Tenant Selection Criteria & Application Process Guide
Thank you for your interest in leasing a home managed by TexasRenters.com. This guide is designed to help applicants better understand our application process, qualification standards, income verification procedures, and next steps during the leasing process.
Our Tenant Selection Criteria outlines the standards used to evaluate all applications, including income, credit history, rental history, criminal background screening, pets/animals, and application procedures.
You may review the full Tenant Selection Criteria here: Tenant Selection Criteria | Texas Renters | Houston, TX
All applicants acknowledge and agree to these criteria during the application process.
No. Submitting an application does not:
Properties remain actively marketed until:
TexasRenters.com may continue accepting and reviewing applications during the process.
Yes. Every person age 18 or older who will occupy the property must:
This requirement applies even if:
No. Application fees are non-refundable once processing and screening have begun, regardless of:
Applicants are required to meet the minimum income-to-rent ratio outlined in the Tenant Selection Criteria. Income requirements are evaluated based on:
VeriFast is a secure third-party verification platform used by TexasRenters.com to electronically verify:
The system helps:
Yes. All applicants agree to complete the VeriFast process.
Yes. VeriFast uses encrypted systems and secure authentication methods designed to protect applicant information. TexasRenters.com does not receive or store your banking login credentials.
Applications may be evaluated based on:
Yes. An increased security deposit may be required due to:
All deposit determinations are made in accordance with the Tenant Selection Criteria.
Applicants denied based on consumer reporting information will receive:
Each applicant receives their own individual notice.
Based on HUD Enforcement Guidance — May 22, 2026. Source: HUD Enforcement Guidance — Assessing Requests for the Use of an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act.
An Emotional Support Animal is an untrained animal that provides comfort or companionship to a person with a mental or emotional condition. Unlike trained service animals, ESAs are not individually trained to perform specific disability-related tasks. The presence and comfort of the animal itself is claimed to provide a therapeutic benefit.
ESAs are not the same as trained service animals — such as guide dogs or seizure-alert dogs — which are individually trained to perform specific tasks directly related to a person's disability.
Yes — significantly. On May 22, 2026, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued new enforcement guidance that permanently rescinds HUD's prior 2013 and 2020 notices on assistance animals. Those earlier notices had declared that ESAs were “not pets” and could not be charged pet fees or deposits.
Under the current guidance, HUD now aligns its standard with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): only animals individually trained to perform disability-related work or tasks qualify for a reasonable accommodation. The provision of “emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship” does not constitute a trained task under this standard.
No. Under current HUD enforcement guidance, a housing provider is not required to waive security deposits for untrained emotional support animals.
HUD will only find “reasonable cause” — and recommend charges — in cases involving animals that have been individually trained to perform work or tasks directly related to a person's disability. Because ESAs are not trained animals, requests to waive security deposits or other fees for ESAs are not presumptively reasonable accommodations under this standard.
A federal court confirmed this position in Henderson v. Five Properties LLC (E.D. La., July 2025), finding that waiving an animal fee for an ESA was neither “reasonable” nor “necessary” under the Fair Housing Act, and that HUD's prior guidance to the contrary was “unpersuasive.”
No. For the same reasons, housing providers are not required to waive monthly pet rent or recurring animal fees for ESAs under current HUD enforcement guidance.
Only trained assistance animals — those that perform specific, disability-related tasks — are presumptively entitled to accommodation. Requests to waive pet rent for an untrained ESA are evaluated case-by-case, and the burden is on the resident to demonstrate that the waiver is both reasonable and necessary to afford them equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling.
Yes. Trained service animals — animals individually trained to perform specific disability-related work or tasks — are treated differently. Housing providers are generally required to accommodate trained service animals as a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act and must waive pet policies for them.
Examples of qualifying trained tasks include:
The key distinction: the animal must be trained to perform a specific task that is directly related to the resident's disability. Untrained emotional support animals, regardless of the benefit their presence may provide, do not meet this standard under current HUD guidance.
Yes. Even for trained service animals, a housing provider may require a resident to pay for any damage the animal causes to the unit or common areas (beyond normal wear and tear), provided the same policy applies to all residents. This applies equally to ESAs.
You should not collect fees specifically conditioned on the denial of an accommodation request while it is still pending. However, because ESA accommodation requests are no longer presumptively entitled to fee waivers, you may apply your standard animal fee policy unless and until you formally grant an accommodation that includes a fee waiver.
Because ESA requests no longer receive the same presumptive treatment as trained service animals, you may conduct a more rigorous review. You may request documentation establishing:
Documentation from online ESA certificate websites is not sufficient to establish a disability or disability-related need. Documentation from a licensed physician, psychiatrist, social worker, or mental health professional is appropriate.
Yes. The Fair Housing Act gives individuals the right to file a private civil lawsuit in federal or state court within two years of an alleged discriminatory housing practice, regardless of HUD's enforcement posture. HUD's current guidance does not eliminate that private right of action.
This means that even though HUD is unlikely to find reasonable cause in most untrained ESA cases, individual residents may still bring lawsuits. Courts will evaluate claims on a case-by-case basis, applying the “reasonable” and “necessary” standards under the Fair Housing Act. Housing providers should document their decision-making process and consult legal counsel when handling accommodation requests.
Full text of HUD's May 22, 2026 enforcement memorandum: HUD Enforcement Guidance — Assessing Requests for the Use of an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act (May 22, 2026).
Once approved:
Deposits are generally required within the timeframe stated in the approval communication, often within 12 business hours after lease issuance.
Failure to submit deposits on time may result in:
Yes. Applicants must obtain renters insurance before move-in and maintain coverage throughout the lease term.
The policy must list TexasRenters.com, LLC and the property owner listed in the lease as “Additional Interest.”
TexasRenters.com Applications Team
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