Many renters we talk to expect background screening to be a simple yes or no. In practice, it works like a grid. The type of offense runs one way, and how far back they look runs the other.
We find felony friendly apartments through research, not persuasion. Two properties on the same street can differ by five years on how they treat the exact same category. Neither one is being unfair. They're just following different company policies.
So we stick to the facts: what a property’s criteria say and what we hear from its leasing team.
Not one rule, a grid
The property makes the final decision on what's acceptable. Texas Property Code Section 92.3515 requires landlords to make their written tenant selection criteria available when they give you the application. So the property's rules on criminal records, and how far back they look, have to be available to you upfront.
Paying an application fee without seeing the written criteria is a quick way to lose money. Read the rules before you apply.
Two categories with set limits
Most of the grid loosens with time. Two categories barely move, and we tell you about them before anything else.
- Sex offender registration: The communities we work with don't accept registrants, so we can't help anyone who's on a sex offender registry.
- Drug manufacturing or distribution: Most communities turn down these felony convictions. The few that don't usually want at least seven years since the date of sentencing.
Federal law lines up with both in places. The Fair Housing Act doesn't protect people convicted of making or distributing a controlled substance, under 42 U.S.C. § 3607(b)(4). Public housing and the voucher program have to deny a household with a lifetime sex offender registrant in it, under 24 CFR 960.204 and 982.553. None of this is a promise about any other record. The property still decides.
The two things they check
The clock usually runs from the date the case ended, not the date of the offense. Policies usually group offenses into tiers instead of looking at each crime on its own. The management company decides the categories and how each one is treated.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a screening company usually can't report an arrest that didn't lead to a conviction once it's more than seven years old. If the statute of limitations on the charge runs longer, the longer period applies. The FCRA has no time limit on convictions. The offense date and the date the case ended can be years apart, so exact dates matter.
The FCRA does have exceptions to that seven year limit. They cover loans and life insurance of $150,000 or more and jobs paying $75,000 or more a year. None of them is for renting an apartment. When software does the screening, a property's cutoff date is a hard line, so know the exact date your case ended. Some properties add a review by a person, covered further down.
Get the exact dates
Guessing “about six years ago” doesn't work. If a record you think is six years old turns out to be four and a half, different policies apply. Pull the county record and work from it.
Four record types that screen differently
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) keeps the state's central criminal history database. Screening companies pull from sources like it and from county court records. Problems start when a local court outcome gets turned into a generic flag on your report.
| Record type | What it is | How it may be treated |
|---|---|---|
| Arrest without conviction | Charged, not convicted | Should count for less, and many policies treat it separately |
| Dismissed charge | Case ended without conviction | Depends on whether the screening company shows how it ended |
| Deferred adjudication | Community supervision, no final conviction entered | Often still shows up. An order of nondisclosure can seal it |
| Conviction | A final finding of guilt | Sorted by type and date under the policy. Most turn down drug manufacturing or distribution, and the few that don't want seven years or more since sentencing |
Sex offender registration sits outside this table. If you're on a registry, the communities we work with won't accept the application, no matter how the case ended.
Deferred adjudication is one of the records screening reports get wrong most often. Under Texas law, a successfully completed deferred adjudication isn't a final conviction. Screening software often reads the original guilty or no contest plea as a conviction. An order of nondisclosure can seal the record from most private background checks, and whether you qualify is a question for a lawyer.
If you have a dismissed case or a completed deferred adjudication, bring certified copies of the court papers and a short letter explaining them when you apply. That gives a person something to check if the software flags the record.
Where report errors come from
Big screening companies like SafeRent Solutions and TransUnion SmartMove each pull from their own database instead of checking the county clerk's live records. So their data can run behind the court, and that causes real mistakes.
A common problem: the county shows a case as dismissed, but the screening report shows no outcome at all. When that happens, you have to track down the court record and send it in. If you dispute an error, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives the screening company 30 days to look into it, or up to 45 if you send more information during that time.
Other errors come from similar names or mixed up Social Security digits.
Deferred adjudication wrongly listed as a final conviction is another one. Expunged records that still sit in a screening company's old data cause the same headaches. If you find these mistakes before a leasing office does, you have time to file a dispute under Section 611 of the FCRA.
Our guide to pulling your own screening report walks through it. Pulling your file early gives you time to fix bad data.
Pending versus closed
An open case with no outcome yet screens very differently from a closed one. Pending charges often show up almost right away on background checks that pull from county records. With an open case, many big landlords that use screening software will pause or deny the application on the spot.
Texas Property Code Section 92.025 protects landlords from being sued just for renting to someone with a record. The exceptions are certain serious and sex offenses the landlord knew or should have known about. That protection doesn't stop a landlord from denying you over an open charge.
Ask the leasing office how their screening software handles a “pending” case. Bring it up early, before you pay fees you can't get back. If you don't know where your case stands, the county records search will tell you.
Individualized assessment after HUD withdrew its guidance
Many big property management companies use screening software that checks a category and a date against a set policy in seconds. Nobody reads the file along the way. An individualized assessment means a person looks at your actual situation instead of applying a flat rule.
Where federal guidance stands now
HUD withdrew its 2016 criminal history guidance effective September 17, 2025. So no HUD guidance now tells a private property how to weigh a record. But the Fair Housing Act didn’t change, and a blanket ban can still lead to a claim in court that it discriminates in effect. HUD proposed in 2026 to drop its own rule on those claims, which leaves them to the courts. That risk is one reason some management companies kept the review.
A 2024 HUD proposed rule would have limited how far back HUD assisted housing could look at criminal history. HUD withdrew it on January 16, 2025, and it never took effect.
With the guidance gone, the review is each property’s choice, not an expectation. Some management companies kept it exactly as it was. Others went back to a flat category rule. Our database notes which way each community went, and we update it as we hear from leasing teams. Where the review still happens, it looks at three things:
- What the offense was and how serious it was
- How much time has passed since it happened
- Proof of rehabilitation and how you’re living now
Find out the review type first
Building a full file for a property that runs automated criteria is wasted effort. Before you gather any personal documents, ask the leasing office if their background review is automated or done by a person.
Timelines are longer
Automated screening tools can turn out reports in minutes. A manual review usually takes five to ten business days, since leasing staff fit file reviews in around their regular work. Ask the leasing office how long their reviews take. They usually know.
- Apply at least a month before your current lease ends.
- As a backup, apply at properties where your record fits the automated criteria.
- Run your own background check ahead of time to catch errors early.
What the review isn't
This review is part of the first decision, not an appeal. It happens before a denial, not after one, so your supporting file has to go in with the original application. It isn't a guaranteed approval either: properties that review by hand still turn applicants down.
What to bring to a human review
Evidence of rehabilitation does real work when a person reviews your file, as long as it's on paper. Saying things have changed is just your word. An employer letter confirming two solid years on the job carries weight. So does a landlord who confirms on time rent, which turns your claim into proof.
| Evidence Type | Why it counts during the review |
|---|---|
| Court disposition records | Shows exactly what happened and when, straight from the court. |
| Steady work history | Steady work, shown with recent W-2s or pay stubs, is one of the strongest pluses in a file. |
| Program completion certificates | Proof you finished a recognized rehab or job training program. |
| Recent rental references | Someone else confirming you’ve been a good tenant. |
| Personal character references | Weakest on their own, but helpful next to official records. |
| A short factual letter | Ties the documents together and tells the reviewer your story clearly. |
Write your personal statement like a business letter. Stick to dates, facts they can check, the changes you’ve made, and owning what happened without blaming anyone. Our guide to writing a letter of explanation shows the structure to follow.
Legal and re-entry help
We spend our time tracking each community's offense categories, how far back they look, and whether a person reviews the file. We update those details as we talk with leasing agents and property managers every day. Criteria change, and the property makes the final call. Where a review applies, we help you put together the paperwork.
We don't give legal advice. Questions about expunctions, sealing a record or orders of nondisclosure are legal questions for an attorney. Clearing a record through a Texas expunction means court fees, often a lawyer's fee, and usually several months. For answers about your own case, contact Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas or a local defense attorney.
We point clients to Fort Worth’s re-entry resources for help we can’t give. The Reentry First Stop Center for Tarrant County, at 2300 Circle Drive, holds an orientation class every Monday and connects people with free services.
We never steer clients toward any neighborhood. Where you look is decided by your commute, price, unit features, school district, and each property's actual criteria. Reach out and we'll start a search based on those criteria.