Eviction Law, Screening Data, and Housing Access

StopTXEviction.org was built on eviction law. It still is.

Four of Texas’s largest legal aid organizations created the site’s foundation: Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Lone Star Legal Aid, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, and Texas Legal Services Center. That legal grounding shapes every piece of content here, from eviction process guides and tenant rights information to the screening data and approval pathways that drive the placement service.

But legal information alone wasn’t solving the full problem.

Renters facing eviction in Texas had access to guides about court procedures, notice requirements, and tenant rights. What they didn’t have was a clear answer to the question that comes after: where do you live when an eviction is on your record and screening software keeps rejecting your application?

That’s the gap this site exists to close. Legal resources, eviction law content, tenant rights guides. All of that stays. The placement service matches renters to apartment communities based on actual screening criteria, not guesswork.

What’s on This Site

StopTXEviction.org covers both sides of the eviction housing problem: the legal process and the apartment search that follows it.

A legal aid resource guide maps every verified, currently active eviction defense resource across Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth. Free legal representation, law school clinics, bar association programs, court-based services, and remaining rental assistance programs. All updated for the SB 38 procedural changes that took effect January 1, 2026.

On the blog, topics range from Texas eviction law and tenant rights to screening system mechanics. The posts cover the questions renters actually ask: how long an eviction stays on a record, what happens after a court date, whether paying off property debt changes screening results, how the appeal process works under the new rules.

City-specific pages break down eviction-friendly apartment options in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. Each metro also has dedicated broken lease and credit issue guides.

For legal questions about an active eviction case, contact the legal aid organizations that serve Texas renters: Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Lone Star Legal Aid, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, or TexasLawHelp.org for free self-help resources.

What We Do

We place Texas renters whose applications get rejected by automated screening systems because of evictions, broken leases, property debt, or credit problems. That’s our entire focus. Operated by Apartment Access Group, brokered by Spirit Real Estate Group (TX Broker License #562021.

General apartment searches aren’t part of it. Neither are criminal background placements, which involve a different set of screening criteria with different solutions. Staying in one lane is what lets us go deep on the screening intelligence that actually gets people housed.

So what does that depth look like?

Every major management company uses screening software (RealPage, CoreLogic, LexisNexis, AppFolio), and each vendor handles eviction filings differently. Filings versus judgments, dismissed cases versus completed ones, how far back the system looks. Most community websites say one thing about their screening policy. Their software enforces something else. Those two things rarely match, and knowing the difference is what separates a wasted $75 application fee from an approval.

When a renter contacts us, we’re not handing them a list of “second chance apartments” pulled from the internet. We’re matching their specific screening profile to communities where we’ve documented actual approval criteria. Eviction type, age of the case, debt status, credit score, income.

About 95% of renters who come through need a third-party guarantee to get approved. A bonding company guarantees the lease on the renter’s behalf, covering up to several months of lost rent if the renter doesn’t pay. That removes the financial objection communities have to approving someone with an eviction or broken lease on their record. We walk renters through how the guarantee works, what it costs, and how to time it with their application and move-in. It’s not complicated once someone explains the steps, but almost nobody explains the steps.

How the Service Works (It’s Free)

No fees. No hidden costs. The renter doesn’t pay us anything.

After matching a renter to communities with compatible screening criteria, they apply directly with the property. On the application, they select “Apartment Locator” or “Locator Service” and list Spirit Real Estate as the referring source. If approved and moved in, the community pays a referral fee from their existing marketing budget. That’s how the service stays free.

Rent doesn’t increase. Application fees aren’t higher. Deposits and move-in costs are the same whether the renter uses our service or finds the apartment on their own.

We don’t guarantee approval. Screening criteria are set by individual communities and can change. But we match to communities where the documented criteria fit the renter’s profile so they stop wasting money on applications that were never going to work.

Questions? Call 1-877-595-8745 (toll-free, statewide). Weekdays, 9 AM – 5 PM.