A credit report lands in your inbox. The score at the top says 648, and under it sits a page of accounts, balances and dates. You have to say yes or no, and that call is one piece of a larger tenant screening process that decides whether rent shows up on the first of the month.
This post is for owners with a rental in the Houston area who screen applicants themselves, or who want to judge how a manager does it. We'll cover what a credit check shows, what it leaves out, and what score is good enough. Spoiler: the answer isn't one number.
“8 | checks on every ELDA applicant ; 7 days | until an unanswered application counts as rejected ; 22 | years in business ; 209 | homes we manage”
In This Guide
What a Credit Report Actually Shows
Think of a credit report as a payment diary written by other people. Lenders and collection agencies fill it in, and you get to read it.
Here's what's usually on the page:
- Payment history: Whether each account was paid on time, or 30, 60 or 90 days late. This is the part many landlords read first.
- Balances and limits: How much debt the person carries, and how much of their available credit they use.
- Account types and age: Credit cards, auto loans, student loans, a mortgage, and how long each has been open.
- Collections and charge-offs: Debts a lender gave up on, including unpaid rent or utility bills from a past address.
- Public records: Items like bankruptcies and judgments.
- Inquiries: Recent times someone applied for credit.
The score is just a summary of all that. Useful, but it's the headline, not the story.
What a Credit Check Can't Tell You
A credit report says how someone handles debt. It doesn't say whether they can afford your rent, whether they trashed their last place, or whether they've been evicted.
| What you want to know | Where it shows up |
|---|---|
| Does this person pay bills on time? | Credit report |
| Can they afford the rent? | Employment and income verification |
| Did they pay and treat past landlords right? | Rental history check |
| Have they been evicted? | Nationwide eviction database |
| Any criminal history? | Federal and state background checks |
| Is the ID real and the driving record clean? | Driver's license record check |
The eviction line matters locally. Eviction filings in Harris County are public record, so a past filing can turn up on a database search even when the credit score looks fine.
Income matters here too. Houston has a big energy-sector workforce, and hiring in that field moves in cycles. When layoffs hit, a tenant with a strong score can fall behind quickly. That's why we verify employment next to credit and never treat the score as the whole answer.
What Score Is Good Enough
No Texas law sets a minimum credit score for renting. Credit history is one factor a landlord can name in written screening criteria, and each owner decides what is good enough. So if someone tells you that you need a certain score to rent here, they're describing a habit, not a rule.
Here are the ranges many landlords use. These are typical, not official.
| Score range | How landlords often treat it |
|---|---|
| 720 and up | Fastest approvals and the best lease terms |
| 620 to 719 | Standard approval for many landlords, with 620 a commonly cited cutoff |
| 580 to 619 | Gray zone, often handled with a higher deposit or a co-signer |
| Below 580 | Often declined unless other factors are very strong |
Deposit amounts are usually the owner's call, and up to about two times monthly rent is a common market norm. A conditional approval in the gray zone usually leans on that.
Pick your own cutoff, then write it down. We'll get to why in a minute.
Why the Number Alone Misleads
Say two applicants apply for the same home. One has a 680 score, five years of on-time rent payments and income at three times the rent. The other has a 730 score, a thin file and two prior evictions.
We'd take the 680 every time. The score is a snapshot, and the history behind it tells you who pays.
The same goes for two people with identical 680 scores. One has a short, clean file. The other has three accounts in collections and a pattern of 30-day-late payments. Same number, very different risk.
When reading a report, look for:
- Recent lates: A missed payment last year weighs more than one from a long time ago.
- Collections for unpaid rent or utilities: These show how the person treated past housing.
- Patterns, not one-offs: One old bill in collections reads differently than five unpaid accounts.
- Thin files: No negatives and no history means you lean harder on income and rental references.
Write Your Criteria Down Before You Accept Applications
Texas requires this, and it also protects you. Under Texas Property Code § 92.3515, when you hand someone a rental application, you must also make printed tenant selection criteria available. The criteria list the grounds you can deny on, such as credit history, criminal history, rental history, current income, or false or incomplete information on the application.
A few more points from that section:
- Signed acknowledgment: The applicant signs that the criteria were made available. If there's no signature, the law presumes you never gave notice, though you can try to prove otherwise.
- Required wording: The acknowledgment must say the criteria may include credit history and that the application fee won't be refunded if the applicant doesn't meet them.
- Placement: The acknowledgment can sit on the application form if the notice is underlined or in bold.
The 7-Day Clock
Don't sit on applications either. Under § 92.352, if you haven't given notice of acceptance by the 7th day after a completed application, the applicant is treated as rejected. Turning down one co-applicant counts as turning down all of them. A slow decision becomes a decision for you.
Apply the Same Standard Every Time
Say an owner has two Houston rentals. She approves a 610 for one unit and rejects a 615 at the other, because the first was harder to rent. Nobody meant anything by it. But it looks like unequal treatment, and she has no paper trail to say otherwise.
Fair housing exposure is real. In a HUD administrative case, a first violation of the federal Fair Housing Act can bring a civil penalty of up to $26,262 per violation, before legal fees.
A very high cutoff can draw attention too, since credit standards can land harder on some groups than others. The federal rules on that are detailed, so talk to a fair housing attorney before you set a hard line.
Match Your Cutoff to the Season
A large share of Houston households rent, and home rentals in Houston move fastest in spring and summer. When applicants are plentiful, you can hold firm on credit standards. In slower winter months, owners tend to approve more conditional applicants.
Picture a landlord who sets a hard 700 minimum in January. Applicants in the high 600s with clean rental histories and verified income go elsewhere, and the home sits empty for eight weeks. On an $1,800 rental, that's about $3,300 in lost rent.
Is a 695 applicant with a clean history really that much riskier than a 710? Probably not enough to justify that vacancy. A conditional approval with a bigger deposit or a co-signer may cost you far less.
What to Do When You Deny Someone
If a credit report plays a part in your denial, federal law requires a specific adverse action notice to the applicant, and any credit score you used has to be disclosed in writing or electronically. That notice also says the credit reporting company didn't make the decision. You did.
The details of that notice are worth checking against current rules, or letting a manager handle. What you don't want is a denial letter that says "your credit was bad" and nothing more.
One more mistake to skip. Plenty of Houston landlords swap tips on Reddit and through groups like the Houston Apartment Association, and that's fine for a gut check. But a thread can't tell you whether your own paperwork holds up.
How We Screen at ELDA
We started as real estate investors in 2004, and we've been in business 22 years. We manage 209 properties across Houston, Katy, Humble, Pearland, Spring, Clear Lake, Cypress, Richmond, Rosenberg and Sugar Land. Every applicant goes through the same 8-point check:
- Credit history
- Rental history
- Federal background check
- Nationwide eviction database
- State background checks
- Employment verification
- Sex offenders database
- Driver's license record check
We also report delinquencies to the credit bureau. That matters more than owners expect. If a tenant skips out and nobody reports it, they face no credit consequence, and the next landlord never sees the problem.
Consistent screening also helps with vacancy. One owner who found us from out of state described it this way:
We charge 8 to 10 percent of collected rent, and we're 100% bilingual in Spanish and English, so applicants can ask about the criteria in either language. If you're comparing rental home companies in Houston, ask each one to show you their written criteria. If they can't, that tells you plenty.
If screening feels harder than it should, or you have rental property owner questions you'd like answered for free, we're open to a conversation.
FAQ
Does a landlord's credit check lower the applicant's score?
It often shows up as an inquiry, which can lower a score by a small amount for a short time. How much depends on the type of check and the applicant's file.
Is there a minimum credit score to rent in Texas?
No. No Texas statute sets one. Each landlord chooses a standard and must disclose it in the written selection criteria.
Can I deny an applicant for a thin credit file?
Yes, if your written criteria name credit history as a ground for denial and you apply the same rule to everyone. If the credit report played a part, you also owe the applicant the required federal notice.
How long do I have to respond to an application?
Under Texas Property Code § 92.352, an applicant who hasn't received notice of acceptance by the 7th day after turning in a completed application is treated as rejected. Decide before that clock runs out.
Does ELDA report late payments to the credit bureau?
Yes. We report delinquencies, which gives residents a real reason to pay on time and protects the next landlord who screens them.
