Apartment Risk Fees With an Eviction, Plus Extra Deposits

Many Texas properties charge an apartment risk fee with an eviction on your record, and often a double deposit too. It’s how they cover what they see as extra risk. We go over these numbers with clients all the time. Knowing when they’re charged, what they run, and how to bring them down can keep real money in your pocket.

For a rough starting point, try our free eviction approval readiness estimator. Its results are estimates, not a property approval decision or a quote for move-in costs.

What each fee actually is

Risk fee: a nonrefundable one time fee some properties charge at move in when they see an application as higher risk. In our placements, risk fees usually run $150 to $500, and a few Class A properties ask more. Sometimes it’s spread out as a rent bump ($25 to $50 a month for 12 months). You never see this money back.

Double security deposit: a refundable deposit of 2x the standard amount. Standard deposits vary a lot in Texas: some properties keep them under $200, and others ask a lot more (HelloData’s 2025 Texas fee data). Our examples use a $1,500 rent and a one month deposit, so a double deposit is $3,000 instead of $1,500. You get it back when you move out, minus damage and anything else your lease lets them charge.

Both: some properties charge a risk fee and a double deposit on top of it. Others charge one or the other. A few will swap the extra deposit for an approval program like OneApp.

When properties charge risk fees

Here’s the pattern we see. Almost always when there’s:

• An eviction under 3 years old
• Any unpaid balance
• Credit under 600
• Past denials in the property’s system
• A new job (under 6 months)

Sometimes when there’s:

• An eviction 3 to 5 years old
• A dismissed eviction with a balance
• Credit from 600 to 650

Rarely when there’s:

• An eviction 5+ years old with a paid balance and a clean history since then
• Strong income (4x+ rent) that makes up for other problems
• An approval program like OneApp backing the application

What risk fees run at each property tier

Here’s the range by tier in our placements:

• Independent owners: $150 to $300 is typical, and it’s often negotiable
• Class B mid market: $200 to $400, sometimes lower with an approval program
• Class A luxury (the ones that accept evictions): $400 to $500 or more, rarely negotiated
• Older evictions (5+ years) at Class A: $0 to $200, often waived

How big the deposit gets at each property tier

From what we see, deposits follow the same pattern, with Class A asking for the most:

• Independent owners: 1.5x to 2x the standard deposit is typical
• Class B mid market: 1.5x to 2x with a paid balance, 2x with an unpaid one
• Class A: 2x to 3x the standard deposit, when they accept you at all
• With an approval program: often back down to the standard 1x

When both are charged

Some properties stack the two. Take a $1,500 a month unit. Average rents in our cities run about $1,260 to $1,650 a month (RentCafe, September 2026).

• Standard deposit (one month’s rent in this example, and yours may be lower): $1,500
• Extra for the double deposit: +$1,500 (refundable)
• Risk fee: $400 (nonrefundable)
• Extra over a standard renter: $1,900

That’s cash out the door before you even count first month’s rent, the admin fee, and application fees.

How to reduce risk fees and double deposits

Pay the balance first. From what we see, nothing else you can do moves the numbers as much. Some properties lower the risk fee or the deposit once the balance is paid. If the debt is old or the amount looks wrong, talk to legal aid before you pay or sign anything. TexasLawHelp.org can point you to the group that serves your county.

Use an approval program. OneApp or Liberty Rent can sometimes replace the risk fee or lower the deposit too. OneApp charges one flat fee if you’re approved: one month’s base rent for a standard lease of about a year, and more for longer leases.

Liberty Rent charges a $35 application fee (refunded if you’re not approved), then a one time fee that’s usually one month’s rent. At properties that use its PrecisePrice, that fee runs 50% to 125% of one month’s rent. Either way, it’s often less than the deposit plus risk fee it replaces.

Use a deposit alternative. Greenlight Rent (formerly Rhino) and similar products replace the cash deposit. In our $1,500 example, that takes the $1,500 to $3,000 deposit out of your upfront cash, and you pay them a fee instead. Greenlight doesn’t publish its prices. Jetty lists only a starting price and sets the rest by the coverage amount and your credit score, so get a quote from either one.

Show your savings. Six or more months of rent sitting in your bank statements can sometimes get the deposit lowered.

Ask anyway. Some independent owners will waive or cut fees for applicants with strong paperwork. Asking costs you nothing.

Prepay rent. Some properties will lower the deposit if you pay an extra month of rent upfront. Is that a good trade? Not always, so look at each offer on its own.

What’s actually negotiable

• Usually negotiable: the risk fee amount, how big the deposit is, and whether they’ll take a deposit alternative
• Sometimes negotiable: whether you need a guarantor or approval program, and the prepaid rent option
• Rarely negotiable: skipping the risk fee entirely at a property that charges one, plus application fees and admin fees
• Never negotiable: the property’s written screening criteria and income requirements

What it adds up to: an example

Using the same $1,500 a month example, over the first year of the lease:

Standard renter:

• Deposit: $1,500 (refundable)
• Rent × 12: $18,000
• Total year 1: $19,500 (with $1,500 refundable)

Renter with an eviction, cash deposit + risk fee:

• Deposit: $3,000 (refundable)
• Risk fee: $400 (nonrefundable)
• Rent × 12: $18,000
• Total year 1: $21,400 (with $3,000 refundable)

Renter with an eviction, deposit alternative + no risk fee (covered by an approval program), using example prices:

• Deposit: $0 cash (deposit alternative, example $30/month)
• Deposit alternative year 1: $360
• Approval program fee: $1,500 (one time, about one month’s rent)
• Rent × 12: $18,000
• Total year 1: $19,860 (nothing refundable)

On paper, going with the approval program and a deposit alternative costs about $360 more than the standard renter pays in year one. The standard renter gets $1,500 back at move out, too. Next to the cash deposit route, it takes far less cash up front: you skip the $3,000 deposit and the $400 risk fee.

What to plan for

From what we see, risk fees and double deposits come with renting after an eviction, so expect them at most of the properties that will take you. Used the right way, approval programs and deposit alternatives can lower the cash you need up front.

If you’d like a short list of properties that may fit your numbers, fill out the form on our home page and we’ll send you one.