Cameras at an apartment complex do three jobs. They put off people who are looking for an easy target. They show what actually happened when a car gets broken into, a package goes missing or a gate gets damaged. And they let the manager answer residents, police and insurers with footage instead of guesses.
They are not a guard, and a few cameras on the leasing office will not cover a 200-unit property. This guide covers where cameras belong on a multi-family property, where they must not go, and how to plan a system that keeps working after the installer leaves.
What Texas law requires, and what it does not
Texas Property Code Section 92.153 requires landlords to provide specific security devices in each dwelling: window latches, a keyed deadbolt or doorknob lock on exterior doors, a keyless bolting device and a door viewer, and pin locks and handle latches or security bars on sliding glass doors. Cameras are not on the list. Source: Texas Property Code 92.153.
So cameras are a business decision, not a code requirement. If your property is in Dallas, note that Chapter 27 of the Dallas City Code also sets lighting standards for multitenant properties. Lighting matters for cameras too, because a camera can only record what it can see.
Where cameras belong on an apartment property
- Vehicle entrances and exits. The one place every car has to pass. Add a dedicated plate camera here, covered in our guide to license plate reader cameras.
- Pedestrian gates and building entries. Faces, at a height and distance where faces are actually recognizable.
- Leasing office. The front door, the counter and the key or fob storage.
- Mail and package rooms or lockers. The most common resident complaint, and the easiest to settle with a clear camera.
- Parking lots, carports and garages. Car break-ins, hit-and-runs and vehicles that do not belong.
- Pool, clubhouse and fitness center entrances. Who came in after hours. Point at the doors, not into changing areas.
- Trash compactor and dumpster areas. Illegal dumping and the bulk trash nobody admits to.
- Breezeways, stairwells and elevator lobbies. The paths between parking and units.
- Fence lines and back gates. Where people come and go without using the front gate.
- Maintenance shop and storage. Tools, appliances and materials walk off.
Where cameras must not go
- Inside units, ever.
- Restrooms and changing rooms, including pool and fitness restrooms. Texas Penal Code Section 21.15 makes recording a person in a bathroom or changing room without consent a state jail felony, and a posted sign does not count as consent.
- Into unit windows and patios. Aim breezeway and parking cameras so they do not look into homes.
- Audio in common areas. Keep it off. See the FAQ below.
Why hardwired beats Wi-Fi on a complex
Consumer doorbell cameras and battery cameras are built for one house. Across several buildings and a parking lot they run into the same problems: Wi-Fi that does not reach, batteries that die, footage stored on someone else’s cloud account, and no single place to search everything.
A professional system runs a network cable to every camera, carrying both power and video, back to a recorder in a locked room. Nothing to charge, nothing to drop off the Wi-Fi, and one system the manager can search by camera and time. It costs more to install, mostly in cabling, and it is the system that is still recording two years later.
Recording, storage and remote access
- Keep footage long enough. Residents often report a car break-in or a missing package days after it happened. Pick a retention period that covers that delay, and size the recorder’s storage to match.
- Record continuously at key points. Gates, the leasing office and package rooms. Motion recording is fine for quieter areas.
- Remote access by role. The site manager, regional manager and maintenance lead each get their own phone app login, with only the cameras they need.
- Easy export. Make sure the manager can pull a clip and hand it to police without calling the installer.
Recording versus monitoring
A recorded camera tells you what happened. A monitored camera can do something while it is happening. Some properties add live video monitoring after hours on amenities, parking or construction phases, where someone reviews alerts and can act. Read more about smart monitoring, or ask about mobile surveillance trailers for a lease-up or renovation phase.
Tie cameras to access control
Gates, fob readers and amenity doors log who badged in. Cameras show who actually walked in. Put the two together and you can match a fob to a face, spot shared or cloned fobs, and see who tailgated through a gate behind a resident. If you are replacing gate hardware or fobs, plan it with the cameras. See access control.
What drives the cost
We do not publish one price, because two complexes with the same unit count can need very different systems. The main drivers are:
- Number of buildings and how far apart they are, which sets the cabling.
- Whether there is existing conduit or cabling to reuse.
- How many entrances, gates and package areas need coverage.
- How long footage needs to be kept, which sets recorder storage.
- Plate cameras, access control integration and monitoring, if you want them.
Ask for a written, itemised quote that separates equipment, labour and any monthly fees, so you can compare installers line by line.
Frequently asked questions
Does Texas law require cameras at apartment complexes?
No. Texas Property Code Section 92.153 lists the security devices a landlord has to provide, such as window latches, keyed deadbolts or doorknob locks, keyless bolting devices, door viewers and sliding door pin locks and latches. Cameras are not on that list. Whether to install them, and how many, is the owner’s decision.
Can residents get copies of footage?
That is up to your policy. Many owners release footage to police and insurers on request and let residents view, not copy, footage of their own incident. Write the rule down and apply it the same way every time.
Can we keep the cameras we already have?
Often some of them, yes. A site walk shows which cameras are worth keeping, which are in the wrong place, and whether the recorder and cabling can carry new ones. Replacing everything is rarely the only option.
Should the cameras record audio?
We recommend leaving audio off in common areas. Texas law makes it an offense to intercept a conversation you are not part of without the consent of someone in it (Texas Penal Code Section 16.02), and video alone answers almost every question a manager has.
Who should be able to watch the cameras?
The on-site manager, the regional manager and maintenance lead are typical. Give each person their own login with only the cameras and permissions they need, so you can see who viewed or exported what.
Apartment camera systems across DFW
We design and install professional, hardwired camera systems for apartment communities, HOAs and commercial properties across Dallas-Fort Worth, along with access control and monitoring. Call (469) 809-6009 to book a free security assessment. We will walk the property with you, show you where coverage is missing, and give you a written plan. See commercial security and camera installation, or our work in Dallas, Plano, Frisco and Irving.