For example, the landlord may deny an application because of the applicant's criminal background, rental history, income, or credit score. This article explains rental application fees and how you may be able to get your application fee back.This article looks at Texas State laws and provides you an overview of how you can reject an application for a residential lease. A landlord credit check helps determine if you're likely to pay rent. However, this can only be completed if the applicant signs a document giving consent to undergo the screening process. A landlord may ILLEGALLY run a credit check on prospective tenants without the tenants' consent. Landlords must receive a completed consent form from a tenant to do this, but granting this permission is standard. Although no federal law requires landlords to obtain an applicant's consent before ordering a credit report, many property managers prefer to do so.