What this page covers
Each property sets its own screening criteria, and those criteria change.
The law changes too. Ask for the property’s current written criteria, and talk to a lawyer or legal aid about your own record. The Texas State Law Library has free guides on landlord and tenant law.
This page explains how the check works and what to ask. For your own record, the answer comes from a specific property’s written criteria. That’s exactly what we help you ask about before you spend an application fee. More on how we help is on second chance leasing.
What the check actually looks at
A tenant background check typically pulls county, state, and national criminal records, plus sex offender registry data. Four things usually decide the outcome:
Offense class. Felony, misdemeanor, or lesser. Most criteria draw a sharp line here.
Offense category. Many criteria treat violent crimes, crimes against a person, and drug manufacturing differently from property or nonviolent offenses.
Recency. How long it’s been since the conviction or since release. This is the lookback window, and it’s where properties differ the most.
How the case ended. Conviction, dismissal, deferred adjudication, or still pending. A pending charge is handled differently from one that’s resolved.
Lookback windows, in general terms
Each property sets its own windows, and they range widely across the market. They usually look something like this:
| Category | What the window usually looks like |
|---|---|
| Felony, violent or against persons | Longest window, and some criteria set no time limit |
| Felony, nonviolent or property | Usually a set number of years |
| Misdemeanor, nonviolent | Shorter window, often a few years |
| DWI | Many criteria treat it as its own category |
| Deferred adjudication (completed) | Varies, and it may not count if sealed or covered by nondisclosure |
| Dismissed or acquitted | Often not counted |
| Pending charges | Often put on hold until the case is resolved |
These are general patterns, not numbers to count on. Two communities on the same street can run different windows. Criteria change when a property sells or switches management companies.
Ask for the criteria, not for an opinion
“Do you accept felonies?” gets a guess from whoever is at the desk. “Can you send me your written rental criteria, including the background lookback windows?” gets you a document. How to ask is in how to get screening criteria in writing.
Deferred adjudication and nondisclosure
Texas has rules that affect what shows up on a background check. Under certain conditions, a completed deferred adjudication may be eligible for an order of nondisclosure. That limits what most private parties, including screening companies, can see.
Whether that applies to you is a legal question, not a leasing one. It’s worth talking to a legal aid group (Lone Star Legal Aid serves the Houston area) before you assume a record will always show up.
Pull your own report first
It works the same way as tenant screening. If you know what a property will see before they see it, you can fix errors and get an honest explanation ready. Records get matched to the wrong person with a similar name more often than you’d expect. Disputing that after a decline is much harder than before you apply.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, if a consumer report gets you declined, you have a right to an adverse action notice. It names the agency that supplied the report. Ask for it. That’s how you find and fix a bad record.
What helps an application
Time, paperwork, and the rest of your file.
When the criteria allow a closer look at your file, four things help. A sentence you finished years ago, steady rental history since then, income well above the minimum, and a reference from your current landlord. A short written statement of the facts (what happened, when, what’s changed) is normal, and it’s worth writing ahead of time instead of winging it. Knowing what’s actually on your file first helps here too: pull your own tenant screening report before a property does.
What we’ll do
We share what we’ve heard about the criteria at the properties on your list before you spend anything. And we’ll tell you plainly where the odds look poor, instead of sending you on tours that end in a decline.
We can’t promise approval. You’ll know where you stand before you apply, though, and that’s the part that saves you money.