Before you apply

Tenant selection criteria

Last updated October 26, 2026

Tenant selection criteria are the written rules a landlord uses to decide on a rental application. Texas Property Code section 92.3515 requires landlords to make them available when you get an application. The notice must cover the grounds for denying an application. These include criminal history, rental history, current income, credit history, and inaccurate or incomplete information.

How criteria work on this site #

Each home lists its own. Every home for lease on this site shows, on its page, the criteria its owner or property manager uses. Owners and managers start from the site's default criteria below. They may change some of them: whether housing assistance such as Housing Choice Vouchers is accepted, any application fee, any minimum credit score, the income needed, the rental-history and criminal-history rules, guarantors, and pets.
You see them again before you sign. The application on the home's page shows that home's criteria, followed by the acknowledgment Texas law requires (see below). You sign it to show you had the chance to read them.
Your application is reviewed under the criteria you saw. A copy of the criteria shown when you apply is saved with your application. If the owner or manager later changes the home's criteria, your application is still reviewed under that copy.
The home's page controls. If a home's criteria differ from the defaults on this page, the home's page and its application are what count. Either way, the owner or manager must use them the same way for every applicant.
Short stays are requested on the home's page and do not use an application.

Please read the criteria on the home's page before you apply. If anything is unclear, ask the owner or manager on the home's page, or email [email protected].

The site's default criteria #

Default criteria, version 1. Effective October 25, 2026. These are the default criteria many homes on this site use. If the defaults change, we post the new version here with a new date.

In these criteria, "the owner or manager" means the owner or property manager who listed the home.

How every application is reviewed #

The same criteria are used for every applicant for the home.
Complete applications are reviewed in the order they are received. The home is offered to the first applicant whose complete application meets the criteria.
An application is complete when every adult who will live in the home has applied and signed the acknowledgment, any application fee has been paid, and the owner or manager has the documents needed to confirm the information.
Every adult who will live in the home must meet the criteria. Income is the one exception: the income of everyone on the lease is added together. If one adult does not meet the criteria, the application cannot be approved for the household.
A live-in aide who lives in the home only to help a person with a disability does not need to meet the income criteria.
When these criteria say an application "may" be denied, the owner or manager looks at the same things for everyone: what happened, how long ago, and whether it has been resolved. If something in a report or a reference could lead to a denial, you are told and given a chance to explain or correct it.
Federal, Texas, and City of Dallas fair housing laws apply. Read our fair housing policy.

1. Current income #

The combined gross monthly income of everyone on the lease must be at least three times the monthly rent.
All lawful, regular income that can be verified counts, from any source. That includes wages, tips, self-employment, Social Security, disability benefits, retirement and pension income, veterans benefits, child support, spousal support, and housing assistance.
If a housing assistance program pays part of the rent, the three-times rule applies only to the part of the rent you pay.
If your income is below this level, you may still qualify with a guarantor. See item 7.

2. Housing assistance #

Default: accepted. Housing Choice Vouchers and other housing assistance count as income. The housing program must approve the home and the rent before the lease starts.
Set per home. Whether a home accepts Housing Choice Vouchers is set by its owner or manager, and the home's page says so. Texas Local Government Code section 250.007 lets landlords decline federal housing assistance, except assistance for military veterans.
Still covered at every home. Even at a home that does not take vouchers, Dallas City Code chapter 20A still covers veterans' housing assistance, such as HUD-VASH, and rental help from non-federal programs, as limited by section 250.007. Every home on this site counts them as income.

3. Rental history #

The owner or manager contacts your current and past landlords for the past three years.
An application may be denied if, in the past three years, any adult applicant:
- had an eviction judgment entered against them;
- owes money to a landlord from a lease that ended in the past three years, and has not paid it or agreed to a payment plan; or
- caused damage to a rental home beyond normal wear and tear and did not pay for it.
These are not held against you:
- an eviction case that was dismissed or that you won;
- having no rental history, such as when you are renting for the first time; or
- ending a lease early under a Texas law that allows it, such as for family violence, certain sexual offenses or stalking, or military service.

4. Credit history #

With your written permission, the owner or manager gets a credit report for each adult applicant.
An application may be denied if the report shows money owed to a landlord or a utility company that came due in the past three years and has not been paid or put on a payment plan.
The default criteria use no minimum credit score. If a home uses one, its page shows the score.
Having little or no credit history is not, by itself, a reason to deny.
Medical debt and student loan debt are not counted against you.

5. Criminal history #

With your written permission, the owner or manager gets a criminal history report for each adult applicant.
Only convictions are considered. These are not:
- arrests or charges that did not lead to a conviction;
- charges that were dismissed;
- records that were expunged, or sealed by a court order of nondisclosure;
- juvenile records; or
- deferred adjudication, unless a court later found you guilty.
An application may be denied if an adult who will live in the home:
- was convicted of a felony, with the conviction date in the past seven years, for an offense that caused or threatened bodily injury to a person (such as murder, assault, kidnapping, or robbery), a sexual offense, arson, or the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance; or
- is currently required to register as a sex offender.
You get a chance to respond. Before an application is denied based on criminal history, including a sex-offender registration requirement, the owner or manager tells you in writing what they found. You then have five business days to give them more information, and they hold the home for you while you do. You can point out mistakes in the report, or tell them about the facts, how long ago it was, and what you have done since, such as work, school, treatment, or references. All of this is weighed before the decision.

6. Accurate and complete information #

An application may be denied if it has false or misleading information, or if it leaves out information the application asks for. Not having a Social Security number does not count as leaving something out.
If you make an honest mistake, tell the owner or manager, and you can fix it before the decision.

7. Guarantors #

If you do not meet the income or credit criteria, you may add a guarantor. A guarantor signs an agreement to pay the rent if you do not.
A guarantor fills out an application, meets the credit criteria above, and has gross monthly income of at least four times the monthly rent. If a housing assistance program pays part of the rent, only the part you pay is used.
If the home has an application fee, a guarantor pays the same fee as an applicant.

8. Occupancy #

Texas Property Code section 92.010 allows no more than three adults (people 18 or older) per bedroom. The home must also meet City of Dallas housing standards. The default criteria set no stricter limit. If you are not sure whether your household fits a home, ask before you apply.

9. Pets #

Each home's page says whether pets are allowed and lists any pet deposit or pet rent.
Assistance animals for people with disabilities are not pets. No pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent is charged for them, and pet limits on breed, size, or weight do not apply to them. You are still responsible for any damage an animal causes.

Fees, signing, and the decision #

Application fee #

The default criteria have no application fee. An owner or manager may set one. If so, the home's page shows the amount, and it is charged for each adult who applies.
You pay any fee offline, directly to the home's owner or manager, who tells you how. This site never takes application fees.
The fee covers the cost of checking your application. It is not refunded if the application is denied under the home's criteria, or if you give inaccurate or incomplete information.
If another complete application for the same home is already being reviewed, you are told before you pay. If the home is rented to an earlier applicant before your application is reviewed, your fee is refunded.
Texas law also requires a landlord to refund the application fee and any application deposit if it denies an application without having made its criteria available (Texas Property Code section 92.3515(e)). If you ask for a refund to be mailed, it is mailed to the address you give (section 92.3515(f)).

When you get an answer #

The owner or manager gives you an answer within seven days after your application is complete.
The one exception is a criminal history review. If the owner or manager asks you for more information about a criminal history report (item 5), they hold the home for you while you reply, and give you an answer as soon as they can after you do.
Under Texas Property Code section 92.352, an application is treated as rejected if the landlord does not accept it by the seventh day after receiving it complete. If your criminal history response runs past that day, the home is still held for you until you get an answer.

The acknowledgment you sign #

Each application on this site shows the home's criteria and then this acknowledgment, printed in bold, for you to sign. Texas law requires it to say, in substance:

Signing this acknowledgment indicates that you have had the opportunity to review the landlord's tenant selection criteria. The tenant selection criteria may include factors such as criminal history, credit history, current income, and rental history. If you do not meet the selection criteria, or if you provide inaccurate or incomplete information, your application may be rejected and your application fee will not be refunded.

If the application is not approved #

You are told in writing.
If the decision was based in whole or in part on a credit report or a criminal history report, the owner or manager also gives you the name, address, and phone number of the company that provided the report. That company did not make the decision. You have the right to get a free copy of your report from that company if you ask within 60 days, and to dispute anything in it that is wrong or incomplete. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires this notice.
If a credit score was used in the decision, the notice also gives the score and the key factors that affected it.
You get the same notice if you are approved only with a guarantor or a larger deposit because of something in one of those reports.

Reasonable accommodations #

If you or someone in your household has a disability, you can ask the owner or manager to change a rule, policy, or practice. That includes how you apply, how they talk with you, and how they give you documents. For example, if you cannot use the application form on the home's page, they can send you a paper application or take your answers another way. Ask on the home's page, or email [email protected] (or ask someone to email for you), and we will help you reach the owner or manager. You do not need to use any special words or forms. If your disability or need is not obvious, you may be asked for reliable information that shows the need. You do not have to share your diagnosis or medical records. Read more in our fair housing policy.

Questions #

Questions about a home's criteria? Ask its owner or manager on the home's page. Questions about this page? Email [email protected].