Texas Codified What Other States Only Suggest
Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958 — TMARR — is the strictest mold-services licensing regime in the United States. It legally separates the inspector from the remediator. Understand what that means for tenants, buyers, sellers, and anyone with a mold problem in Texas.
Not legal advice. This page summarizes Texas mold law from an environmental science perspective. It is not legal advice. Consult a licensed Texas attorney for guidance on your specific situation.
TMARR — Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958 and the Assessor-Remediator Separation
Texas is the one state that legally separates the mold inspector from the mold remediator.
Enacted in 2003 after the Ballard v. State Farm verdict exposed widespread industry conflicts of interest, Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1958 — the Mold Assessment and Remediation Rules (TMARR) — created a licensing regime administered by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) under 16 TAC §78. It's the most consumer-protective mold-services framework in the United States.
§1958.102 prohibits the same entity from doing both jobs on the same project.
The cornerstone rule: a Mold Assessment Consultant or Technician (the inspector) cannot also serve as the Mold Remediation Contractor (the remediator) on the same project. The only narrow exception is a school district performing work on its own buildings. For all residential, commercial, insurance, and real-estate projects, the inspector and the remediator must be different licensed parties.
Seven license categories define the Texas mold-services ecosystem.
TDLR licenses Mold Assessment Consultants (MACs — can write protocols and certify clearance), Mold Assessment Technicians (MATs — perform assessment work under MAC supervision), Mold Assessment Companies, Mold Remediation Contractors (MRCs), Mold Remediation Workers, Mold Remediation Companies, and Mold Analysis Laboratories. The state's structural separation between the two sides of the industry is enforced through these distinct license types.
Two narrow exemptions: 25 square feet and homeowner self-work.
The Minimum Area Exemption allows cleanup of visible mold smaller than 25 contiguous square feet without licensing. The Homeowner Exemption under §1958.102 and 16 TAC §78.30(b)-(d) allows owner-occupants to perform their own residential remediation in limited circumstances. Outside these exemptions, anyone performing mold assessment or remediation for compensation must hold the appropriate TDLR license.
Habitability — Texas Property Code Chapter 92
Mold can make a Texas rental legally uninhabitable.
Texas Property Code §92.052 imposes a general duty on landlords to repair or remedy conditions that materially affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant. While the statute doesn't name mold specifically, Texas courts have repeatedly held that substantial mold growth — particularly water-damage-indicator species like Stachybotrys and Chaetomium — falls within §92.052's coverage when the landlord knew or should have known about the underlying water source.
Written notice is required before remedies attach.
§92.056 requires the tenant to give the landlord written notice of the condition and a reasonable opportunity to repair — typically interpreted as seven days, though shorter periods apply where the condition severely threatens health or safety. The notice must specifically identify the problem; vague complaints about "the apartment" or "the air" generally don't trigger the landlord's duty.
Tenant remedies include repair-and-deduct, lease termination, and damages.
§92.0561 provides a repair-and-deduct remedy up to one month's rent for habitability-affecting conditions. §92.056 allows lease termination plus actual damages and attorney's fees in severe cases. Texas does not allow rent withholding as a self-help remedy in most situations — tenants who simply stop paying rent without going through the §92.0561 or court process risk eviction proceedings that the mold defense may not save them from.
Real Estate Transactions — Property Code §5.008 and the TREC Seller's Disclosure
Sellers must disclose what they know.
Texas Property Code §5.008 requires sellers of one-to-four-unit residential property to complete a Seller's Disclosure Notice — TREC form OP-H — that includes questions about previous flooding, water penetration, present and past mold or mildew, and prior repairs to water-damage-related issues. Sellers aren't required to inspect or test; they're required to disclose what they actually know.
Concealment exposes sellers to DTPA claims with treble damages.
A seller who knew about mold or water damage and failed to disclose it on the OP-H form faces post-closing liability under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (Business & Commerce Code Chapter 17), which provides for actual damages, court costs, attorney's fees, and — in cases of knowing or intentional conduct — treble damages. Texas courts have applied DTPA aggressively to mold and water-damage concealment cases.
Pre-purchase mold testing is the only way to know what the seller doesn't.
Buyers who rely solely on the OP-H form inherit whatever the seller didn't know or didn't admit. A pre-purchase mold inspection — performed by an independent licensed assessor under TMARR — produces lab-backed documentation of the property's actual condition at the point of sale. If results are clean, the buyer has a baseline that establishes any subsequent mold as post-purchase. If results are elevated, the buyer has leverage to negotiate remediation or a price reduction before signing.
Insurance & Post-Hurricane Context
Texas mold law was written in response to insurance failures.
The 2001 Ballard v. State Farm verdict — which awarded a Texas family roughly $32 million for mold-related damages after the insurer mishandled a water-leak claim — exposed how broken the mold-claims industry was. Texas legislators responded with TMARR in 2003 and the insurance reforms that followed. The current statutory framework exists specifically because the prior unregulated environment failed consumers at scale.
Most Texas homeowners' policies now limit mold coverage.
After Ballard, Texas insurers built mold limitations into virtually every standard policy. Common patterns: a per-claim dollar cap (often $5,000-$10,000), exclusion of mold not resulting from a covered sudden water event, and an explicit requirement that any covered remediation follow a written protocol prepared by a licensed MAC. Flood-caused mold — including hurricane mold — falls under flood insurance (NFIP or private), not standard homeowners' policies.
A CMDR is often the final document in a claim.
When a Texas insurance claim does cover mold remediation, carriers typically require a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation (Texas Insurance Code §544.303(a)(4)(B)) before closing the file or reinstating mold coverage on the property. The CMDR can only be issued by a licensed MAC who didn't perform the remediation — which means the independent assessor is structurally required at the back end of every covered Texas mold claim.
Why an Independent Inspector Matters — Especially in Texas
In Texas, an independent inspector isn't a brand promise — it's a statutory requirement.
Every other state, the conflict-of-interest argument is something an attorney makes in cross-examination. In Texas, the statute makes it for you. §1958.102 reflects the legislative judgment that an inspector who profits from remediation cannot be trusted to assess objectively — and Texas courts apply that judgment when weighing evidence.
“Did your company perform the remediation on this property?”
It's the first question any Texas attorney, mediator, or insurance adjuster asks. A “yes” answer doesn't just hurt credibility — under §1958.102 it disqualifies the company from performing both roles in the first place. An independent assessor's report eliminates the question before anyone asks it.
Fast Mold Testing operates as an independent test-only company nationally.
We do not perform mold remediation. We have no contract relationship with remediation contractors and receive no referral compensation that depends on what our results say. Our reports use AIHA-accredited lab analysis — the recognized standard for environmental microbiology — and they document only what the lab found. In Texas, that combination is what the statute requires for any consequential project. Everywhere else, it's what we believe consequential projects deserve.
Texas Mold Law Questions
What Texas tenants, landlords, buyers, and sellers ask most often about state mold-related legal requirements.
Can the same person be both my mold inspector and my mold remediator in Texas?
No. Texas Occupations Code §1958.102 — the cornerstone of the Texas Mold Assessment and Remediation Rules (TMARR) — prohibits the same person or company from acting as both the mold assessor and the mold remediator on the same project. The only narrow exception is a school district performing the work on its own buildings. For all residential, commercial, insurance-claim, real-estate, and landlord-tenant projects, the inspector and the remediator must be different licensed parties. The reason: an inspector with a financial stake in the remediation has incentive to over-diagnose mold; a remediator who never had an independent assessor write the protocol has incentive to under-treat it. The state separated the two roles to remove both incentive failures.
Does Texas require a license to perform mold inspection?
Yes, for most paid work. Anyone performing mold assessment for compensation in Texas must hold either a Mold Assessment Consultant (MAC) license or a Mold Assessment Technician (MAT) license, both issued by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR). A MAC can write remediation protocols and certify clearance; a MAT operates under MAC supervision. There are two narrow exemptions: the Minimum Area Exemption (visible mold under 25 contiguous square feet, no professional required) and the Homeowner Exemption (owner-occupants performing limited residential self-work). For any insurance claim, real estate transaction, post-remediation clearance, or Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation, a licensed assessor is required.
What is a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation in Texas?
A Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation (CMDR) is a document issued under Texas Insurance Code §544.303(a)(4)(B) certifying that a property has been inspected after remediation and is free of evidence of mold damage. Only a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant who did not perform the remediation can issue a CMDR. Texas insurance carriers commonly require a CMDR before reinstating mold-related coverage on a property, and Texas sellers sometimes provide CMDRs at closing to evidence that prior water-damage remediation was completed properly. A CMDR's validity depends on the issuing consultant's independence — it's the same separation principle that runs through all of TMARR.
What can a tenant do if there is mold in their Texas rental?
Texas Property Code §92.052 imposes a duty on landlords to repair or remedy conditions that materially affect the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant. Texas courts have applied that duty to substantial mold growth, particularly where the landlord knew or should have known about a water-intrusion source. Under §92.056, the tenant must give the landlord written notice and a reasonable time (typically seven days, though shorter where habitability is severely compromised) to remediate. If the landlord fails to act, §92.0561 provides a repair-and-deduct remedy up to one month's rent for habitability-affecting conditions, and §92.056 allows lease termination plus damages in severe cases. Independent mold testing creates the documentation that proves the landlord knew or should have known — which is what every Texas habitability claim hinges on.
Do Texas sellers have to disclose mold when selling a house?
Texas Property Code §5.008 requires sellers of residential property (one to four units) to complete a Seller's Disclosure Notice — TREC form OP-H — which asks about known water penetration, prior flooding, present or past mold or mildew, and prior repairs. Sellers must disclose what they know; they're not required to test before selling. But Texas has aggressive consumer-protection law (the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, Business & Commerce Code Chapter 17) that has been applied to mold non-disclosure as fraud and misrepresentation, with statutory damages including treble damages in some cases. A seller who concealed mold faces post-closing liability the seller cannot escape by claiming ignorance. For buyers: a pre-purchase mold inspection is the only way to know what the seller's disclosure can't tell you.
Does Texas insurance cover mold damage?
It depends on the policy and the cause. Since the 2001 Ballard v. State Farm verdict, Texas homeowners' policies have largely included specific mold limitations — many limit mold coverage to a small dollar cap (commonly $5,000-$10,000) or exclude mold entirely unless it results from a covered sudden water event (a burst pipe, not slow leakage). Hurricane and flood-related mold falls under flood policies (NFIP or private), not standard homeowners. Where mold IS covered, the carrier typically requires a written remediation protocol from a licensed Mold Assessment Consultant before paying, and a Certificate of Mold Damage Remediation after — making an independent assessor a prerequisite for the claim. Texas has strong insurance bad-faith law that has been used against carriers who unreasonably deny mold claims, but the underlying documentation needs to be airtight, which is exactly what an independent assessor's report provides.
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