Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

What can be done to make it easier for someone with a felony record rent a home? Many apartments and property owners automatically reject anyone who has been convited of a felony or ask on the application if one has ever been convicted of a felony and there is no way to know if that landlord will just collect the application fee and deny the application or actually consider it. This person served his time and got out on parole; does that make him ineligible to seal the record, do a non-disclosure or have it expunged? If not, considering this occurred approximately 7-8 years ago and he has turned his life around, changed his frame of mind (grown up) and not gotten into any trouble short of a recent speeding ticket, is there a certain time frame that most rental property owners typically don't look beyond? Both felonies are non-violent (unless a spray paint can for graffitti is an assault weapon) and occured almost back to back.


Asked on 4/11/13, 10:30 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Cynthia Henley Cynthia Henley, Lawyer

Rent from an individual. That is what most people with backgrounds must do. Also, if the company uses an outside company to run background checks, the outside company, by law, cannot go back more than 7 years.

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Answered on 4/27/13, 12:12 pm


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