# Is the Landlord Responsible for No Hot Water? (Rental Repairs) | Who Pays the Repair?

> Hot water is a baseline habitability duty nationwide; Texas law names a 120°F minimum as an automatic landlord repair trigger.

**Who pays:** landlord

Landlord, hot water is treated as a baseline health/safety item; Texas law even singles it out by name as an automatic repair trigger.

**Boundary:** Hot water is a habitability item in the statutes quoted here; Texas law names a minimum temperature (120°F) as an automatic repair trigger, and the duty shifts to the tenant only if tenant damage caused the failure.

**Exceptions:** Tenant-caused damage to the water heater/system; Lease terms

## Sources
- [Texas Property Code § 92.052 (Landlord's Duty to Repair or Remedy)](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/PR/htm/PR.92.htm) — "the condition: (A) materially affects the physical health or safety of an ordinary tenant; or (B) arises from the landlord's failure to provide and maintain in good operating condition a device to supply hot water of a minimum temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit." (accessed 2026-09-27)
- [California Civil Code § 1941.1](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV&sectionNum=1941.1.) — "A water supply approved under applicable law that is under the control of the tenant, capable of producing hot and cold running water, or a system that is under the control of the landlord, that produces hot and cold running water, furnished to appropriate fixtures..." (accessed 2026-09-27)

_Last verified 2026-09-27. Source: Who Pays the Repair? — https://whopaystherepair.com/rules/landlord-responsible-no-hot-water/ — every claim checked against a primary source before publication (see /methodology/)._