Applying for Rental Housing

Once you find a place to live, you will complete a rental application and pay a non-refundable application fee to cover the cost of verifying your credit, rental history, etc.  Be sure to complete all questions on the application.

Make sure you know the owner’s rental qualifying criteria before you complete an application. The owner is required to make this criteria available to you. If you have a question about whether you meet the criteria, you may want to talk with the property management or rethink applying to live at the property, before paying the application fee.

An application deposit, which will be applied toward your security deposit if your application is approved, may also be required. If not, the deposit is refundable in most cases. Depending on the application, the deposit may not be refunded for reasons such as if you are approved but decide not to move in, or you don’t  tell the truth on the application.

If an owner acts in bad faith and fails to return an application deposit, the owner may be liable under Texas law.

Texas law provides that unless notified of acceptance, a rental applicant will be presumed to be rejected at the end of the seventh day after the owner receives a completed rental application. If the seventh day falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline for notifying an applicant of acceptance is extended until the end of the next business day.