# Apartments That Accept Felons San Antonio | Free Locator > Apartments that accept felons in San Antonio - which properties review older records case-by-case, what to expect, and how we match your file for free. URL: https://sanantonioapartmentlocators.com/background-issues/ ![A Class B San Antonio apartment community of the kind that reviews background records case-by-case](/images/hero/san-antonio-class-b-apartment-building-exterior-pa.webp) # San Antonio Apartments That Accept Felons - What to Know Last updated: August 1, 2026 Criminal history, handled with the most care of the three hubs. Property policies stated factually, never framed as automatically disqualifying or acceptable. - ▪ How offense age and class change the outcome - ▪ Which property classes review older non-violent records case-by-case - ▪ Deposit and guarantee expectations Get Started, Free [/get-started/ →](/get-started/) Call 210-468-7667 [tel:+12104687667 →](tel:+12104687667) - Free to renters Community pays the referral fee - TREC #9003398 Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC - NAAL member National Association of Apartment Locators - Same-Day Response During posted business hours ## How Background Screening Works for San Antonio Renters San Antonio Apartment Locators handles criminal history differently from credit or rental history searches. We record each property’s criminal background check policy in their words, with a date. We do not characterize any record as automatically disqualifying, and we do not tell anyone their record will be fine. Both of those are claims nobody should be making to a renter looking for apartments with a felony on file. What we can do is useful and specific: tell you what lookback a property runs, how it categorizes offense classes, whether it reviews case-by-case, and what deposit posture to expect. That is knowable information, and having it before you spend a $50 to $75 non-refundable application fee (2026 rates) is the entire point. ## What Moves the Outcome? Two things, consistently: **the age of the offense and its class.** Most San Antonio apartments run a seven-year or longer felony lookback as part of their criminal background check. Class A and luxury communities tend toward the strictest end of that. Class B and C apartments - the older garden-style stock common in areas like the Northeast side, Leon Valley, and the Southwest - where an on-site manager still reviews files by hand, are more likely to consider an older non-violent, non-drug conviction on its facts. Misdemeanor lookbacks are commonly shorter, and an older minor misdemeanor is frequently a non-event at apartments that would decline on a recent felony. Recency compounds. A single conviction from eight years ago with nothing since reads differently from two in the last three years, and properties that permit review will weigh that. ## Why Does the Legal Context Matter? Because it shapes how properties write their policies. HUD’s 2016 guidance made blanket criminal-record exclusions a disparate-impact exposure under the Fair Housing Act, which pushed a meaningful number of management companies toward individualized assessment rather than a flat ban. That does not mean every property reviews every record, plenty still run strict policies, but it is why “case-by-case review” appears in screening criteria far more often than it did a decade ago. We are locators, not attorneys, and nothing here is legal advice. The Fair Credit Reporting Act also governs how screening vendors report and how properties may use the information. Knowing that the legal landscape moved is why we ask each apartment community what its policy actually is rather than assuming the answer from its class. ## Which Apartments Accept Felons by Record Type? **Older non-violent felony.** The most workable felony scenario. Class B and C communities with case-by-case review are where we start. Detail is on felony-friendly apartments [/guide/felony-friendly-apartments-san-antonio/ →](/guide/felony-friendly-apartments-san-antonio/) . **Misdemeanor.** Weighed more lightly than a felony almost everywhere, with age and severity driving the rest. Covered in misdemeanor apartments [/guide/misdemeanor-apartments-san-antonio/ →](/guide/misdemeanor-apartments-san-antonio/) . **DWI or DUI.** Categorization is the whole question. How the charge is classified on the report determines how the property weighs it. See DWI / DUI apartments [/guide/dwi-dui-apartments-san-antonio/ →](/guide/dwi-dui-apartments-san-antonio/) . **Deferred adjudication.** Appears differently depending on the screening vendor, and properties interpret it inconsistently. See deferred adjudication apartments [/guide/deferred-adjudication-apartments-san-antonio/ →](/guide/deferred-adjudication-apartments-san-antonio/) . ## What to Expect From Our Locating Team We will ask for the offense class, the year, and the disposition - the three facts a leasing office will see. We do not need the narrative and we will not ask for it. We match your record against stated policies we have confirmed with dates, and come back with apartments whose policy would permit review, plus an honest read on how thin the list is. If your combination of record and target rent band is genuinely difficult right now, we will say that plainly rather than sending you to be declined. Sometimes the practical answer is a different rent band, a guarantee to offset an accompanying credit issue, or waiting for a disposition to land. That honesty is the same standard our San Antonio Apartment Locators [/ →](/) team holds across every search - whether the renter is in Medical Center, Southside, or Stone Oak - dated policy over reassurance. ![Background screening application on a San Antonio leasing office desk](/images/content/leasing-office-desk-with-an-open-application-packe.webp) Background screening application on a San Antonio leasing office desk ## What's included - ▪ How offense age and class change the outcome - ▪ Which property classes review older non-violent records case-by-case - ▪ Deposit and guarantee expectations - ▪ Factual policy statements only, no disqualification promises either way ### How San Antonio properties structure background review Policies as properties state them. We do not characterize any record as automatically disqualifying or acceptable. That is the property's decision and, in some circumstances, a legal question. | Record type | Typical lookback | Where flexibility is more common | Deposit posture | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Felony, violent offense | 7+ years, sometimes longer | Limited across all classes | Highest, or declined | | Felony, non-violent, older | 7+ years | Class B and C, case-by-case | Elevated to high | | Misdemeanor, older/minor | 3-7 years typical | Broad, including some Class A | Standard to elevated | | DWI / DUI | Depends on charge level | Varies with recency and frequency | Standard to elevated | | Deferred adjudication | Varies by screening vendor | Class B and C, case-by-case | Standard to elevated | | Pending charges | Current | Very limited until resolved | Usually declined pending | San Antonio Screening & Cost Index, across the communities we work with. Confirmed July 2026. Policies are set by each property and change without notice. Why us for this ## Why renters bring this to us ### Factual, in both directions We never tell you a record disqualifies you automatically, and we never tell you it will be fine. Both are claims nobody in this position should make. ### We ask, rather than assume Background policy varies more between management companies than between property classes. The only reliable method is asking and recording the answer with a date. ### Age and class do the work An older non-violent conviction and a recent one are different applications. So are a misdemeanor and a felony. The variables that move are knowable. ### No fee for a difficult search Free to you regardless of how long the search takes or whether it succeeds. The community pays the referral fee, and only when a lease is signed. ### Discretion by default We collect the minimum needed to match you against stated policy. Nothing goes to a property until you tell us to send it. ### We know the wider legal frame HUD's 2016 guidance means blanket criminal-record exclusions carry disparate-impact exposure. We are not lawyers, but knowing that context shapes how we ask the question. How it works ## How background searches run 1. 1 ### Give us the categorization, not the narrative Offense class, the year, and the disposition. Those three facts determine which properties can review the file. We do not need the story. 2. 2 ### We check stated policy, not assumption We ask leasing offices what their published policy is, in their words, and record it with a date. Assumptions about who accepts what are wrong more often than they are right. 3. 3 ### You get a factual shortlist Properties whose stated policy would permit review of a record of that class and age, with the deposit posture each is likely to take. 4. 4 ### We set expectations honestly Including when the answer in your target rent band is thin. We will not send you a list of properties that were never going to review the file. What the stock looks like ## The San Antonio inventory this search covers Representative San Antonio apartment stock across the classes that come up in this category, not a portfolio of properties we own or represent. ## Want to know which properties will review your background file? We check it against current standards first, so your application fee goes somewhere it has a chance. 210-468-7667 [tel:+12104687667 →](tel:+12104687667) Get Started [/get-started/ →](/get-started/) Go deeper ## Guides in this cluster ### Deferred Adjudication Apartments in San Antonio What deferred adjudication looks like on a background report in San Antonio, how properties interpret it, which classes are flexible, and deposit expectations. Read the guide [Deferred Adjudication Apartments in San Antonio →](/guide/deferred-adjudication-apartments-san-antonio/) ### DWI / DUI Apartments in San Antonio How a DWI or DUI is categorized on a background check in San Antonio, the age and frequency factors that matter, which classes review, and deposit expectations. Read the guide [DWI / DUI Apartments in San Antonio →](/guide/dwi-dui-apartments-san-antonio/) ### Felony-Friendly Apartments in San Antonio How felony records are evaluated in San Antonio and where flexibility exists: offense age and class, which classes review case-by-case. Policies stated factually, never as disqualifying. Read the guide [Felony-Friendly Apartments in San Antonio →](/guide/felony-friendly-apartments-san-antonio/) ### Misdemeanor Apartments in San Antonio How misdemeanors are weighed differently from felonies in San Antonio screening: age and severity thresholds, which classes stay open, and deposit expectations. Read the guide [Misdemeanor Apartments in San Antonio →](/guide/misdemeanor-apartments-san-antonio/) In their words ## What renters say about background searches We publish reviews only from this brand's own Google Business Profile, with written permission. The examples below are illustrative of the work and are labelled as such until verified reviews replace them. > "Nobody else would even talk to me about it. They asked two questions, told me which classes were realistic, and did not pretend it would be easy." Renter (example) Southwest San Antonio > "An old misdemeanor I assumed was a dealbreaker turned out not to be at most of the places I was looking at. I had been avoiding applying for no reason." Renter (example) Northeast San Antonio > "They were straight that my rent range was going to be limited and told me what would open it up. That was more useful than a list I could not use." Renter (example) Leon Valley Straight answers ## Background Issues: your questions Do San Antonio apartments run criminal background checks? Effectively all conventional communities do, as part of the same screening package that pulls credit and rental history. The vendor varies, RealPage, CoreLogic, SafeRent and TransUnion products are all common, and each returns records slightly differently, which is one reason the same applicant can get different outcomes at different properties. How far back do properties look? Most run a seven-year felony lookback and some go further. Misdemeanor lookbacks are often shorter, commonly three to seven years. There is no statewide standard for what a private property may consider, so the lookback is set by each management company and stated in its screening criteria. Is a felony an automatic decline? We do not characterize any record as automatically disqualifying, because that is not accurate and it is not our call. What we can say factually is that Class A and luxury communities generally run the strictest policies, and Class B and C communities are more likely to review an older non-violent, non-drug conviction case-by-case. Offense age and class are the variables that move. How is deferred adjudication treated? It depends on the screening vendor and the property. Deferred adjudication can still appear on a background report, and properties interpret it differently. Some weigh it more leniently than a conviction, others treat the underlying charge as the relevant fact. Because interpretation varies, we ask the specific property rather than generalizing. Does a DWI count as a misdemeanor or a felony? It depends on the charge level, and that categorization is what drives how a property weighs it. A single older offense generally weighs less than multiple or recent ones. We work from how the record is categorized on the report, since that is what the leasing office sees. Will a larger deposit help? Sometimes, at properties with discretion to take it. Background policy is more often a threshold question than a risk-pricing question, though, so a deposit lever works less reliably here than it does on the credit side. Where a property will consider it, we will tell you the number before you apply. What about pending charges? Most properties will not complete a review while charges are pending, and will ask you to reapply after disposition. That is worth knowing before you spend an application fee, because the outcome is usually predictable. How do I find apartments that accept felons in San Antonio? We do not publish a list of specific apartment names because screening policies change without notice. Instead, we verify each property's current criminal background check policy by calling the leasing office and recording the answer with a date. Tell us the offense class, the year, and the disposition, and we match against confirmed policies to build a shortlist of apartments where your file would be reviewed. Where can I read about record clearing? Expungement and orders of nondisclosure in Texas are legal processes with specific eligibility rules, and they are outside what a locator should be advising on. Talk to a qualified attorney. What we can tell you is how properties treat a record as it currently appears on a screening report. Question not answered here? Send it over with your file details and we will answer it against current property standards, not a general rule of thumb. Get Started, Free [/get-started/ →](/get-started/) ![Marlene Quade](/images/avatars/marlene-quade.webp) Written by Marlene Quade [/about/marlene-quade/ →](/about/marlene-quade/) Lead Agent & Author Lead agent and author at San Antonio Apartment Locators, specializing in second-chance and complicated-file placements across Bexar County. Licensed Texas Real Estate Agent (Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC, TREC #9003398) ## Related services ### Credit Issues The credit file itself. Score, thin file, derogatory marks, and income qualification, matched to properties that will review it. Read more [Credit Issues →](/credit-issues/) ### Rental History What a prior landlord reported, broken leases, evictions, and property debt. The highest-intent of the three screening hubs. Read more [Rental History →](/rental-history/) ![](/images/hero/san-antonio-wrap-apartment-building-courtyard-with.webp) Free pre-qualification, no application fee gamble ## Ready to see where your file gets reviewed? Free pre-qualification for background issues in San Antonio. No cost to you at any stage. Get Started, Free [/get-started/ →](/get-started/) Call 210-468-7667 [tel:+12104687667 →](tel:+12104687667) - Free to you. The community pays the referral fee - Licensed under Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC - No approval promises, no undated numbers