The Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA) — enacted as HB 149 of the 89th Texas Legislature, signed by Governor Greg Abbott on June 22, 2025, and effective January 1, 2026 — is the first AI governance law to apply broadly across Texas. It covers any person who develops or deploys an AI system in the state, or who promotes, advertises, or produces a product used by Texas residents. It prohibits intentional AI-driven discrimination, bans AI designed to incite self-harm or criminal activity, and creates enforcement through the Texas Attorney General. For renters, the law’s impact depends on whether you are interacting with a government agency or a private company — and the distinction matters significantly.
Key facts
- Bill: HB 149, 89th Texas Legislature — signed June 22, 2025; effective January 1, 2026
- What it covers: Anyone developing, deploying, or offering AI products to Texas residents — Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 551.002
- Core prohibition: No AI system may be designed with intent to unlawfully discriminate against a protected class — § 552.056
- Disclosure: Only government agencies and healthcare providers must tell consumers they are interacting with AI — § 552.051
- Enforcement: Texas Attorney General (exclusive); no private right of action; consumer complaint portal required — § 552.101–552.102
What exactly is TRAIGA?
TRAIGA adds a new Subtitle D — “Artificial Intelligence Protection” — to Title 11 of the Texas Business & Commerce Code. Its purposes, stated in Section 551.003, are to “facilitate and advance the responsible development and use of artificial intelligence systems,” protect Texans from foreseeable AI risks, provide transparency in AI development and deployment, and ensure state agencies give notice when they use AI.
The law defines “artificial intelligence system” as:
“any machine-based system that, for any explicit or implicit objective, infers from the inputs the system receives how to generate outputs, including content, decisions, predictions, or recommendations, that can influence physical or virtual environments.”
— TRAIGA, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 551.001(1)
That definition is deliberately broad. It covers recommendation algorithms, automated screening tools, chatbots, and predictive analytics — including tools commonly used in housing searches and rental applications.
TRAIGA also defines “consumer” narrowly as “an individual who is a resident of this state acting only in an individual or household context” — meaning the law’s consumer-facing protections apply to renters searching for housing, but not to a business owner sourcing commercial real estate (§ 551.001(2)).
Does TRAIGA classify apartment-matching AI as “high-risk”?
No. TRAIGA’s enacted, signed version does not use a risk-tier system for private companies. Earlier versions of the bill — filed as HB 1709 in late 2024 — proposed a Colorado-style framework that would have classified AI used in housing decisions as “high-risk,” requiring impact assessments, consumer disclosures, and annual reporting from private deployers. That framework was substantially stripped before the bill passed.
The final enrolled version targets specific prohibited uses rather than risk categories. This makes TRAIGA structurally different from Colorado’s AI Act (SB 24-205), which explicitly categorizes AI used in housing and rental decisions as “high-risk” and imposes mandatory transparency disclosures and impact assessments on private deployers. [NEEDS SOURCE: Colorado SB 24-205 enrolled bill text confirming housing AI classification — verify against Colorado enrolled bill]
What does TRAIGA actually prohibit for private housing companies?
For private businesses — including property management companies, apartment locators, and tenant-screening platforms — TRAIGA’s obligations are narrower than many early analyses suggested. The law prohibits:
1. Intentional AI-driven discrimination
No person may develop or deploy an AI system “with the intent to unlawfully discriminate against a protected class in violation of state or federal law.” Protected classes under TRAIGA include race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, and disability (Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 552.056(a)(3)) — a definition that substantially overlaps with Fair Housing Act categories.
Critically, the statute specifies: “a disparate impact is not sufficient by itself to demonstrate an intent to discriminate” (§ 552.056(c)). This means a landlord whose AI screening tool produces racially unequal outcomes cannot be pursued under TRAIGA on disparate impact grounds alone — proof of intentional discrimination is required. The pre-existing Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3604) and HUD’s disparate-impact rules may provide additional paths for affected renters independent of TRAIGA.
2. AI-enabled behavior manipulation
No person may develop or deploy an AI system “in a manner that intentionally aims to incite or encourage a person to” commit self-harm, harm another person, or engage in criminal activity (§ 552.052).
3. Intentional constitutional violations
No person may develop or deploy an AI system with the “sole intent” to infringe, restrict, or impair rights guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution (§ 552.055).
Do Texas landlords or apartment platforms have to disclose AI use to renters?
Not under TRAIGA. The law’s disclosure requirement (§ 552.051(b)) applies only to governmental agencies, which must tell consumers — before or at the time of interaction — that they are interacting with an AI system. A separate provision (§ 552.051(f)) requires healthcare providers to disclose AI use at the point of service. Private companies outside these two categories face no TRAIGA disclosure obligation.
In practice, a property management company using an AI scoring system to rank rental applications, or an apartment search platform using an algorithm to prioritize listings, has no legal obligation under TRAIGA to tell you about it. Renters who want to know whether AI is involved in their housing process can ask directly or review a company’s privacy policy, but cannot currently compel disclosure.
At 3Desk, we voluntarily disclose AI involvement in our tools and content — including articles like this one — as part of a transparency commitment that goes beyond what TRAIGA currently requires of private companies.
What extra obligations apply to government housing agencies under TRAIGA?
For state and local governmental entities, TRAIGA imposes meaningfully stronger obligations:
- AI disclosure: Any governmental agency deploying an AI system to interact with consumers must disclose this before or at the time of interaction, in plain language, without dark patterns (§ 552.051(b)–(d)).
- Social scoring ban: Government entities may not use AI to evaluate or classify people and assign them a social score or similar valuation based on social behavior or personal characteristics, where this results in unfavorable treatment or rights violations (§ 552.053).
- Biometric identification limits: Government entities may not deploy AI to identify individuals using biometric data, or by gathering images from the internet, without consent, where doing so would infringe the individual’s legal rights (§ 552.054).
For renters interacting with programs administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) or other government housing bodies, these protections apply directly. As of this article’s publication, neither TDHCA nor the Texas Attorney General has issued specific TRAIGA enforcement guidance for housing contexts.
How is TRAIGA enforced — and can renters use it?
The Texas Attorney General has exclusive authority to investigate and enforce TRAIGA (§ 552.101). There is no private right of action — renters cannot bring a lawsuit directly against a company for TRAIGA violations. Instead, consumers may file complaints through an online portal that the AG is required to maintain (§ 552.102).
If the AG determines a violation exists, the respondent receives written notice and a 60-day opportunity to cure the violation. Penalty tiers under § 552.105 are as follows:
| Violation type | Civil penalty |
|---|---|
| Curable violation (or breach of cure statement) | $10,000–$12,000 per violation |
| Uncurable violation | $80,000–$200,000 per violation |
| Continuing violation | $2,000–$40,000 per day |
Companies that comply with the NIST AI Risk Management Framework may use this compliance as a defense if the AG brings enforcement action.
How does TRAIGA compare to the EU AI Act and Colorado’s law?
TRAIGA is widely described by legal commentators as an innovation-friendly law — narrower in scope than either the EU AI Act or Colorado’s SB 24-205.
| Framework | Effective date | Private housing AI obligations | Renter disclosure right | Enforcement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRAIGA (Texas HB 149) | Jan 1, 2026 | Intent-only discrimination ban; no impact assessment required | None under TRAIGA | TX Attorney General only; no private action |
| Colorado SB 24-205 | June 30, 2026 | High-risk classification for housing AI; impact assessments required [NEEDS SOURCE: primary bill text] | Yes — deployers must disclose | CO Attorney General |
| EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) | Aug 2024 (phased) | Housing AI classified high-risk; human oversight, transparency, conformity assessments required | Yes | National supervisory authorities |
The gap is significant. Colorado and the EU impose pre-market obligations on housing AI deployers; TRAIGA does not. For renters in Texas, the current framework relies on existing Fair Housing Act protections — enforceable through HUD and the courts — plus TRAIGA’s intent-based discrimination ban enforced only by the AG.
What should Texas renters know and do?
TRAIGA is now in effect. Here is what it means practically:
What it covers:
- An AI-powered tenant-screening tool built with intent to filter applicants based on race, national origin, sex, age, religion, or disability violates TRAIGA — and the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3604), which has broader remedies.
- State housing agencies using AI-powered interfaces must disclose this to renters before or during interactions.
What it does not cover:
- Private landlords and platforms are not required to disclose AI use to renters under TRAIGA.
- Disparate impact alone does not trigger TRAIGA liability against private companies.
- Renters cannot sue companies directly for TRAIGA violations.
What renters can do:
- If you believe AI was used to unlawfully discriminate against you in a housing decision, file a complaint with the Texas AG online portal (required under § 552.102).
- For Fair Housing Act claims — including disparate impact claims not covered by TRAIGA — a HUD-approved fair housing agency or file a complaint at HUD.
- Ask platforms and landlords directly whether AI is used in application screening and request a human review of any adverse decision.
Sources
Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA), enrolled bill text (HB 149, 89th Texas Legislature) — primary source for all statutory citations — June 22, 2025: capitol.texas.gov
HB 149 Bill History, capitol.texas.gov — bill signing date, effective date, vote history — June 22, 2025: capitol.texas.gov
K&L Gates, “Pared Back Version of the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act Signed Into Law” — legal analysis of final enrolled text, comparison to original HB 1709 — June 24, 2025: klgates.com
Nelson Mullins, “Texas Legislature Passes House Bill 149 to Regulate AI Use” — legal analysis of enacted TRAIGA provisions — June 2025 (updated June 22, 2025): nelsonmullins.com
NIST AI Risk Management Framework — referenced in TRAIGA as a compliance safe harbor: nist.gov
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) — state housing authority subject to TRAIGA government provisions: tdhca.state.tx.us
HUD Fair Housing Complaint Portal — renter enforcement option independent of TRAIGA: hud.gov
This article was written by Gia, an AI. 3Desk discloses AI-authored content in accordance with the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (TRAIGA, effective January 1, 2026). The content is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or real estate advice. Market data and rental figures reflect conditions at time of publication and may change. Always verify information independently and consult a licensed Texas real estate professional for advice specific to your situation.
For comments or corrections, please email newsroom@3desk.ai.