The Texas Apartment Association (TAA) claims to be the
largest apartment trade association in the United States.
TAA produces a widely used form lease and other agreements
that are heavily weighted to benefit the interests of
landlords.
In addition to slanting the contracts against tenants, TAA
vigorously lobbies Texas governmental officials to make
sure the laws favor landlords. TAA is a major contributor
to state elected officials (over one quarter of a million
in 2002 alone), and so are various other local apartment
associations.
There is no equivalent group that represents the interests
of tenants in Texas that hands out money year after year to
Texas governmental officials. It should be no surprise that
Texas has some of the weakest laws that protect tenants.