A broken lease means you left a lease early and owe an unpaid balance. It shows up on rental-history databases as a red flag and often triggers an automatic denial. But it is not an eviction. An eviction means a landlord took you to court; a broken lease does not.
Many renters have a broken lease without any formal eviction, and some communities approve broken leases even when they won’t approve evictions.
The screening vendors matter
Texas apartment communities pull rental history through NCAC (National Credit Association) or RealPage LeasingDesk. Each reports a broken lease differently:
- NCAC shows the community that reported it, the balance owed, and how long ago the debt was created
- LeasingDesk shows balance detail and can distinguish “unpaid” vs. “paid/settled”
Some Texas PMCs pull only NCAC. Others pull LeasingDesk. A community that only screens through one won’t see what the other found. That’s why the property you apply to changes your odds more than the broken lease itself.
Read our guide on paid vs. unpaid broken leases or learn how long a broken lease stays on your record.
How we solve it
We know which communities screen through NCAC versus LeasingDesk and how each reports a balance. We identify communities that accept paid broken leases or breaks that are two to three years old. We match you to conditional approval with a risk fee or a letter of explanation where that path works. And we advise you on getting zero-balance documentation from the prior community or collections agency.
Bad credit combined with a broken lease is a common stack — we handle both. See our bad credit apartment locating page for the credit side.
What to bring us
Speed up the match by having:
- The community name and city where the broken lease occurred
- Approximate balance and current paid/unpaid status
- Approximate month/year the lease was broken
- Any documentation from the prior community
Send us your details and we’ll send back a targeted Texas property list within 2-4 business hours. Free.
