Editorial Standards & Review Policy

How we create, verify, and maintain our content.

DepositRights publishes legal-information content to help renters understand their rights and navigate the security-deposit recovery process. This page explains how that content is sourced, reviewed, and kept current — and what we do when something needs to be corrected.

Last reviewed: April 2025

What we publish

DepositRights publishes several types of pages, each with a defined purpose.

State law pages

Plain-English explanations of the statutes that govern security deposits in a specific state — what the law requires, what it prohibits, and what remedies are available.

County process guides

Step-by-step guides to filing a security deposit claim in a specific county — which court to use, what it costs, what forms are required, and how the process works.

Dispute pages

Focused pages on specific types of deposit disputes — carpet cleaning charges, normal wear and tear, unreturned deposits — explaining what the law says and what renters can do.

Question pages

Direct answers to high-frequency questions renters ask about security deposits — written to be accurate, citable, and useful to someone trying to understand their situation.

Workflow guides

Step-by-step process guides covering demand letters, evidence gathering, JP Court filing, and hearing preparation — built around the law and county-specific procedures.

Reference pages

Deep-reference pages on foundational concepts like normal wear and tear or the 30-day return rule — designed to be the most thorough and accurate resource available on that topic.

How we source information

Every factual claim on DepositRights is tied to a specific source. We prioritize official and primary sources over secondary summaries.

Official statutes

The primary source for all legal claims is the relevant state statute — for Texas content, the Texas Property Code. We cite specific sections (e.g., § 92.103) rather than paraphrasing general principles. When the statute is ambiguous, we say so.

County and court websites

Filing fees, court addresses, precinct boundaries, and procedural requirements are sourced directly from official county and court websites — not from third-party summaries. We link to those sources in the content.

Official forms and fee schedules

When a page references a specific form or filing fee, we verify that information against the official source before publishing. Fee schedules change; we note when fees were last verified.

High-authority public legal resources

Where appropriate, we reference official government legal aid resources, court self-help centers, and bar association publications — particularly when they provide procedural guidance that complements the statutory text.

How we review pages

Publishing accurate information is not a one-time event. Our review process covers both initial publication and ongoing maintenance.

Fact verification before publication

Before a page is published, the factual claims it contains are checked against the cited sources. This includes:

  • Statute citations verified against the current version of the relevant code
  • Filing fees confirmed against the official court or county fee schedule
  • Court addresses and contact information verified against official court websites
  • Form names and availability confirmed against official sources
  • Deadlines and time limits cross-referenced with the statutory text

Conservative wording

Legal information involves uncertainty. When a rule has exceptions, we say so. When a court outcome depends on facts we do not know, we say so. We do not write as if every renter will win or as if the law is simpler than it is. Claims about legal rights are phrased to reflect what the statute says — not what we think the outcome should be.

Periodic re-checking for stale data

Filing fees, court addresses, and procedural requirements change. Pages that contain time-sensitive information — county guides, filing cost tables, form references — are reviewed periodically to check for changes. When we identify stale data, we update the page and note the revision date.

Correction and update process

When an error is identified — whether by a user report, a law change, or our own review — we correct it promptly. Our process:

  1. 1Identify the specific claim that is incorrect or outdated
  2. 2Verify the correct information against the primary source
  3. 3Update the page content and any related pages that reference the same information
  4. 4Note the revision in the page's last-reviewed date

How we use AI responsibly

We are transparent about the role AI plays in our content process.

What AI may help with

  • Drafting initial structure and section outlines
  • Organizing information into readable formats
  • Identifying gaps or missing topics in a draft
  • Generating plain-English explanations of statutory text

What AI does not determine

  • Whether a legal claim is accurate — that is checked against source materials
  • What the statute actually says — we read the statute
  • Filing fees, court addresses, or procedural facts — those are verified independently
  • Whether a page is ready to publish — that requires human review

Our standard: If AI produces a factual claim that we cannot verify against a primary source, that claim is either removed, rephrased with appropriate uncertainty, or flagged for further research before publication. We do not publish AI-generated legal claims without checking them.

What we do not do

Being clear about our limitations is part of being trustworthy.

We do not provide legal advice.

DepositRights provides legal information — explanations of what the law says and how processes work. We do not advise you on what to do in your specific case. That distinction matters, and it is why we consistently recommend consulting an attorney for complex situations.

We do not guarantee outcomes.

The law may be on your side, but outcomes in court depend on facts, evidence, and how proceedings unfold. We do not predict results or imply that following our guidance will produce a specific outcome.

We do not claim that every dispute will result in recovery.

Some disputes are strong. Some are weak. Some involve facts that make recovery unlikely regardless of what the law says. We try to help renters understand their situation accurately — including when the facts may not support a strong claim.

We do not publish pages solely for search volume.

If a topic does not genuinely help renters understand their rights or navigate the process, we do not publish it. Our content decisions are driven by user need, not keyword opportunity.

We do not imply that every page has been reviewed by a licensed attorney.

Our content is researched against primary sources and reviewed for accuracy. We do not claim attorney review unless that is explicitly stated on a specific page.

How to report an issue

If you find an error, outdated information, or a claim that seems inaccurate, we want to know about it.

You can report a content issue through our Contact & Support page. When reporting an issue, it helps to include:

  • The URL of the page containing the issue
  • The specific claim or section you believe is incorrect
  • What you believe the correct information to be, and the source if you have it

We review all reports and respond to substantive issues. We cannot respond to every message individually, but we do read them.