Ask every applicant the same
useful questions.
Create a consistent rental application with residence, employment, income, household and reference fields — plus certification and permission to verify what the applicant provides.
- Consistent applicant questions
- Sensitive details stay off our system
- Verification permission included
How it works
From your rental details to one consistent application form — in a few minutes
- 01
Add the property and offering terms
Enter the rental address, monthly rent and any lawful application fee so every applicant sees the same opening terms.
- 02
Review the applicant fields
The form provides blanks for the applicant's identity, rental history, income, household, vehicles, pets and references.
- 03
Download and use consistently
Send or print the same form for each applicant, then evaluate completed applications under one written screening policy.
Last updated August 20, 2026
Written by LawLease EditorialReviewed by LawLease Legal Team
By screening stage
Which screening document you need
The application collects facts from the applicant. A consumer-report authorization, approval letter and adverse-action notice each do a different job and should stay separate.
- BA
Background and credit check authorization
Obtain the applicant's standalone written permission before requesting a consumer report.
Learn more - AA
Application approval letter
Confirm approval and clearly state the next steps without replacing the lease.
Learn more - AA
Adverse action letter
Give the required notice when a consumer report contributes to a denial or less favorable terms.
Learn more - CS
Co-signer or guarantor agreement
Put a guarantor's promise to cover the tenant's obligations in a signed agreement.
Learn more - RL
Residential lease agreement
Turn an approved application into the binding terms of the tenancy.
Learn more
What is a rental application?
A rental application is the standardized form a prospective tenant completes before a landlord decides whether to offer a lease. It gathers the facts needed to apply a written screening policy: identity and contact details, current and prior residences, employment and income, proposed occupants, pets, vehicles and references.
The form is not a lease and does not promise approval. It should authorize verification of the information the applicant supplies, while keeping any permission to obtain a credit, criminal or other consumer report in the separate disclosure and authorization required for that purpose. It is also called:
- Tenant application form
- Lease application
- Apartment application
- Prospective tenant form
- Rental screening application
An application collects the applicant's answers. Before ordering a consumer report, use a standalone background and credit check authorization and follow the notice rules that apply to the screening decision.
Fair and lawful rental screening
A defensible application is only the first step. Use written, legitimate screening criteria, give the same form and process to similarly situated applicants, and document the information behind each decision. Do not ask questions designed to reveal protected characteristics or use answers as a proxy for them.
State and local rules may limit application fees, criminal-history questions, income-source treatment, reusable screening reports, timing, privacy notices and record handling. Consumer reports bring separate federal and state duties. Check the rules where the property is located before distributing the form.
1 form
with the same relevant questions for similarly situated applicants
Separate consent
before a credit, background or other consumer report is requested
Written criteria
applied consistently and supported by the application record
- Ask only what the decision needs
- Identity, rental history, lawful income verification, occupants, pets, vehicles and references can support screening. Questions about protected traits, disability details or family plans do not belong on the form.
- Treat income sources carefully
- Many jurisdictions protect lawful sources of income such as housing assistance. State the income standard neutrally and apply it to income sources the law requires you to consider.
- Check fee and receipt rules
- Application fees may be capped, refundable in some circumstances or tied to actual screening costs. Print the amount and refundability accurately and provide any receipt or disclosure local law requires.
- Criminal-history rules are local
- Some jurisdictions restrict whether, when or how criminal history may be considered. The form qualifies the question, but the landlord must remove or defer it where local law requires.
- Protect completed applications
- Applications contain sensitive personal information. Limit access, use secure delivery and storage, follow retention and disposal rules, and never send completed forms through an insecure channel.
How to create a rental application
Five steps produce a useful form and a cleaner, more consistent screening record.
Decide which lawful, relevant standards will apply before applications arrive.
- Use objective criteria connected to tenancy risk
- Apply the same criteria to similarly situated applicants
- Account for state and local screening restrictions
Free sample rental application
Here is the structure before you start. Your answers print the property, rent and fee; the applicant completes their identity, history, household and signature fields on the finished form.
Rental Application
1. THE RENTAL. Application for the residential premises at , offered at per month. Application fee: .
2. APPLICANT. Full legal name: Date of birth: Phone: Email:
3. RESIDENCE HISTORY. Current address: At this address since: Current landlord or manager:
4. EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME. Employer: Position: Gross monthly income:
8. CERTIFICATION AND AUTHORIZATION. Applicant certifies that the information provided is true and complete and authorizes the landlord to verify the information, contact listed sources and, with a separate authorization, obtain a consumer report for tenant-screening purposes.
Screening a new applicant?
Real humans read every message — whether it's about what belongs on the form, how to separate consumer-report consent or how to use one screening policy consistently. For a disputed denial or a local fair-housing rule, get a local lawyer on it.