Tenant Screening in Texas

FCRA-compliant tenant screening for landlords in Texas — serving Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth and every other Texas market. Reports start at $24.99 with no subscription. Texas-specific reporting-law overlays are applied automatically before the landlord sees any record.

What landlords in Texas can include in a screening report

• Credit report and score — TransUnion VantageScore plus tradeline detail.
• Criminal background — nationwide criminal record search with Texas-specific look-back limits applied.
• Housing records — sealed, dismissed, and time-barred housing-court records filtered before they reach you.
• Income verification — optional payroll + bank-link verification via Pinwheel.
• AI landlord reference call — optional AI agent calls the applicant’s prior landlord and produces a structured summary.

Housing records reporting in Texas

Federal FCRA 7-year limit applies. Texas does not currently impose an additional state-level restriction on housing-records reporting.

Statutory citation: 15 U.S.C. § 1681c

How reporting limits interact with what you may lawfully consider is covered in what landlords can screen for and the investigative consumer report explainer.

Criminal-record reporting in Texas

Federal FCRA 7-year limit applies for non-conviction items.

Fair housing in Texas

The Texas Fair Housing Act, TEX. PROP. CODE Ch. 301 applies in addition to the federal Fair Housing Act. Source of income is not a statewide protected class in Texas; check your municipal ordinance, which may add this protection locally.

Notable Texas considerations

Austin has a local source-of-income protection ordinance; verify locally.

What Texas law limits when you screen and rent

These are the statutory limits most likely to affect a Texas landlord at the application stage, compiled from state statutes and reviewed August 2026. Where a limit could not be tied to a specific statute it is left out rather than estimated. Statutes change and local ordinances often add limits your state does not — this is a starting point for your own check, not legal advice, and not a substitute for counsel licensed in Texas.

Rental application / screening fee

Texas sets no statewide cap on rental application fees, though landlords must make their tenant selection criteria available to applicants and refund fees and deposits when that notice is not given. Citation: Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.351-92.3515 (procedures only; no fee cap)

Security deposit limit

Texas sets no statutory maximum on residential security deposits; state law governs refunds and deductions but not the amount a landlord may collect. Citation: Tex. Prop. Code § 92.101 et seq. (refunds only; no amount limit)

Criminal history (fair-chance housing)

Texas has no statewide fair-chance housing or ban-the-box law restricting a landlord's use of an applicant's criminal history. Citation:

Local ordinances frequently add limits your state statute does not — check your city and county before you set an application fee or a deposit.

How RentalApplication.ai works for Texas landlords

1. You start a screening at rentalapplication.ai/apply. Enter the applicant’s name and email; pick the reports you want.
2. The applicant gets an email with a secure link, completes the application, and authorizes the screening (FCRA § 1681b(b)(2)).
3. The applicant pays at the moment of submission (or you can land-lord-pay).
4. Reports are delivered to you in minutes (credit) to a few hours (housing/criminal). State-law overlays are applied before the landlord sees any record.
5. If you decline based on the report, we generate the FCRA § 1681m adverse-action notice for you.

This page is an informational summary, not legal advice. State and local landlord-tenant law changes frequently — verify against current statute and local counsel before relying on this content. RentalApplication.ai is a reseller of consumer reports under FCRA § 1681a(u) and does not make tenancy decisions. The landlord (the “end user”) is the party who decides whether to approve or deny an application.