# Felony Friendly Apartments: Texas Options | Bad Credit Apartments > Felony friendly apartments in Texas: with an older nonviolent record, many communities have a real person look at your background. See how far back they check. URL: https://www.badcreditapartments.com/guide/felony-friendly-apartments-austin/ - [Home](/) / - [Second Chance & Background Friendly Apartment Locating](/second-chance-apartments/) / - Felony Friendly Apartments: Texas Options and What's Possible # Felony Friendly Apartments: Texas Options and What's Possible Older nonviolent record? Many Texas communities have a real person look at your background. See how far back they check, what helps, and how we can help. ![Hopeful person at apartment community entrance](/images/featured/hopeful-person-walking-up-to-austin-apartment-comm.webp) Last reviewed October 22, 2026. This is general information about renting in Texas, not legal or financial advice. Laws, prices, and screening rules change, so confirm details with each community and talk with an attorney about your own situation. We get how stressful it is to apply with a background record and credit under 550. Searching “felony friendly apartments Texas” and getting nowhere? Finding a property manager who will approve you with a felony takes a plan, not luck. Our [second chance service](/second-chance-apartments/) handles background cases like yours all the time. We work with every credit score too, including under 500. We work in Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio, and the same screening tools show up in all five. We'll explain how that software works, then walk you through the steps to get approved. ## How Texas communities really handle a criminal background When you apply, many Texas communities run you through screening software that gives you a risk score. Property managers usually handle a criminal record plus bad credit in one of three ways. ### Software With a Hard Cutoff Corporate Class A properties usually use strict screening software like SafeRent or RealPage. These systems give you a “lease performance” score based on your whole financial and legal history. We see them turn people down on the spot for older offenses or low credit scores. SafeRent settled a $2.275 million lawsuit in late 2024 over claims its score unfairly hurt Black and Hispanic renters who use housing vouchers. Corporate complexes that lean on these scores are a tough option for anyone with a recent record. ### Software That Lets a Person Override It Many midrange and workforce communities use software that flags a record but lets a person review it. The property manager gets the alert and decides whether to approve you. We suggest this route if you have a past foreclosure or no credit history. A leasing manager can look at your whole story. The software doesn't get the last word. ### Income and Stability Come First A smaller group of communities treat your background as one part of the story. These landlords look at the actual offense and how long you've been out. HUD pushed for this in its 2016 guidance, but it [pulled that guidance](https://www.hud.gov/sites/default/files/hudclips/documents/OGC-Memo-on-Fair-Housing-Guidance-9-25-2025.pdf) in late 2025. We put a lot of effort into finding them. ## How far back they check Many Texas apartment complexes focus on the past seven years of your background. Under federal law, some screening companies can report criminal convictions forever. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act sets what can show up on your rental screening report. Arrests and civil judgments drop off after seven years. Bankruptcies can stay for up to ten years. But criminal convictions have no federal cutoff date. [A Texas law](https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/BC/htm/BC.20.htm#20.05) keeps screening companies from reporting most convictions more than seven years after release or parole. How far that law reaches isn't settled yet, and landlords can still search court records on their own. Some properties use a shorter lookback than the screening company's default. The written screening rules tell you the exact window. Here's how time affects your application: - **Less than 7 years ago:** The offense shows up clearly and the community gives it a lot of weight. - **7 to 10 years ago:** Arrests without a conviction and civil judgments drop off. Convictions can still show up. - **More than 10 years ago:** Many communities give older nonviolent offenses little weight, though some reports still show them. ## Nonviolent vs. violent The kind of offense matters more than anything else. Landlords often forgive nonviolent felonies. Violent felonies usually get a firm no. Property managers have to weigh what happened and how serious it was. Communities with a real person reading files often judge each nonviolent case on its own facts. We see a lot of approvals for drug possession, minor property crimes, or old fraud charges once enough time has passed. Property management companies see violent offenses, like assault or robbery, as a big risk, so those usually get a no. The sex offender registry has its own state rules, and it's a hard stop for apartment communities. The table below shows how communities treat each group. | Type of Offense | Common Examples | What Landlords Usually Do | |---|---|---| | Nonviolent | Drug possession, minor theft, fraud | A person looks at it, and time since the offense helps a lot | | Violent | Assault, armed robbery, battery | Automatic denial at most corporate complexes | | Sex Offenses | Offenses that put you on the registry | Hard stop, since some people on the registry face limits on where they can live | ## What helps an application get through Strong income and a clear personal letter carry the most weight when a person looks at your file. You have to show steady money coming in to make up for a poor credit score or a past conviction. Under Texas Property Code §92.3515, landlords have to let you see their screening rules in writing when they give you an application. If they skip that and turn you down, they owe you your fee back. Read those rules closely so you don't waste money you won't get back. When a person has to approve your application, these three things move the needle: - **Proof of a steady life:** Managers check how long you've been out, how long you've held your job, and how often you've moved. - **A clear letter:** It should name the offense honestly, explain how you've turned things around, and show how you live now. - **Strong income:** On a $1,500 a month apartment, showing about $6,000 a month in income, four times the rent, makes landlords much more comfortable taking a chance on you. ## What we can’t promise We can't promise you a regular apartment if your record has recent violent offenses. Your realistic options will likely be private landlords or local reentry housing programs. A credit score under 550 plus a violent felony? That leaves very few choices. We tell clients honestly when a corporate complex is out of reach. Pretending otherwise just drains your bank account one application fee at a time. You may need to look at other kinds of housing: - **Private Landlords:** Independent owners often skip screening software completely. - **Roommate Agreements:** Renting a single room usually comes with a lighter background check. - **Local Organizations:** Reentry groups in each Texas metro offer housing help for people coming home. Texas is more open than you'd think for renters with older nonviolent records and past bankruptcies. [Start your free profile](/get-my-list/) today, and within 24 to 48 hours on weekdays we'll send you a realistic short list. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Can I rent in Texas with a felony on my record? It's possible, especially for older nonviolent offenses. Many Texas communities have a real person look at your application instead of denying it automatically. What matters most is the kind of offense and how long ago it was. ### How old does the record need to be? Most Texas communities check the last 7 to 10 years of criminal history. Records inside that time usually show up. Older ones often don't appear on standard screening. A nonviolent felony from 12 years ago usually counts for much less than one from 3 years ago. ### Do violent offenses change things a lot? Yes. Most communities have stricter rules for violent felonies (assault, robbery, sexual offenses), and many won't approve them no matter how old they are. We're honest about that from the first call, and we won't waste your application fees on communities that won't say yes. ### Want a short list of apartments that fit your file? Our licensed Texas locators check your file against each community's written screening rules in Austin, Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, and San Antonio. We work with every credit score, including under 500. It's 100% free. [Get My Free List](/get-my-list/) ### Related Service [Second Chance & Background Friendly Apartment Locating](/second-chance-apartments/) We match renters with evictions, broken leases, rental debt, or older criminal records to Texas communities that work with second chance applicants. ### Related Guides - [Broken Lease Apartments: Texas Options After a Lease Break](/guide/apartments-that-accept-broken-leases-austin/) - [Apartments That Accept Evictions: Texas Renter Guide](/guide/apartments-that-accept-evictions-austin/) - [Eviction Filing vs. Judgment vs. Rental Debt in Texas Explained](/guide/eviction-filing-vs-judgment-vs-rental-debt/) - [Can You Rent With a Dismissed Eviction? Filing vs. Judgment in Texas](/guide/filed-eviction-vs-judgment-which-communities-approve/)