At the time an applicant is provided with a rental application, the landlord shall make available to the applicant printed notice of the landlord’s tenant selection criteria and the grounds for which the rental application may be denied, including the applicant’s:
(1)
criminal history;
(2)
previous rental history;
(3)
current income;
(4)
credit history; or
(5)
failure to provide accurate or complete information on the application form.
(b)
If the landlord makes the notice available under Subsection (a), the applicant shall sign an acknowledgment indicating the notice was made available. If the acknowledgment is not signed, there is a rebuttable presumption that the notice was not made available to the applicant.
(c)
The acknowledgment required by Subsection (b) must include a statement substantively equivalent to the following: “Signing this acknowledgment indicates that you have had the opportunity to review the landlord’s tenant selection criteria. The tenant selection criteria may include factors such as criminal history, credit history, current income, and rental history. If you do not meet the selection criteria, or if you provide inaccurate or incomplete information, your application may be rejected and your application fee will not be refunded.”
(d)
The acknowledgment may be part of the rental application if the notice is underlined or in bold print.
(e)
If the landlord rejects an applicant and the landlord has not made the notice required by Subsection (a) available, the landlord shall return the application fee and any application deposit.
(f)
If an applicant requests a landlord to mail a refund of the applicant’s application fee to the applicant, the landlord shall mail the refund check to the applicant at the address furnished by the applicant.Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 917 (H.B. 3101), Sec. 8, eff. January 1, 2008.