# Apartments and a Misdemeanor or DUI in Dallas

> Misdemeanor drug possession and DUI/DWI are workable at a range of Dallas properties. Here

URL: https://dallasapartmentlocating.com/guide/misdemeanor-drug-dui-what-is-workable/
Last-Modified: 2026-08-02

Reference guide

# Misdemeanor Drug Possession and DUI/DWI: What's Workable

Misdemeanor drug possession and DUI/DWI are workable at a range of Dallas properties. Here's what affects it and how we match your situation.

Published August 2, 2026 4 min read

![A person completing a rental application at a leasing office desk in daylight](/images/featured/candid-daylight-photograph-of-a-person-filling-out.webp)

## Misdemeanors are a different category

Property screening criteria frequently treat misdemeanors separately from felonies, with different lookback windows and different rules.

That distinction matters because renters with a misdemeanor often assume the seven-year felony conversation applies to them. It frequently does not, and saying “it is a misdemeanor” in the first message to 

background-friendly locating

[/background-accepted/ →](/background-accepted/)

 widens the property list immediately.

![Flow diagram from record type to workable property set](/images/content/flow-diagram-record-type-to-workable-property-set-.webp)

## DUI and DWI

Workable at a range of Dallas properties.

Property criteria that address DUI/DWI usually key on three things: whether it was a misdemeanor or was enhanced to a felony, the disposition, and how long ago it happened. A single misdemeanor DWI several years back sits differently in most criteria sets than a recent enhanced offense.

Some criteria do not mention DUI/DWI at all, which means it is evaluated under the general criminal-history rule rather than a specific one.

## Misdemeanor drug possession

Also workable at many properties.

Criteria that distinguish drug offenses typically separate possession from manufacture or distribution. Possession as a misdemeanor is the version most commonly addressed as workable. Disposition matters here as much as anywhere: a dismissal, a deferred adjudication, and a conviction are three different records.

## What changes the outcome

| Factor | Effect |
| --- | --- |
| Misdemeanor vs felony | Different criteria track at most properties |
| Disposition | Dismissed, deferred, or convicted read differently |
| Age of the offense | Older helps, uniformly |
| Pending vs closed | Pending charges are frequently treated separately |
| Income multiple | Still the first gate — 3x at most, 2.5x at some, 2x at a few |

> **We state policies, not verdicts**
> 
> We do not tell you a record is acceptable and we do not tell you it is disqualifying. We describe what each property’s criteria say and the date we verified it. Framing a record either way is exactly what HUD’s 2016 guidance on criminal-history screening cautions against.

## How to describe it to us

Four facts, in one message:

1.  Misdemeanor or felony
2.  The offense category — possession, DWI, or other
3.  The year
4.  The disposition, if you know it

That is enough to match. You do not need to send documents and you should not send us a screening report. We never obtain, request, receive, or store one, because there is no permissible purpose under the FCRA for a locator to pull one.

## What happens next

Your account goes against our own dated database of which management companies work with which situations. Back comes a list of properties whose stated criteria fit, with the income multiple, credit minimum, 

total monthly cost

[/true-monthly-cost/ →](/true-monthly-cost/)

, and a verification date on each.

If you want to understand what happens inside the screening itself, read 

how screening decisions get made

[/guide/how-background-screening-decisions-get-made/ →](/guide/how-background-screening-decisions-get-made/)

.

Applications run $50 to $75 per adult and are not refundable. Matching first is what turns three of them into one. That is the whole point of 

background-friendly locating

[/background-accepted/ →](/background-accepted/)

.

Answers

## Questions about this

Can I rent an apartment in Dallas with a DUI?

Often, yes. DUI and DWI are workable at a range of Dallas properties. Disposition and how long ago it was are the variables that move it most, along with your income relative to the rent.

What about a misdemeanor drug charge?

Also workable at many properties. Criteria frequently treat misdemeanors separately from felonies, and possession is treated differently from distribution offenses at most operators.

Should I mention it up front?

To us, yes — it changes the property set immediately and usually widens it. Whether to volunteer it on an application depends on what the application asks; answer what is asked, accurately.

## Learn more about Felony & Background

Lookback windows, case-by-case review under seven years, misdemeanor drug possession and DUI/DWI workability. Free to renters, and every figure carries a verification date.

Read the Felony & Background page

[/background-accepted/ →](/background-accepted/)

 

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[/contact/ →](/contact/)