward the building’s actual asking rent, plus whatever the market did.
That isn't a reason to accept it. It's a reason to know what you're comparing. Put your year one effective rent next to the renewal, and the renewal next to what other buildings are quoting this month.
Three options
Negotiate. Works sometimes. If you leave, the property has to pay to get the unit ready and may lose rent for every day it sits empty. A clean payment record and proof of what nearby buildings charge give you something to stand on. Some properties will hold the rent, change the lease length, or add a renewal concession. Some won't move at all.
Renew as offered. It's the right call more often than you'd expect, especially when the increase is small. See when the math says renew.
Move. It makes sense when the increase is big compared to the cost of moving, and similar buildings are quoting much lower effective rent.
How to ask
Keep it short and stick to the facts:
“I got the renewal offer at $X. I’ve been here two years with no late payments. Similar units at [building] and [building] are currently quoting $Y with [concession]. Is there any room on the renewal rate or the lease length?”
No bluffing, no threats, no story. Properties respond to a number and a payment record.
Texas has no rent control
No law caps how much your rent can go up at renewal here. The only limits are the market and the property’s own math on empty units. So the most useful numbers to bring are effective rents at buildings like yours.
What to compare against
Not headline rent at nearby buildings. Effective rent plus community fees, which is what true monthly cost means.
A building advertising $1,400 with $150 in community fees costs more than your $1,495 renewal with $30 in community fees. You won't see that on a listing site, and that gap is where a lot of wrong decisions get made.
If you might move
Start three weeks before your notice deadline, not before your lease end date. Touring, applying, and getting a screening decision take time. Miss the deadline by four days and it can cost you a month at the higher monthly rate.
Want a second opinion? Send us the renewal offer, your notice deadline, and your building. Sometimes we tell you to renew. Our renew or move help is free either way.