Rental Application
Use an application to collect relevant facts for a proposed tenancy. Choose single-family, apartment, roommate or proposed guarantor to match the situation. It is not a lease, guarantee or certificate that screening has been completed.
Prepare the actual facts
Identify the property, landlord, applicant and requested terms. Include relevant residence, income and references the applicant chooses to provide. Collect only information needed for a lawful purpose; do not require a diagnosis or put Social Security numbers in this document.
For a roommate, identify the existing tenant and arrange required consent. For a proposed guarantor, identify the primary applicant and use a separate guarantee if one is later agreed. Assistance animals are addressed through the accommodation process rather than treated as pets.
Applicable screening and fee requirements
Check the current law where the property is located, local ordinances and any housing-program rules. Verify fee limits and refunds, permitted screening information, reusable reports, lawful income sources, accommodations, notices and response periods. A state selection does not establish that those requirements have been met.
Keep the screening criteria, permitted charge calculation, receipts, reports, notices and evidence of delivery. Do not treat a statement in the generated document as proof that a separate notice was supplied or that a fee was lawfully retained.
California DRE rental guide
California limits screening fees to permitted actual costs and an annually adjusted ceiling. Civil Code §1950.6 also governs the application order or refund process, written criteria, itemized receipts, unused amounts and delivery of a credit-report copy within seven days of receipt. Do not use an old dollar figure or describe all fees as non-refundable. AB 2559 concerns reusable reports; it is not a statewide housing criminal-record ban. Check local screening restrictions and subsidy-related alternative evidence.
New York Real Property Law §238-a
For ordinary covered residential applications, New York limits combined background/credit charges to actual cost or $20, whichever is less; a qualifying report from the prior 30 days requires a waiver. The statute also requires the report copy and the provider’s receipt or invoice. Check the statutory cooperative and senior-housing exceptions separately. New York City’s criminal-history process requires a qualifying conditional offer and official notice before screening, with limited reviewable records and a five-business-day response opportunity before withdrawal.
Massachusetts Attorney General fee advisory
Massachusetts landlords may not require residential application, background-check or credit-check fees. The August 2025 broker-fee rules also prevent a landlord from shifting the cost of the landlord’s broker to an applicant. A tenant’s independently retained broker is a separate arrangement. Check CORI, protected income, accommodation and notice requirements before screening.
Vermont 9 V.S.A. §4456a
Vermont prohibits residential rental application fees. Since July 1, 2025, the statute also prohibits requiring a Social Security number to complete an application or refusing an application for its absence; listed identification alternatives must be accepted for background or credit checks. This application does not request an SSN. Commercial applications are treated separately.
Maine 14 M.R.S. §6030-H
Maine generally prohibits application/review fees but permits actual cost of one background, credit or other screening process. Before charging, notify the applicant that a complete copy of the information must be provided, and provide that copy. No more than one screening fee may be charged in 12 months. The statute does not create a general $25 cap.
Illinois 765 ILCS 705/30
Illinois bars an application screening or report-access fee when the applicant supplies a reusable report meeting the statute’s recency, provider, delivery, free-access and screening-criteria requirements. A landlord may still process an additional application without charging a screening fee. More protective local rules control; check local criminal-history and source-of-income rules too.
New Jersey P.L.2025, c.405
For covered residential applications from May 1, 2026, New Jersey caps application or similar fees at $50, with annual adjustment beginning in later years. The statute excludes units in one- or two-family dwellings and certain licensed real estate professionals who are not the landlord. Do not split a covered fee under different labels or assume an exception removes other consumer-protection duties. Review the separate Fair Chance in Housing process before criminal screening.
Washington RCW 59.18.257
Washington requires advance written or posted screening disclosures, including criteria, report-provider information, rights and reusable-report policy. Fee collection is conditional on those disclosures and limited by the statute’s cost rules. Adverse action requires a written notice with reasons and the prescribed information. An approval with additional conditions can still be adverse action; review the statutory form and local protections.
Colorado portable screening report legislation
Colorado has portable-report acceptance and no-fee rules, subject to statutory qualifications and exceptions, as well as application-fee, income-screening and denial-notice requirements. Verify the current version of §38-12-904 and amendments before applying a report-delivery requirement. Selecting the no-charge report option in this builder produces no screening charge.
Oregon residential landlord-tenant statutes
Oregon §§90.295, 90.303 and 90.304 govern screening charges, permitted criteria and denial procedures. Criminal-history review is not governed by a universal seven-year conviction rule. Check permitted categories, individual assessment, required opportunities to respond and current operative dates; the compiled chapter also displays amendments that do not become operative until 2028.
Texas Property Code Chapter 92
Texas §92.3515 requires the landlord’s printed tenant-selection criteria and grounds for denial to be made available with the application. Providing this generated application does not prove delivery of those criteria. Check the acknowledgment, application-deposit, deemed-rejection and refund provisions separately. Federal consumer-report notices still apply when a report influences the decision.
Wisconsin DATCP landlord-tenant guidance
Wisconsin distinguishes a credit-report charge from earnest money and other screening costs. The current statutory credit-report maximum is $25, subject to actual cost, advance notice, a report copy and the recent-report waiver; it is not blanket permission for a $25 non-refundable application fee. Check separate rules for out-of-state background checks and refunds.
DC tenant screening statute
DC requires detailed disclosures before screening information or fees are requested, a refund of unused fees and special decision/dispute procedures. The published 2026 application-fee ceiling is $54. Do not use the old $50 amount as an unchanging cap; verify the current year and additional statutory restrictions.
Consumer reports and decision notices
A report-based denial or less favorable offer needs the applicable agency, free-report and dispute-right disclosures. Where a numerical credit score was used, use its actual creation date, source, range and key factors. The score date is not automatically the date of the decision.
Investigative consumer reports and state laws can require additional disclosures. Washington and DC have their own decision procedures; New York City and other jurisdictions regulate criminal screening separately. Obtain and deliver required official forms and records through that process.
Do not assume every rental decision is an ECOA credit decision or automatically list the FTC as the creditor’s regulator. If Regulation B applies, identify the actual creditor, proper federal agency and specific reasons, and follow the applicable timing rules.
Review the example before creating a document
The sample illustrates the selected scenario with placeholders. Enter actual facts in the builder, review every condition and disclosure, and complete required attachments and signatures. This form does not establish legal eligibility for screening or decide whether an applicant should be accepted.
Common questions
Official sources
- FTC: consumer reports and housing decisions
- CFPB: Regulation B decision notices
- NYC official Fair Chance Housing notice
- California DRE rental guide
- New York Real Property Law §238-a
- Massachusetts Attorney General fee advisory
- Vermont 9 V.S.A. §4456a
- Maine 14 M.R.S. §6030-H
- Illinois 765 ILCS 705/30
- New Jersey P.L.2025, c.405
- Washington RCW 59.18.257
- Colorado portable screening report legislation
- Oregon residential landlord-tenant statutes
- Texas Property Code Chapter 92
- Wisconsin DATCP landlord-tenant guidance
- DC tenant screening statute