Houston tenant screening & landlord laws
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Houston tenant screening
Tenant screening generally means checking a rental applicant's background — credit history, criminal records, eviction history, and income — before deciding whether to offer a lease. Because Houston is located in Texas, state law typically sets the floor for what landlords must (and must not) do, and Houston property owners generally need to layer any city-specific rules on top of that baseline. Texas is, in most respects, a comparatively lighter-touch state for landlords: it generally has no statewide cap on screening or application fees, no state law that adds source-of-income as a protected class, and state law that generally preempts local rent control outside a governor-approved disaster declaration. Houston does not appear to layer additional screening-specific ordinances (such as a fair-chance criminal-history law or a source-of-income ordinance) on top of that state baseline.
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Texas baseline, in brief:
What Texas law already provides
- Screening/application fees: Texas Property Code Chapter 92 does not appear to include a statutory cap on tenant screening or application fees.
- Criminal history: Texas state statutes do not specifically limit how landlords may use criminal history in a rental decision beyond the federal Fair Housing Act framework.
- Source of income: Not a protected class under Texas state law; the federal Fair Housing Act also does not cover source of income.
- Security deposits: No statutory dollar cap; landlords must generally refund the deposit within 30 days after the tenant surrenders the premises under Texas Property Code § 92.103.
- Rent control: Texas law generally allows a city to adopt rent control only through an ordinance tied to a governor-approved, disaster-related housing emergency, under Texas Local Government Code § 214.902 — outside that narrow path, Texas cities generally do not have standing rent-control power.
How Houston's rules layer on top of Texas law
Houston property managers generally start from the statewide floor described above. For Houston properties, review Texas Local Government Code § 214.903 when assessing whether local fair housing rules affect screening. Confirm current Houston municipal code before finalizing a policy involving categories like source of income or a criminal-history look-back limit. For housing-related requirements outside the screening context, confirm current Houston code, including any local "Security Device Law" governing locks and window security devices in rental units.
Screening rules to follow in Houston
- Criminal history: A search of Houston's municipal code resources and secondary legal summaries did not turn up a Houston-specific ordinance restricting how landlords may consider criminal history in a rental decision (comparable, for example, to a "fair chance in housing" law). Houston screening for criminal history therefore generally follows the same federal Fair Housing Act framework described for Texas as a whole, including the underlying statute and case law (Texas Dept. of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, 2015).
- Source of income / vouchers: Landlords should verify whether any Houston ordinance protects housing-voucher holders as a class. Because source of income is not protected under Texas or federal law, a Houston landlord is generally not legally required to accept a Housing Choice Voucher, absent a local ordinance, lease term, or program agreement saying otherwise.
- Houston does not have a city-specific screening-fee cap, application-disclosure statute, or criminal-record look-back limit beyond what Texas law already provides.
Rent and eviction rules in Houston
Confirm any Houston rent-control or just-cause eviction ordinance against current municipal code. Under Texas Local Government Code § 214.902, Houston generally could adopt rent control only through an ordinance approved by the governor in connection with a declared disaster-related housing emergency — a narrow, conditional path rather than a general grant of authority. Evictions in Houston generally proceed under the statewide framework in Texas Property Code Chapter 24 and Chapter 92, including the state's standard notice-to-vacate periods.
County/township layers
Texas organizes land outside city limits as unincorporated county area rather than into townships. Harris County, which surrounds and contains Houston, may have separate landlord-tenant requirements; for unincorporated Harris County properties, confirm any county screening or rent ordinance against current county code before relying on the statewide Texas Property Code framework described above.
Frequently asked questions
Does Houston cap tenant screening or application fees?
Houston has no specific fee cap, and Texas state law generally does not cap these fees either.
Is source of income a protected class in Houston?
Source of income is not a protected class under Texas state law or the federal Fair Housing Act. Landlords in Houston should confirm whether any local ordinances provide this protection.
Does Houston have rent control?
Generally not. Texas law allows a city to adopt rent control only via a governor-approved ordinance tied to a declared disaster-related housing emergency; outside that path, Houston generally cannot impose standing rent control.
How long does a Houston landlord generally have to return a security deposit?
Under Texas Property Code § 92.103, a landlord must generally refund the deposit within 30 days after the tenant surrenders the premises, subject to statutory exceptions.
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Disclaimer
The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.