When you apply to rent a residence, some landlords charge a
nonrefundable application fee to pay for the costs or screening a rental
application. They may also ask for an application deposit, which is
refundable to you if you are rejected as a tenant. Typically, if you are
accepted as a tenant, your application will provide that your
application deposit is converted in all or part into your security
deposit.
When you are provided with a rental application, the landlord must make
available to you a written notice of the selection criteria that will be
used to determine if your application will be accepted or denied. The
notice must state that if you do not meet the selection criteria or
provide incomplete information, your application may be rejected and
your application fee will not be refunded. These selection criteria may
include criminal history, previous rental history, current income,
credit history, or failure to complete the information on the
application.
If a landlord does not give you any notice of the acceptance of your
application, your application is considered rejected after seven days
from the date you submit a complete rental application. If the landlord
does not give you a rental application, and the landlord does not give
you notice of acceptance of your application, then your application is
deemed rejected seven days after the landlord accepts your application
deposit. If the landlord rejects your application but did not give you
notice of the selection criteria, the landlord must return your
application fee and any application deposit. The landlord must mail you
a refund check at the address you provide.
If a landlord acts in bad faith by failing to refund your application
fee or deposit, the landlord may be liable for $100, three times the
amount wrongfully retained, plus your reasonable attorneys fee.
Last Reviewed On: 07/08/10
Information Not Legal Advice. This web site has been
prepared for general information purposes only. The information on this
web site is not legal advice. Legal advice involves the application of
legal knowledge and skills by a licensed attorney to your specific
circumstances.
Also, court rules vary from county to county as well as from state to
state, so some information on this web site may not be correct for where
you live. Laws also change frequently so the information contained in
this web site is not guaranteed to be up to date.
Therefore, the information contained in this web site cannot replace the
advice of a competent attorney licensed in your state.
Lawyer Advertising. In some jurisdictions this web site
may be considered lawyer advertising. The hiring of a lawyer is an
important decision that should not be based solely upon advertisements.
Any listing of an attorney does not constitute a recommendation of the
attorney. Before hiring any attorney, you should investigate the
attorney's reputation and qualifications.
Links. This web site contains links to other resources on the
Internet. Those links are provided as citations and aids to help you
identify and locate other Internet resources that may be of interest,
and are not intended to state or imply that we sponsor or are affiliated
or associated with the persons or entities who created such site, nor
are the links intended to state or imply that we are legally authorized
to use any trade name, registered trademark, logo, legal or official
seal, or copyrighted symbol that may be reflected in the links.
E-mail. Viewing this Web site , or transmitting an
e-mail message through this Web site, does not create an attorney-client
relationship. Sending e-mail to an attorney mentioned in this site does
NOT create an attorney-client relationship between you and the attorney.
Unless you are already a client of the attorney, your e-mail may NOT be
protected by the attorney-client privilege. Moreover, unless it is
encrypted, e-mail can be intercepted by persons other than the
recipient. Deadlines are extremely important in most legal matters. You
may lose important legal rights if you do not hire an attorney
immediately to advise you. Many people do not check their e-mail daily,
and some attorneys do not respond to unsolicited e-mail from non-clients.
If you are in need of legal assistance and you are not low-income, please contact your local lawyer referral service or call the State Bar of Texas Lawyer Referral Information Service, Mon.-Fri. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-800-252-9690 or 1-877-9TEXBAR.
The Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to open some documents on this site. (If you have questions about screen reader ability to access PDFs, please visit the Adobe Accessibility Page or the Adobe Acessibility Blog for more information.)
