Apartment Rental Application Questions: Do’s and Don’ts

If you Google rental application forms and templates, you’ll likely find hundreds of different forms, some free, some that cost money, each asking largely the same questions. Please note that we are collecting information for three different purposes: (1) to evaluate your credit, criminal, eviction, income, etc. history; (2) have a point of contact in case you try to reach them later; and (3) to facilitate communication between you and the tenant during their stay at your property.

Personal information: first and last name, date of birth and social security number to perform the credit check.

Contact Information: Ask for two phone numbers and their email address for easy communication.

Current Residence: Obtain the landlord’s current address and information. This is valuable as a reference check, because a current landlord is more likely to paint a realistic picture of the tenant than a reference provided by the tenant as a friend or relative.

Financial Information: This includes a picture of the renter’s income and also who the employer is. The employer, like the landlord, is a valuable source of information about the tenant’s background. Also, being able to contact the tenant’s employer will give you leverage in case contentious negotiations arise later.

Other Background Information: Information on bankruptcies, evictions, criminal and rental records. You’ll want to double check this with an actual background check. However, it is worth seeing if the tenant is sincere in answering these questions.

There are some questions you absolutely cannot ask on a rental application. The bottom line is that, as a landlord, you can’t ask about a tenant’s race, color, national heritage, religion, gender, disability, and familial status, because you can’t discriminate in renting on any of those grounds. .