A Texas rental application form helps a landlord choose a prospective tenant who is well suited to rent a particular property. The form requests personal and employment information plus consent for a credit check (sometimes called a consumer report). Applications often collect a non-refundable fee, commonly equal to the cost of getting the relevant screening reports.
Texas has minimal regulations on the content or process of a rental application. Unlike some states, Texas does not cap application fees or require a specific recipient. In general, if the landlord wants the application fee to be nonrefundable, this must be noted in a clear writing to the prospective tenant.
Texas eviction cases are matters of public record which anyone can access. Third-party services often automatically check eviction history as part of a screening report, but they can also be checked manually.
The search process is more complex in Texas than in some other states. There is no centralized database for all case records, and most are sorted by county. Some county systems require an account, but most only require a name to complete a search. These are some of the various county case record search systems:
Texas landlords must, alongside all application forms, provide a notice disclosing the specific screening critera for the property in question. The law presumes the landlord failed to provide the notice unless the applicant signs it. The notice may be included as part of the application, if the section is in bold or underlined print. This is the requested statutory language:
“Signing this acknowledgment indicates that you have had the opportunity to review the landlord’s tenant selection criteria. The tenant selection criteria may include factors such as criminal history, credit history, current income, and rental history. If you do not meet the selection criteria, or if you provide inaccurate or incomplete information, your application may be rejected and your application fee will not be refunded.” [1]
Failure to disclose means the landlord must refund the potential tenant’s application fee, including mailing it by check at the potential tenant’s request.
The sample rental application provided on this page complies with federal law restricting the information a landlord can request. In general, it’s illegal under the Federal Fair Housing Act to screen tenants by asking for information about the following, or using these as a basis for approving or denying an application:
There are narrow exemptions from the Fair Housing Act for things like senior housing or certain very-small scale landlords, but local regulations may still apply. Always consult an attorney before attempting to ignore federal requirements.
When taking an action which may disadvantage a potential tenant, a landlord may have to provide an adverse action notice informing the tenant about the decision (sometimes called a “conditional approval,” if the application is approved subject to meeting additional conditions). Federal regulations require an adverse action notice whenever a landlord collects a credit report and takes one of the following actions:
An adverse action notice must contain the following details:
While not legally required, it also is expedient for a landlord to explain the reasons for the adverse action, since this establishes a written record of issues with the application.
Texas has the following regulations on fees relating to a new rental:
Local jurisdictions may impose stricter regulations than the statewide standard. Always check local laws.
(a) At the time an applicant is provided with a rental application, the landlord shall make available to the applicant printed notice of the landlord’s tenant selection criteria and the grounds for which the rental application may be denied, including the applicant’s:
(1) criminal history;
(2) previous rental history;
(3) current income;
(4) credit history; or
(5) failure to provide accurate or complete information on the application form.
(b) If the landlord makes the notice available under Subsection (a), the applicant shall sign an acknowledgment indicating the notice was made available. If the acknowledgment is not signed, there is a rebuttable presumption that the notice was not made available to the applicant.
(c) The acknowledgment required by Subsection (b) must include a statement substantively equivalent to the following: “Signing this acknowledgment indicates that you have had the opportunity to review the landlord’s tenant selection criteria. The tenant selection criteria may include factors such as criminal history, credit history, current income, and rental history. If you do not meet the selection criteria, or if you provide inaccurate or incomplete information, your application may be rejected and your application fee will not be refunded.”
