The short version
A misdemeanor is generally weighed more lightly than a felony in San Antonio apartment screening, and the lookback window applied to it is usually shorter. That is a factual difference in how properties structure their criteria, not a promise about your application.
As on every background page here, we state policies as properties state them and do not characterize any record as disqualifying or acceptable, the standard set out on our background-issues service page.
Misdemeanor versus felony, in screening terms
| Misdemeanor | Felony | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical lookback | Often 3-7 years | 7+ years, sometimes longer |
| Weight where inside the window | Lighter, severity-dependent | Heavier |
| Class A willingness to proceed | More common | Less common |
| Class B/C case-by-case review | Common | Common for older non-violent |
| Effect of a single old offense | Frequently minimal | Still weighed |
Across the communities we work with, confirmed July 2026. Individual policies vary and change without notice.
What actually moves the outcome
Age. The dominant variable. A misdemeanor from six years ago may fall outside the property’s lookback altogether, which means it does not enter the decision. One from last year is inside it nearly everywhere.
Severity. Management companies commonly distinguish between offense categories rather than treating all misdemeanors alike. Where a property publishes categorical criteria, that distinction is usually written into it.
Frequency. Two or three offenses within a short period read differently from one. Reviewers with discretion look at trajectory, the same way they do with credit.
Disposition. A conviction, a dismissal, a deferred adjudication and a charge that never proceeded do not appear identically on every report, and properties interpret them differently. Deferred adjudication has its own treatment, see deferred adjudication apartments.
Where to look
The same pattern as every screening scenario in this market: older Class B and C communities, where an on-site manager reviews rather than a portfolio rule deciding. Roughly 18% of San Antonio’s stock was built between 1980 and 1989, and that layer holds the discretion.
But misdemeanors are the background category where Class A is most often workable too, particularly for an older minor offense outside a property’s lookback. It is worth asking rather than assuming you are limited to the older stock.
Ask the specific question
“What is your lookback period for misdemeanors, and does it differ from your felony lookback?” That gets a number. “Are you background friendly?” gets a sentence that means nothing.
A common and avoidable mistake
Renters with a single old misdemeanor frequently avoid applying at properties that would not have cared. We see it regularly. Someone who has been renting from individual owners for years, paying above-market rent, because they assumed a seven-year-old minor offense closed the conventional market to them.
Frequently it did not. The lookback had expired, or the offense class was outside what the property considered. The cost of that assumption is measured in years of overpaying.
Confirming a property’s stated lookback takes one phone call. That is the actual value of this page.
What to expect on deposit
Where a misdemeanor is inside a lookback and the property proceeds anyway, an elevated deposit is possible but less common than with credit or rental-history issues. Background tends to be a threshold question rather than a risk-pricing one.
If credit or rental history is also part of your file, that combination will usually drive the deposit more than the record does. Options for offsetting are in guarantees and deposit alternatives.
What we do
We ask each property what its stated misdemeanor lookback and policy are, record the answer with a date, and give you the list of communities whose policy would permit review of a record of your class and age. We need the offense class, the year and the disposition, not the story.
Start here, free. If your record is outside every relevant lookback, we will tell you that you probably do not need us at all.
