The TAR Residential Lease Application, Form TXR-2003, is the standardized tenant-screening document that Texas REALTORS® members use to evaluate renters, and filling it out well comes down to four things: gathering your documents before you start, answering every question truthfully, understanding what your signature authorizes, and knowing your rights around fees, deposits, and denial. The form collects your identity, employment, income, rental history, and background information, then authorizes the landlord to pull your credit report and run a criminal background check. Get those pieces right and the application moves quickly.
Where the Form Comes From
TXR-2003 is not publicly downloadable. The form itself states that use by non-members of the Texas Association of REALTORS® is not authorized, so a licensed real estate agent or property management company will hand you a printed copy, email you a fillable PDF, or send a link through an online leasing portal. If you’re touring a property listed by a REALTOR®, ask the listing agent for the application at the showing so you can look at the fields before you sit down with it.
Every person 18 or older who will live in the unit submits a separate application. Spouses, partners, and adult roommates each need their own copy and their own fee.
What to Gather Before You Start
Having everything in front of you before you touch the form saves time and prevents the small errors that slow approval down. The application asks for more than most people expect.
- Identity details: Full legal name (first, middle, last), any former last names, Social Security Number, driver’s license number and issuing state, date of birth, and basic physical descriptors (height, weight, eye color, hair color).
- Contact information: Home, work, and mobile phone numbers, an email address, and an emergency contact’s name, relationship, address, and phone number.
- Rental history: Addresses of previous residences with landlord names and contact information. Most landlords want at least two to three years, and they will call those references.
- Employment and income: Current employer, your position, start date, and gross monthly income. If you’re self-employed, the form notes that the landlord may require one or more previous years’ tax returns attested by a CPA, attorney, or other tax professional.
- Other occupants: Names, relationships, and ages of everyone else who will live in the unit, including children.
- Pets and vehicles: Whether any animals will be kept on the property and their type, plus vehicle information if the property requires parking permits.
- Supporting documents: Recent pay stubs (typically two months), bank statements, or prior-year tax returns to back up the income you enter.
Landlords commonly look for household income of at least two and a half to three times the monthly rent. If yours falls short, think about a guarantor before you apply rather than after the landlord flags the shortfall.
Filling Out the Form
The top of TXR-2003 identifies the property: address, anticipated move-in date, monthly rent, security deposit amount, and the lease term you’re requesting in months. If the agent hasn’t filled in the rent and deposit, confirm those numbers before you write anything. Entering the wrong rent figure creates confusion during underwriting.
The form also asks whether you’ve viewed the property in person. Answer honestly, because some landlords treat sight-unseen applications differently or require a walkthrough before processing the paperwork.
Background and History Questions
A series of yes-or-no questions near the middle of the form covers your history: whether you’ve ever been evicted, been asked to move out by a landlord, breached a lease, filed for bankruptcy, lost property in foreclosure, been convicted of a crime, or had credit problems such as slow payments or delinquencies. The form also asks whether any occupant is a registered sex offender.
Answer every question. A blank box isn’t “no,” it’s incomplete, and an incomplete application can be rejected outright. If the truthful answer to any question is yes, a brief written explanation attached to the form usually helps more than it hurts. Landlords discover these things during screening anyway, and the explanation shows you’re upfront.
Accuracy Over Speed
Discrepancies between what you write and what the background check reveals are the fastest route to denial. Double-check your Social Security Number, employer spelling, and income figure. If your gross monthly pay varies because of tips, commissions, or overtime, use the average of the last three months and note the variability. Rounding up looks intentional once the landlord compares your application to your pay stubs.
What You Authorize When You Sign
Your signature grants the landlord and the landlord’s agent permission to obtain a copy of your credit report, run a criminal background check on you and any occupant listed on the application, and verify your rental and employment history with anyone who has knowledge of it. The authorization applies before, during, or after any tenancy, which means the landlord can re-check your credit at renewal.
By signing, you also represent that everything on the form is true. Providing false information can result in denial, or termination of the lease if the landlord discovers the misrepresentation after move-in. Under Texas law, a landlord who suffers financial losses because of fraudulent statements on a signed application may pursue a civil claim against the applicant.
Application Fee Versus Application Deposit
Texas law draws a clear line between two payments you might hand over with this form, and confusing them can cost you money.
- Application fee: Nonrefundable, meant to offset screening costs. Texas does not cap the amount, but most fees fall between $15 and $50 per applicant. The fee field on TXR-2003 lets the landlord fill in the exact dollar amount and the name of the entity or individual receiving it.1Texas Law Help. Rental Application Fees
- Application deposit: A separate, refundable sum given to hold the property while the landlord reviews your application. If you’re rejected, the landlord must return it. If you’re accepted and sign a lease, it’s usually applied to your security deposit.2Texas Property Code. Texas Property Code Subchapter I
The form includes checkboxes for whether you will or will not submit an application deposit. Pay attention to which box is checked. You don’t want to hand over a deposit thinking it’s a fee, or the reverse.
The Seven-Day Refund Rule
Under Texas Property Code Section 92.352, you’re considered rejected if the landlord doesn’t notify you of acceptance within seven days of receiving your completed application, or within seven days of accepting a deposit if no application form was provided.2Texas Property Code. Texas Property Code Subchapter I Once rejected, the landlord must refund the application deposit, and if you ask for it to be mailed, the landlord must send it to the address you provided.
A landlord who fails to refund in bad faith faces liability for $100 plus three times the deposit amount, plus your reasonable attorney’s fees.2Texas Property Code. Texas Property Code Subchapter I Under Section 92.3515, if the landlord rejects you without having made required disclosures available, the landlord must return both the application fee and the deposit.3State of Texas. Texas Property Code PROP 92.3515
What Happens After You Submit
Once the landlord has your completed application and fee, screening begins. The property manager or a third-party screening company pulls your credit report, checks for prior evictions, verifies employment and income, and contacts previous landlords. How quickly the review wraps up depends on those third parties. Former landlords who don’t return calls are the most common bottleneck.
The landlord is evaluating several things at once: your credit score, debt-to-income ratio, any evictions or bankruptcies, and what your former landlords say about you. There’s no legally mandated timeline for the decision beyond the seven-day deposit-refund trigger, but most landlords move within a few business days because vacant units cost them money. You’ll hear by phone, email, or letter.
If You’re Denied
When a landlord denies your application based in whole or in part on information in a consumer report, federal law requires an adverse action notice. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681m, that notice must include:4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m
- A clear statement that your application was denied.
- The numerical credit score used, along with the score’s source, date, range, and the key factors that hurt your score, listed in order of importance.
- The name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting agency that supplied the report, plus a statement that the agency did not make the denial decision and cannot tell you why you were denied.
- Notice that you can get a free copy of the report from that agency if you request it within 60 days, and that you can dispute any inaccurate information in it.
The notice can be delivered in writing, electronically, or orally, though written notice is far more common.5Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do if My Rental Application Is Denied Because of a Tenant Screening Report? If you think the denial was based on incorrect information, like a debt that isn’t yours or an eviction you were never party to, request that free copy right away and dispute the error with the reporting agency. Correcting it before applying elsewhere saves you from paying another fee only to be denied again for the same bad data.
Fair Housing Protections During Screening
Landlords using TXR-2003 must still comply with fair housing laws. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability.6U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act Texas mirrors those seven protected classes under Property Code Chapter 301 and does not add state categories.
A few places this matters during the application:
- Families with children: A landlord cannot reject your application because you have kids or because the unit is in an adults-preferred building, unless the property qualifies as housing for older persons under federal law.
- Disability accommodations: If you need a modification to the application process (extra time to gather documents, or permission to keep an assistance animal in a no-pets property), you can request a reasonable accommodation. You don’t need magic words. Make it clear you need an exception because of a disability.
- Criminal history: Blanket policies that reject everyone with any criminal record can create disparate-impact liability under HUD guidance. Landlords are expected to conduct individualized assessments rather than applying automatic disqualifiers.
One boundary worth knowing: Texas law specifically prohibits cities and counties from passing ordinances that prevent landlords from refusing tenants whose income comes from federal housing vouchers, with a narrow exception for military veterans. A Texas landlord can legally decline Housing Choice Voucher holders without violating state law.
If You Need a Guarantor
When your income or credit doesn’t meet the landlord’s threshold alone, a guarantor can strengthen the application. A guarantor agrees to cover your rent and other lease charges if you can’t pay, but doesn’t live in the unit or have any right to occupy it. A co-signer in the traditional sense lives in the apartment and signs the lease alongside you.
Guarantors typically go through their own screening: a separate application, income documentation, and a credit check. Landlords often expect a guarantor’s income to run significantly higher than the standard two-and-a-half-to-three-times-rent requirement for tenants, with strong credit. Line one up before you apply if you know your numbers are borderline.
Your Personal Data After the Application
TXR-2003 collects your Social Security Number, date of birth, driver’s license number, and financial details. The FTC’s Disposal Rule requires anyone who uses a consumer report for a business purpose to take reasonable steps to protect that information when disposing of it: shredding paper copies and destroying electronic files using software tools or physical destruction of the storage media.7Federal Trade Commission. Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business The FTC also advises businesses to collect sensitive data only when there’s a legitimate need and to keep it only as long as necessary.
You can’t control the landlord’s security practices, but you can limit your exposure. Ask whether the property management company uses encrypted portals rather than unencrypted email. If you’re handing over paper, ask how long they retain applications from denied applicants and how they dispose of them. A legitimate operation will have an answer. One that doesn’t is a reason to think twice before handing over your Social Security Number.