Why Austin’s rental market is harder with an eviction
Our team has 5+ combined years of helping renters with evictions find Austin area apartments. It’s free to you since the properties pay us.
Austin has plenty of empty apartments right now. Most of them are the wrong kind for a renter with an eviction. What got built in the recent boom was mostly Class A luxury, and we’ve seen very few new garden style complexes or walk up apartments go up. Those midrange places? They’re the ones most willing to work with you.
Then there’s screening. From what we see, most Austin properties run it automatically through companies like SafeRent Solutions, RealPage, or TransUnion SmartMove. And Travis County justice of the peace court filings stay public. Texas has no law for clearing an eviction record, and judges rarely seal one. It’s easy to feel stuck.
You’re not. You have real options here: Round Rock, Pflugerville, and the South Austin corridors. There’s a small, steady group of independent owners in central Austin who read your full rental history instead of trusting an automated flag. The trick is knowing where they are and which properties are open to evictions right now. Then you have to act fast when a unit opens up.
Neighborhoods where renters with evictions have better odds
Round Rock
Round Rock is where our Austin clients with evictions get approved most often. Independent owners around Old Settlers Park and along University Blvd often approve older evictions with a paid balance. Newer buildings near Kalahari and the Dell campus are stricter, but they can still work if you bring strong proof of income.
Pflugerville
Pflugerville (especially around Stone Hill) and nearby Wells Branch have lots of midrange properties that make their own call. If your eviction is recent but you earn three times the rent, this is often your best fit.
South Austin (Slaughter to William Cannon)
South Austin between William Cannon and Slaughter has garden style properties that look at every file one at a time. Over in East Riverside, some newer properties may consider older evictions. A strong current job helps.
East Austin (past 183)
Independently owned properties past 183 in East Austin do their own screening instead of leaning on software like Yardi’s ScreeningWorks Pro. We see renters with older filings and paid balances get approved here a lot.
Kyle, Buda and Manor
The commute is real. But your odds with an eviction are much better in Kyle and Buda, south on I-35, and in Manor, east on US 290. Parts of Cedar Park, northwest on US 183, can work for older evictions too. Newer Class B properties out here are often willing to work with a guarantor service like OneApp or a deposit alternative.
What to expect from screening in central Austin
For a renter with a recent eviction, Class A towers are some of the toughest places in Texas. Think downtown, Rainey Street, and up around the Domain. Many of the ones we deal with use SafeRent Solutions with automatic denial rules. With a filing that’s paid or dismissed and older than 3 years, plus income of four times the rent, you can sometimes land there with a guarantor. That’s the exception, not the rule.
If your budget and eviction status point you to Round Rock or Pflugerville instead, we’ll tell you. A lease in the suburbs beats three months of denied applications in central Austin.
How the big management companies handle evictions
Here’s what we see from the management companies you’ll run into most in Austin:
- Greystar: each property sets its own policy, usually strict but it varies
- MAA: usually wants the balance paid and the eviction at least 2 years old
- Cortland: often screens through SafeRent and tends to be strict. In our placements, the filing usually needs to be at least 5 years old
- Presidium: a Texas company with several Austin properties. Some of them look at files one by one
- NRP Group: new construction in Austin, and as strict as most luxury buildings
- Willow Bridge (formerly Lincoln Property Company’s residential division): a mix of property types. Some of its Austin properties read each application themselves
- Independent owners: where many of our clients get approved
Tenant resources and legal aid in Austin
BASTA (Building and Strengthening Tenant Action) (opens in new tab) is an Austin tenant organizing group that helps renters set up tenant associations. Sometimes you need legal help more than an apartment. Maybe you’re facing a writ of possession (the court’s final order to move out), a wrongful eviction, or a landlord holding your deposit. In those cases, call the Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) hotline (opens in new tab) at 956-996-8752 first.
Moving out past the metro? TexasLawHelp.org lets you look up legal aid groups by county. And you can dispute wrong eviction records on your screening report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Have questions about SB 38 (the Texas eviction law changes that took effect January 1, 2026)? Our SB 38 explainer covers what changed.
How much does it cost to move in with an eviction?
Average rents run about $1,417 a month in Round Rock and $1,491 in Pflugerville (RentCafe, September 2026). Here’s an example budget for a $1,600 a month apartment there with a recent eviction:
- Application fee: usually $50 to $85 per adult
- Risk fee: usually $150 to $500 in our placements
- Security deposit: one to one and a half months of rent, so $1,600 to $2,400
- First month’s rent and admin fee: $1,600 plus $150
- Guarantor (if you use one): about one month’s rent ($1,600)
For one adult, that adds up to $3,550 to $6,335 all in. With a paid balance or a dismissed filing, you may not owe the risk fee or the bigger deposit, so your total often comes in well under that.
How our Austin search works
- You answer two minutes of questions: where you want to live, your eviction status, your income
- We usually look at your answers the same day and pick out Austin properties that may consider your file
- You get a short list, usually in 24 to 48 hours on weekdays
- We help you prep the letter of explanation and proof of income before you tour
When the right Austin unit opens up, you may only have a few days to act. We help you get ready ahead of time. Fill out the form above, and our team will usually reply the same day.
