Rental Application Form

What is a Rental Application Form? 

Before sending out the tenant welcome letter, you’ll need to distribute rental application forms. A rental application form is the first step in securing a tenant for your rental property. Landlords use this questionnaire to collect basic information from renters, which informs their decisions on whether to approve or deny applicants.

Landlords send the application form to interested renters, who use it to submit their personal, financial, employment, and rental history details to the landlord.

A rental application form collects the following information:

• Applicant, co-applicant, and co-signer names
• Social Security number
• Date of birth
• Email and phone number
• Emergency contact

To officially apply for your listing, a renter needs to submit the application form along with any additional required documents. These typically include pay stubs, proof of employment, and tax records.

Landlords use rental application forms to screen tenants, allowing them to learn more about potential renters. Tenant screening processes verify the applicant’s income and credit history, while background checks spot criminal and eviction histories (where allowed by law).

Remember, a rental application isn’t the same thing as a residential lease agreement. A rental application form is how an interested renter applies for your property. A lease agreement is the contract tenants and landlords sign to initiate a tenancy and define rental terms.

Why They’re Essential for Landlords 

An application for rental form is a vital step in renting out your property. It helps you avoid red flags and sets the foundation for positive tenant experiences. Here are five benefits that complete and organized rental application forms can offer:

Risk mitigation: A rental application form helps you avoid the risks and headaches associated with selecting tenants who don’t meet your criteria. Common issues include challenging rent collection processes, property damage, unauthorized occupants and/or animals, and breaches of lease terms.

Thorough documentation: When you accept a tenant, you can use their application form to reference information you’ll need during the lease term, including details on vehicles, pets, and service animals. Since denied renal application forms can help you defend against claims of discrimination, you should retain them for at least two years.

Consistent tenant screening: By asking every renter to submit the same information, you’ll be able to conduct a legal and consistent screening process across all applicants. Use a free online template to make creating your application quick and simple.

Credit/background checks: Application forms collect the basic information needed to initiate the screening processes for credit, eviction, and criminal background checks. It also gets the renter’s written consent, which the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires to conduct credit/background checks.

Identify the best tenant for your listing: Your rental application form provides a comprehensive overview of your prospective tenants. It allows you to compare renter qualifications, enabling you to select the tenant best suited for your specific property.

Key Details to Ask for in an Application 

Whether you’re using an editable online template or a printable PDF, your rental application form should collect all the information you’ll need to select your next tenant. Complete, thorough, and legally compliant rental application forms ask for:

Personal Information

Collect the names of applicants (including co-applicants and/or co-signers), along with their Social Security numbers, date of birth, phone number, email, and emergency contact.

Applications should also request information about household details, including the number of occupants, smoking status, and vehicle details. Don’t forget to ask about pets, service animals, and Emotional Support Animals (ESAs), too!

Employment and income

No landlord wants to deal with rent default or painful rent collection processes. Employment and income can help you determine if the renter can afford your listing’s monthly rent — and make their payments on time. Get an overview of the renter’s finances by collecting employment information and proof of income.

Rental history

Ask about their past, previous, and current residences to gain insight about what the renter may be like as your next potential tenant. Must-know details include evictions, previous addresses, and terms of tenancy.

References

Requiring renters to provide the contact information of employers and/or past landlords gives you a point of reference to contact during tenant screening. You can verify the renter’s employment and income with their employer. Reach out to past landlords to ask about their experience renting to this tenant. Inquire about missed rent payments and breaches of the lease.

Consent and signatures

When collecting completed applications from renters, ensure they have signed both the consent and acknowledgement forms. Under the FCRA, landlords must obtain a renter’s written permission before pulling a credit report and running a background check.

Credit and background checks are a crucial part of tenant screening, so always verify that each applicant has signed the dotted line, giving you written consent.

Choosing Between Digital and Printable Formats 

Top landlords use a template to ensure their rental application form is complete and legally compliant. You can choose between an editable online template or a printable PDF for your tenant rental application form. Both options are free solutions to streamline the application process, ensuring you ask all the most important questions.

When you use an online fillable template from a landlord toolkit, you’ll be able to send, receive, and manage all of your applications digitally. Doing so helps make the application process fast and easy, giving you the power to review applications and make decisions from anywhere — whether you’re at home or on vacation with your family.

A traditional, printable PDF can be an excellent option for landlords who prefer paper processes. Simply print out the form and send it to interested, qualifying renters. Many landlords utilize free PDF forms provided by property management software solutions, such as iPropertyManagement.

No two landlords are the same, so it’s important to choose the rental application option that works best for you.

Both options come with benefits and drawbacks. For example, a printed PDF template offers the familiar comfort of real-world paper documents. However, dealing with piles of paper in a digital world isn’t always easy. Doing so can cause clutter and lost documents; many renters may prefer the convenience of electronic documents.

On the other hand, an online template can keep you easily organized while offering renters a smooth application experience. While some renters may not be tech-savvy and prefer online applications, online fillable forms are generally the more agile and strategic option for today’s landlords.

The Role of Applications in Tenant Screening

The rental application form sets the stage for successful tenant screening. Remember, providing false or incomplete information can result in immediate rejection. Tenant screening can help you identify red flags that signal potential rental application fraud.

Landlords use the data collected in rental application forms to:

Verify income & employment: Take a renter’s reported income and cross-check it with the supplemental information gathered in the application form. For example, you can ensure their self-declared salary matches their pay stubs. You should also check all pay stubs to confirm they’re from the same professional organization the renter has listed as their employer.

Bank statements for the last three billing cycles can also help ensure the applicant’s rent-to-income ratio checks out. As a best practice, the property’s monthly rent should be no more than 30% of the renter’s monthly income.

Check application references: Contact the renter’s references and ask questions to gain a deeper understanding of the individual. When you reach out to employers or previous landlords, these sample questions can help you gather the information you need:

• Would you ever rent to this tenant again?
• Did the tenant ever damage your property?
• Do you remember them ever missing rent or making rent collection difficult?
• Was the property returned to you in a clean and well-kept condition upon move-out?
• Did they ever violate your lease agreement, or come close to doing so?

Conduct background & credit checks: The tenant rental application form allows you to obtain the applicant’s written consent to conduct a credit and background check. Under the FCRA, landlords must get consent before performing these two essential steps in tenant screening.

Make consistent tenant decisions: When selecting a renter, consistently apply a fair and legal decision-making process to all applicants. That means complying with all federal rental application laws, including the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the FCRA. Failing to do so is illegal and can put you at risk of claims of discrimination.

How to Legally Deny a Rental Applicant

While you can accept multiple applications on a first-come, first-served basis, you probably won’t accept every renter who applies. Make sure you’re practicing a legal denial process with these five best practices:

Use objective, documented criteria: To safeguard yourself against claims of discrimination, you can only consider objective, documented information. You can’t decide based on FHA-protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, or sex.

Follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act: If you deny an applicant based on a credit/background check, the FCRA requires you to send them an adverse action notice. It should include the reporting agency’s name and contact information, as well as the individual’s right to dispute errors.

Store your documents: Use a digital document storage tool to securely keep denied applications and screening reports for at least two years. These files can help you defend against claims of discrimination.

Keep it consistent: When it comes to applicant screening and denying rental applications, you have to apply a consistent process across all applicants to avoid discrimination claims.

Abide by Fair Housing Laws: Complying with federal and state rental application laws is non-negotiable for landlords. Every landlord must know (and follow) these five federal laws:

• Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act
• Fair Housing Act
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Civil Rights Act of 1866

Use written communication: If you keep everything in writing and store your documents, you can defend yourself against discrimination claims most effectively. Communication records can help prove your innocence if you’re ever charged with landlord malpractice.

Final Rental Application Form Tips for Landlords

Whether you’re new to the rental property game or you’ve been a landlord for years, here are five rental application best practices every landlord should follow:

• Keep track of the applications you send out, and don’t forget to collect each completed rental application form.
• Always verify that you have the signed consent and acknowledgement to proceed with tenant screening.
• Try digital tools, including do-it-all landlord software or a rental application template, to help you stay organized.
• Maintain consistent evaluation criteria when reviewing and making a decision on completed rental application forms.
• Use a simple, well-structured rental application form to streamline the application process for everyone involved.

Ready to enhance your approach to rental applications? Kick off a more innovative, more organized application review process today! Download one of our free rental application forms. We have a template designed specifically for the state in which you’re listing.

Alternatively, consider going digital with your rental operations for enhanced ease and efficiency from start to finish.