Guide
What Is Conditional Approval for an Apartment, and How Long Does It Take?
What a conditional approval means when you have an eviction, how long you usually get, and how to meet the conditions fast.
In this guide
For our clients with evictions, conditional approval on an apartment is one of the most common answers, and one of the most misunderstood. It’s not a denial, and it’s not a full approval either. Think of it as the property saying “yes, if you do a few more things.” How fast you handle it can decide whether you sign a lease or lose the unit.
What conditional approval means
Someone at the property has looked at your application and decided they’re willing to rent to you, but they want some extra protection. These are the conditions we see most:
- Deposit increase: 1.5 or 2 times the standard deposit
- Risk fee added: $150 to $500, nonrefundable
- Guarantor required: an approval program like OneApp or Liberty Rent, or a cosigner they approve
- Deposit alternative required: signing up with Greenlight Rent (formerly Rhino) or Jetty
- Prepaid rent: 2 to 3 months paid up front
- Extra paperwork: more paystubs, bank statements, or landlord references
- Income verification: a call to your employer, a tax return, or a CPA letter
Some properties stack several of these. Read the letter line by line.
How to read a conditional approval letter
Most conditional approval letters have:
- The approval statement (“You have been conditionally approved for [unit]”)
- The list of conditions (numbered)
- The deadline (usually 3 to 7 days)
- Who to call with questions
- What happens if you don’t meet the conditions (usually the approval expires and the unit goes to the next applicant)
How to meet the most common conditions
If they ask for a bigger deposit
Standard deposits vary a lot in Texas. Some properties ask for under $200, and others ask a lot more (HelloData’s 2025 Texas fee data). Say the standard deposit is $500 and the condition is “double deposit” ($1,000):
- Have the extra $500 ready before you apply
- Or ask if they’ll take Greenlight Rent or Jetty instead
- Or ask for a smaller increase (from what we see, some properties will take 1.5 times instead of double if you have a guarantor)
How long it takes: the same day, if you have the cash ready.
If they ask for a guarantor
If the condition is “OneApp or Liberty Rent required”:
- Ask the leasing office to send the referral right away (OneApp says its decision is instant)
- Have your income paperwork ready to send
- Once you’re approved, pay the program fee and check that the property got the approval
How long it takes: usually 2 to 3 days in our placements.
If they ask for more income paperwork
If the condition is “provide 2 additional paystubs and 3 months of bank statements”:
- Send them within 24 hours
- Put them all in one PDF so it’s easy for them to read
- Check that the leasing office got them
How long it takes: usually the same day, if your documents are ready.
If they ask for prepaid rent
If the condition is “prepay 2 months rent”:
- Have the cash ready before you agree
- Confirm the prepaid rent applies to months 1 and 2 (not months 11 and 12)
- Get in writing how they’ll credit the prepaid rent
How long it takes: no wait. You pay at lease signing.
How long you get to meet the conditions
From what we see, most properties give you 3 to 7 days to meet conditions. In busy months, like summer in Austin and Dallas, that can shrink to 24 to 48 hours.
Our advice: reply within 4 hours, say you got the letter, and tell them when you’ll have everything done. That shows you’re serious, and from what we’ve seen it often buys you a little extra time.
What to do as soon as you get the letter
- Read the letter twice so you understand every condition
- Ask questions right away if anything is unclear
- Confirm the deadline in writing with the leasing office
- Work on every condition at once, not one after another
- Keep them posted with an update every 24 hours
Which conditions are negotiable
Sometimes negotiable:
- Exact deposit amount (double or 1.5 times)
- How many months of prepaid rent (2 or 3)
- Which approval program you use (OneApp or Liberty Rent)
- More time (3 days or 5)
Rarely negotiable:
- Whether there are conditions at all
- Getting the risk fee waived at properties that require it
- Swapping one condition for a completely different one
Never negotiable:
- The property’s written income requirements
- Fair Housing rules (a property can’t set conditions based on race, religion, disability, having kids, or anything else the law protects)
When you can’t meet all the conditions
You’ve still got options when you can’t check every box:
- Offer to meet part of it (“I can do a 1.5x deposit with an approval program behind me”)
- Offer a swap (an approval program instead of prepaid rent)
- Walk away and apply somewhere else
Don’t fake anything. They check.
How often it turns into a lease
In our placements, renters who respond within 24 hours and meet every condition usually end up signing the lease. Renters who wait 4 to 7 days to respond lose the unit a lot more often. By then, the property has often given it to someone else.
After you sign
Once you sign, the conditions from a conditional approval usually stick for the whole lease. The double deposit stays in place until you move out, the guarantor stays on the lease, and the risk fee is already paid.
At renewal, you can ask to change them. From what we see, a year of paying on time makes properties a lot more flexible.
How to think about it
Conditional approval is a win, so treat it like one. Move fast, meet the conditions cleanly, and get to lease signing before the approval runs out. We’ve watched renters who read it as “almost denied” hold back and lose the unit. The ones who see it as “one step from signing” often get the lease.
Just got a conditional approval and don’t know what to do next? Fill out the form on our home page or call 888-846-7541. One of our licensed agents will go through it with you.
