The short answer
Almost no Texas apartment skips the credit check. The places people call no credit check apartments usually take lower scores, or approve with conditions like a risk fee or a guarantor company. Our part is free: we point you to communities without a hard credit minimum, and each property still runs its own screening.
We’re the No Credit Check Apartment Team, a licensed real estate team brokered by Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC (TREC #562021). Between us we have more than 20 years in real estate, working with property managers across Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. We point renters with credit, eviction and record problems to communities whose criteria may fit them, and each property makes its own rental decision.
What that means for you
A hard cutoff community denies anything below its minimum score. A community with conditional approval looks at your whole file and may approve a lower score with conditions attached.
Those conditions are usually a risk fee (often a few hundred dollars for credit issues) or a guarantor company that backs your lease.
Communities without a hard credit minimum are usually the ones worth your application fee. Those are the ones we keep track of.
How Texas communities handle it
Texas property managers screen through a handful of companies, including TransUnion SmartMove, RealPage LeasingDesk, and AppFolio. Some check rent payment data from Experian RentBureau, and old apartment balances often show up through collection agencies like NCAC. Each one pulls up different information, and each management company reads it differently.
A denied application usually costs $50 to $75, and those fees stack up fast when you apply without knowing how a property screens.
For the basics, start at our homepage or the related guides below.
What to do next
Don't know where to apply, or tired of paying fees just to get turned down? Don’t guess. Send us your situation and we’ll point you to Texas communities worth a look. It’s free to you; communities pay our referral fee out of their advertising budgets.
Related reading: bad credit · guarantor and cosigner help