A Texas rental application tells you who will live in your rental, where they have lived and how they will pay the rent. When every applicant answers the same questions, you can compare renters fairly and show that you did.
This guide covers what to ask, how to pre-screen leads, the federal and Texas laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Texas rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Texas rental application should ask for:
- Applicant and co-signer names, email, phone and date of birth,
- A Social Security number, entered securely,
- The desired move-in date and everyone who will live in the home,
- The current address and current landlord’s contact details,
- Employer, job title and monthly income,
- Any housing voucher or rental assistance,
- Pets, assistance animals, vehicles and smoking, and
- Past evictions and consent to screening.
The Rentari application covers all of this in six short sections. Renters can upload a pay stub, photo ID, bank statement or reference letter, and you choose which background questions to ask, with up to four of your own.
See it first: open the whole application before you send it.
Pre-screen your leads
Not every lead fits your rental. A short pre-screener shows who meets your basic criteria before anyone spends time or money on a full application.
Send the Rentari pre-screener from Leads. Your Texas pre-screener asks every lead for:
- Monthly household income,
- Desired move-in date,
- How many people would live there,
- Pets, and what kind,
- Smoking, and
- A self-reported credit band.
When a lead’s answers fit, invite them to apply. Remember: pre-screener answers are what the renter tells you, so verify them with the application and screening.
Federal application laws
Federal law sets the baseline for every screening decision in Texas. These five laws shape how you screen applicants:
Fair Housing Act (FHA): You may not treat applicants differently because of these seven protected characteristics:
- Race,
- Color,
- National origin,
- Religion,
- Sex,
- Familial status, or
- Disability
It also bars ads that show a preference and different rental terms for different applicants (42 U.S.C. § 3604).
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): Bars credit discrimination, including because income comes from public assistance. Courts differ on whether a lease counts as credit, so count assistance income the same way as wages (15 U.S.C. § 1691).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Covers places open to the public, such as a leasing office. Disability rules for the rental home itself come from the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 12182).
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Covers credit, criminal and eviction reports. You need the renter’s consent before screening. Rentari collects it before our screening partner, RentButter, runs the checks (15 U.S.C. § 1681b).
Civil Rights Act of 1866: Bars race discrimination when renting any property, including homes the Fair Housing Act exempts, such as some small owner-occupied buildings (42 U.S.C. § 1982).
Criminal history: HUD warns that blanket bans on applicants with any criminal record can be discriminatory, and an arrest alone does not show that a person did anything.
Further reading: HUD fair housing rights and obligations and FTC guidance for landlords.
Texas application laws
Beyond federal law, Texas has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Texas Law
Texas application and screening fees
The rule: Texas does not cap application fees. When you give out a rental application, you must make available printed notice of your tenant selection criteria and the grounds for denial, such as criminal history, rental history, current income, credit history, or inaccurate or incomplete information, and the applicant signs an acknowledgment. If you reject an applicant without having made that notice available, you must return the application fee and any application deposit (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.3515; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.351; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.352; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.353; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.354).
The acknowledgment must include a statement substantively equivalent to the one 92.3515(c) sets out; it may be part of the application if the notice is underlined or in bold (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.3515(c)).
An application fee is a nonrefundable payment to offset screening costs; an application deposit is refundable if the applicant is rejected (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.351).
An applicant is deemed rejected if you do not give notice of acceptance by the seventh day after a completed application; rejecting one co-applicant rejects all (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.352).
Notice by telephone, or by mail postmarked by the required date, is presumed given; a deadline on a weekend or holiday runs to the end of the next day (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.353).
Bad-faith failure to refund costs $100, three times the amount wrongfully kept and attorney's fees, and a waiver in the application is void (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.354; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.355).
Keep what a reporting agency may report separate from the criteria a landlord may lawfully use. The State Law Library's housing resource distinguishes the federal seven-year arrest-record limit from convictions that may be reported indefinitely under federal law. It also flags that Texas section 20.05's criminal-record time limit may be unenforceable because of federal preemption. Do not promise a universal seven-year cutoff or treat every available record as permission to deny housing. Check the record type, dates, outcome, applicable reporting authority and fair-housing protections with the provider and qualified legal help; resolve mismatches and required notices separately (Texas State Law Library: housing and criminal records; Tex. Bus. & Com. Code section 20.05).
Local rules: Cities and counties can add their own limits. Check local rules before you set a fee.
In Rentari: You choose an optional application fee when you send the invite. It is paid to you on top of any screening fee.
Texas Law
Fair housing in Texas
Protected classes: The Texas Fair Housing Act bars refusing to rent, or setting different terms, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability. Disability discrimination includes refusing reasonable accommodations in rules and policies, or refusing reasonable modifications the tenant pays for. Race discrimination includes discrimination based on hair texture or protective hairstyles such as braids, locks and twists (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.021; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.025; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.0045; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.041; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.081; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.010).
Familial status: Familial status covers pregnancy and living with a child under 18 as a parent or custodian, with the custodian's written permission, or while seeking custody (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.004).
Exemptions: Narrow exemptions exist, such as an owner of no more than three single-family houses renting without a broker, and an owner living in a building of up to four units; none allows a discriminatory advertisement (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.041; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.022).
Enforcement: Complaints go to the Texas Workforce Commission within one year, and a private lawsuit may be filed within two years (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.0015; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.081; Tex. Prop. Code § 301.151).
Occupancy: Texas limits occupancy to three adults per bedroom unless fair housing law requires more, or for up to one month for someone escaping family violence (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.010).
Source of income: Source of income is not a protected class in the Texas Act, and cities may not require landlords to accept federal housing vouchers (Tex. Loc. Gov't Code § 250.007).
Pets, ESAs and service animals
Ask about animals on every application, but treat an assistance animal differently from a pet. Here is what to keep in mind:
Pet information: The Rentari application asks whether an animal will live at the property and lets the renter mark an assistance animal.
Not a pet: A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet. Under federal fair housing law you generally can’t:
- Charge a pet fee, pet deposit or pet rent for one, or
- Apply your pet breed, size or weight limits to it.
Damage: The renter stays responsible for any damage the animal causes.
In Rentari: An assistance animal is routed as a fair housing request and is never charged a pet fee.
Approvals and denials
Apply the same written criteria to every applicant, and handle each decision the same way.
Approval: Choose Accept complete household in the household decision. Your lease draft is ready to review. Before move-in, check Texas’s deposit rules:
Lawful reasons to deny: Deny only for reasons in your written criteria that you apply to every applicant, such as income below your standard, credit history, rental history including unpaid rent or eviction judgments, or incomplete or false information. Use criminal history only where Texas and local law allow it, and weigh the offense and how long ago it happened.
Adverse action notice: If a screening report contributes to a denial, or to terms such as a co-signer, a higher deposit or higher rent, federal law requires a notice that:
- Names the reporting company and how to reach it,
- Says that company did not make the decision,
- Explains the renter’s right to a free copy of the report within 60 days, and
- Explains the right to dispute the report.
In Rentari: Choose Deny selected applicants and send individual notices in the household decision to send each notice. You make the decision.
Record keeping: Federal law sets no retention period for a private landlord’s applications. A fair housing lawsuit can be filed up to two years after a decision, so keep each application, your written criteria and the decision at least that long (42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)(1)(A)).
Screening reports: When you no longer need a screening report, destroy it securely. The FTC Disposal Rule covers consumer reports (16 C.F.R. Part 682).
Texas rental application questions
Can an early move-out affect future rental applications in Texas?
It can. The State Law Library warns that unpaid rent may lead to collection activity or a lawsuit and make future renting harder. An early move-out, a collection account and an eviction case are different events. Keep the written exit agreement and final accounting, and check a disputed report rather than assuming nothing can be recorded (Texas State Law Library: ending the lease).
Can I charge an application fee in Texas?
Texas does not cap application fees. When you give out a rental application, you must make available printed notice of your tenant selection criteria and the grounds for denial, such as criminal history, rental history, current income, credit history, or inaccurate or incomplete information, and the applicant signs an acknowledgment. If you reject an applicant without having made that notice available, you must return the application fee and any application deposit (Tex. Prop. Code § 92.3515; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.351; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.352; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.353; Tex. Prop. Code § 92.354).
Who pays for screening on Rentari?
In most states the renter pays the screening fee at the end of the application and nothing is charged to you. Where a state requires the landlord to pay, the invite tells you. The fee is shown before payment.
Can I ask about criminal history?
You choose whether the application asks about criminal convictions; it is off by default. Check Texas and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.