Key takeaways
- Six checks are appropriate: identity, credit, eviction and civil records, criminal history, income and employment, and rental history.
- Texas Property Code 92.3515 requires printed selection criteria with the application, naming grounds such as criminal, rental and credit history.
- If the criteria were not made available and the applicant is rejected, the application fee must be returned; bad faith costs $100 plus three times the fee (92.354).
- When a consumer report contributes to a denial, the FTC says the applicant gets an adverse action notice naming the reporting agency.
- Use the results only against written criteria, applied the same way to every adult applicant.
Six background checks are appropriate and legal for a Texas rental applicant: identity verification, a credit report, an eviction and civil records search, a criminal history check, income and employment verification, and prior landlord references. They are legal when the applicant has received the written selection criteria, the reports are pulled for a permissible purpose, and the decision follows those criteria for everyone. That applies to a house in Fort Worth or North Richland Hills exactly as it does anywhere else in Texas.
Owners self-managing for the first time tend to either skip half of these or run all of them and then decide by instinct. Both expose you. This article covers what each check is for and the rules around it; the step-by-step method is in how professional tenant screening works.
The six checks and what each one answers
Each check answers a different question, and skipping one leaves that question open.
The six checks and the rule behind each
| Check | What it answers | Rule that applies |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Is this the person on the reports? | Government photo ID matched to the application |
| Credit report | How has the applicant handled obligations over time? | Fair Credit Reporting Act: permissible purpose, adverse action notice |
| Eviction and civil records | Prior eviction suits or judgments for unpaid rent? | Same FCRA rules when pulled through a screening company |
| Criminal history | Convictions that bear on the safety of people and property? | Must be listed as a ground for denial in the criteria (Property Code 92.3515); applied consistently under fair housing law |
| Income and employment | Can the applicant pay the rent? | Your written income standard, verified with documents or the employer |
| Rental history | Would a prior landlord rent to them again? | Listed as a ground for denial in the criteria (92.3515) |
How to read this table: the middle column is why you run the check, and the right-hand column is what makes it legal. Every check should appear in the written criteria the applicant sees before applying. Each adult is screened the same way, which is the subject of whether every adult in the house must be screened.
Consent, fees and the notices the law expects
Three procedural rules make the checks legal rather than merely possible. First, Texas Property Code 92.3515 requires the landlord to make printed tenant selection criteria available when the applicant receives the application, including grounds for denial such as criminal history, rental history, current income and credit history. The applicant signs an acknowledgment; without it, the law presumes the notice was not given.
If the landlord rejects an applicant without having made that notice available, the fee must be returned (92.3515(e)), and a bad-faith failure to refund costs $100 plus three times the amount kept and attorney's fees (92.354). Second, the FTC says a landlord may only get a consumer report with a permissible purpose, and written permission from the applicant shows one. Third, when a report contributes to a denial, the applicant gets an adverse action notice.
Criminal history: thorough, but inside fair housing limits
Criminal checks are legal in Texas, and criminal history is one of the grounds Section 92.3515 expects the criteria to name. The risk is how the result is used. A blanket rule that refuses anyone with any record is the hardest policy to defend under the Fair Housing Act, because a broad ban can fall unevenly on protected groups.
The defensible approach is written and specific: convictions rather than arrests, a stated time window, and a focus on offenses that bear on the safety of people and property, applied the same way every time. The applicant can read it before applying. Who is protected and why consistent criteria protect the owner too is in fair housing for Texas landlords. If your situation is unusual, have a fair housing attorney review the criteria.
Checks that are not appropriate, and questions not to ask
Some things look like diligence and are actually exposure.
- Searching an applicant's social media to judge lifestyle, religion, family plans or national origin. Even if nothing is said aloud, the decision can be challenged.
- Asking about disability, pregnancy, children's ages beyond occupancy counting, or where someone was born.
- Requiring more documentation from one applicant than another for the same situation, for example extra proof from an applicant with a foreign accent but not from one without.
- Running checks before consent, or on people who have not applied, such as a tenant's visiting partner.
The rule of thumb: check what predicts paying rent and caring for the house, check it the same way for everyone, and leave personal characteristics out. A screening report can also be wrong, which is why identity matching and a chance to dispute matter.
What the owner sees, and a scenario
Under a manager, you usually do not receive the applicant's raw credit file or criminal report. You receive the decision and the reasoning against the criteria. That is deliberate: the less protected information an owner handles, the less an owner can be accused of acting on.
What an adverse action notice must contain
| Item | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| Name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting agency | So the applicant can get the report |
| A statement that the agency did not make the decision and cannot give the reasons | So the applicant asks the right party |
| The right to a free copy of the report if requested within 60 days | So errors can be found |
| The right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information | So a wrong record can be corrected |
How to read this table: these are the contents the FTC lists in its guidance for landlords, and the notice is required even if the report played only a small part in the decision. Texas adds its own timing rule: an applicant not accepted by the seventh day after submitting a complete application is deemed rejected (Property Code 92.352). This is general information, not legal advice.
How Perpetual handles this
Perpetual Property Management is broker-owned and screens applicants for homes in Keller, North Richland Hills and Fort Worth against the written rental criteria published on our site. Each applicant 18 or older completes a separate application, at $60 per applicant, with government photo ID. Income must be at least 3 times the rent, shown with at least 6 weeks of pay stubs and 2 months of bank statements, and only the 2 highest earners count toward it.
The application includes a credit history evaluation, rental history verification, employment and income verification, and a criminal background check on all applicants. Our published causes for rejection include a prior eviction, debt owed to a previous landlord and falsification on the application. Screening typically takes 1 to 3 business days once the application is complete. See our tenant screening service and the rental criteria page.
The takeaway: Every check that predicts rent and care of the house is legal in Texas when it runs with consent, under published criteria, the same way for everyone.
Questions owners ask
Can a landlord in Texas run a criminal background check on a tenant?
Yes. Texas Property Code 92.3515 expects criminal history to be named as a ground for denial in the written selection criteria the applicant receives with the application. The report needs a permissible purpose under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. A defensible policy looks at convictions rather than arrests, within a stated time window, focused on offenses that bear on the safety of people and property, and applies the same standard to everyone.
Does an applicant have to give permission for a background check?
A landlord needs a permissible purpose to get a consumer report, and the FTC says written permission from the applicant shows one. Rental applications normally include that authorization. Texas also requires the written selection criteria to be made available with the application, and the applicant signs an acknowledgment that they were.
Can I check a rental applicant's social media?
You can, but it is a poor idea. Social media reveals religion, family status, national origin and disability, all protected characteristics, and once you have seen them a denial can be challenged as being based on them. Stick to the checks that predict rent payment and care of the house.
What is an adverse action notice for a rental application?
When a consumer report contributes to a denial or a less favorable term, the FTC says the landlord must give the applicant a notice with the reporting agency's name, address and phone number, a statement that the agency did not make the decision, and the rights to a free report within 60 days and to dispute errors. It applies even if the report played only a small part.
Does a Texas landlord have to refund the application fee?
Only in some cases. Under Texas Property Code 92.3515(e), if the landlord rejects the applicant without having made the printed selection criteria available, the application fee and any deposit must be returned. A landlord who in bad faith fails to refund owes $100, three times the amount kept and attorney's fees (92.354). With the criteria provided and acknowledged, a rejected applicant's fee is not refunded.
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