Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in Texas
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.351-.355; written residential rental applications, applicants/co-applicants, application fees, and application deposits |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | Nonrefundable application fee may offset screening costs; separate application deposit is refundable if the applicant is rejected (§ 92.351(1), (1-a)) |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | No statewide dollar, actual-cost, customary-cost, or indexed ceiling stated |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | Fee is defined only as offsetting screening costs; no statutory cost-itemization or collection-timing rule beyond giving the criteria notice with the application |
| Before-screening disclosures | Printed selection criteria and denial grounds must be made available when the application is provided; applicant signs the statutory acknowledgment (§ 92.3515(a)-(d)) |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | No receipt or report-copy duty. If rejected without required criteria notice, return fee and deposit; mail a requested refund to the furnished address (§§ 92.3515(e)-(f), 92.353(b)) |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No applicant-supplied, portable, or reusable-report rule in Chapter 92 |
| Application order and adverse action | No priority rule. No acceptance notice by day 7 means rejection; rejecting one co-applicant rejects all; phone or timely postmarked mail may give notice (§§ 92.352-.353) |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | Bad-faith refund failure: $100 + 3x wrongfully retained + reasonable attorney's fees; waiver void (§§ 92.354-.355). No local-preemption rule in this subchapter |
Requirements one by one
Application fee versus application deposit
Texas treats the two payments differently. Section 92.351(1-a) defines an application fee as nonrefundable money used to offset screening costs. It sets no dollar or actual-cost ceiling. Section 92.351(1) separately defines an application deposit as refundable if the applicant is rejected. Calling one payment the other does not change the statutory definitions.
Selection criteria before screening
Under § 92.3515(a), the landlord must make printed tenant-selection criteria and denial grounds available when giving the applicant the written rental application. The listed subjects include criminal and rental history, current income, credit history, and incomplete or inaccurate application information. Under § 92.3515(c), the applicant signs an acknowledgment with the prescribed warning that failure to meet the criteria can lead to rejection without an application-fee refund.
If the landlord rejects the applicant without making that notice available, § 92.3515(e) requires return of both the application fee and any application deposit. A missing signature creates a rebuttable presumption that the notice was not made available.
Rejection timing and notice
Section 92.352 deems the applicant rejected if the landlord gives no acceptance notice by the seventh day after receiving the completed application—or after accepting an application deposit when no form was furnished. Rejection of one co-applicant rejects all co-applicants. Section 92.353 recognizes notice by telephone on or before the deadline or by mail postmarked by then, and extends a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday deadline through the next day.
What trips people up
Texas does not cap the fee amount. The statute says what the fee is for but does not set a flat dollar, actual-cost, or customary-cost maximum.
The selection-criteria notice determines a refund right. A rejected applicant who received the required notice does not get the nonrefundable fee back merely because of rejection. Without the notice, § 92.3515(e) requires the fee and deposit to be returned.
Seven days is a deemed-rejection rule, not an application-priority rule. The subchapter does not require first-come or first-qualified processing.
Common questions
Must the landlord give me a copy of the screening report? Chapter 92 states no report-copy duty in this subchapter. Separate federal consumer-reporting law may apply.
Does Texas require reusable screening reports? No. Chapter 92 contains no applicant-supplied, portable, or reusable-report process.
What happens if a refund is withheld in bad faith? Section 92.354 allows $100 plus three times the amount wrongfully retained and reasonable attorney's fees. Section 92.355 makes a purported waiver of these rights void.
Statutes and sources
- Tex. Prop. Code § 92.351 — definitions.
“Application deposit” means a sum of money ... refundable to the applicant if the applicant is rejected as a tenant. ... “Application fee” means a nonrefundable sum of money ... to offset the costs of screening an applicant for acceptance as a tenant.
Official source: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/PR/htm/PR.92.htm (accessed 2026-07-20) - Tex. Prop. Code § 92.3515 — selection criteria, acknowledgment, and refund when notice was missing.
At the time an applicant is provided with a rental application, the landlord shall make available to the applicant printed notice of the landlord's tenant selection criteria and the grounds for which the rental application may be denied ... If the landlord rejects an applicant and the landlord has not made the notice ... available, the landlord shall return the application fee and any application deposit.
Official source: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/PR/htm/PR.92.htm (accessed 2026-07-20) - Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.352-.353 — deemed rejection and notice methods.
The applicant is deemed rejected by the landlord if the landlord does not give notice of acceptance ... on or before the seventh day ...
Official source: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/PR/htm/PR.92.htm (accessed 2026-07-20) - Tex. Prop. Code §§ 92.354-.355 — liability and no waiver.
A landlord who in bad faith fails to refund an application fee or deposit in violation of this subchapter is liable for ... $100, three times the amount wrongfully retained, and the applicant's reasonable attorney's fees.
Official source: https://tcss.legis.texas.gov/resources/PR/htm/PR.92.htm (accessed 2026-07-20)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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