Build a professional rental application template customized to your property and your state, toggling the sections you need (residence history, employment, references, background questions) while the live preview updates instantly. Print it, save it as a PDF, or download a fillable PDF your applicants can type into. 100% free, no signup, no email wall.
A complete rental application covers identity and contact details (name, date of birth, government ID, phone, email), everyone who will live in the unit, two to three addresses of residence history with landlord references, current and previous employment with gross monthly income, optional other income, personal references, vehicles, pets, and a small set of background questions. The most important block is the one many free templates skip: a signed authorization that lets you legally pull credit, eviction-history, and background reports. The generator includes FCRA-compliant consent language by default, plus a proof-of-income document checklist (pay stubs, W-2, bank statements) so you get verification with the application instead of chasing it later.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits screening based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status, or national origin, so an application should never ask about birthplace, citizenship status as a proxy for national origin, religion, whether an applicant is pregnant or plans to have children, or the nature of a disability. Many states and cities add protected classes such as source of income, age, marital status, sexual orientation, and gender identity. A growing list of "fair chance" jurisdictions, including New Jersey, the District of Columbia, Cook County (Chicago), Seattle, New York City, and Detroit, also restricts criminal-history questions on initial applications. The generator flags those jurisdictions when you enable the felony question and prints a caution note on the form, but always verify your local rules.
Application fee rules vary widely. A few highlights: Massachusetts and Vermont generally prohibit landlords from charging application fees at all. New York caps fees at $20 (or actual cost if less) and requires waiving the fee if the applicant supplies a recent screening report. Wisconsin caps credit-check charges at $25 and requires accepting a recent applicant-provided report. Virginia caps fees at $50 plus actual third-party screening costs, Delaware at the greater of 10% of monthly rent or $50, and California at roughly $65 (indexed annually) with an itemized receipt and refund of unspent amounts. Washington, Colorado, and Minnesota require disclosing screening criteria and costs up front and limit fees to actual costs. Most other states have no statutory cap; there, keep fees reasonable, uniform for every applicant, and tied to what screening actually costs you. Select your state in the generator to see the relevant note printed on the form. Laws change, so verify current state and local rules.
Tenant screening with credit, eviction, or background reports falls under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Three rules keep you safe: (1) get the applicant's written authorization before pulling any consumer report (the generator's consent section handles this); (2) apply the same written criteria (income ratio, credit floor, rental history) to every applicant in the order received; and (3) if you deny an applicant, require a co-signer, or increase the deposit based even in part on a report, send an adverse-action notice naming the screening company, its contact information, and the applicant's right to dispute and obtain a free copy. Document what you did and why; consistent paperwork is your best defense.
Both come out of this generator from the same template. The printed form (Print / Save as PDF) is ideal for showings and on-site offices, where applicants complete it by hand and sign on the spot. The fillable PDF has real form fields (text boxes, checkboxes, yes/no options) that applicants can type into with any free PDF reader, then sign electronically or print and sign, which means fewer legibility problems and faster turnaround when you're emailing applications. Either way, the application isn't complete until it's signed: the authorization signature is what permits the credit and background check.
Yes. 100% free, no account, no email, unlimited use. It's part of Advanced Collection Bureau's free toolkit for landlords and property managers.
The signed authorization section gives you legally meaningful consent to run credit and background checks under the FCRA. The form itself is a general-purpose template, not legal advice. Screening and fee laws vary by state and city, so review it with a local attorney before use.
In many places yes, but a growing number of jurisdictions restrict or prohibit criminal-history questions on initial applications, including New Jersey, Washington D.C., Cook County (Chicago), Seattle, New York City, and Detroit. The generator shows a warning for those jurisdictions and prints a caution note; verify your local law before asking.
It depends on your state. Some states prohibit application fees entirely (Massachusetts, Vermont), some cap them ($20 in New York, $25 credit-check cap in Wisconsin, $50 in Virginia, about $65 indexed in California), and most have no statutory cap; there, the safe practice is charging only your actual screening cost, uniformly. The tool warns you when your fee exceeds a known cap.
Often you don't need to. Paper forms with full SSNs create data-security risk, and most screening services can match applicants with the last four digits plus date of birth, or collect the full SSN securely themselves. The generator lets you choose full SSN, last-4, or none.
Verify income against the attached documents, call landlord references, run credit, background, and eviction reports through a screening service using the signed authorization, and compare everything against your written criteria. If you deny based on a report, send an FCRA adverse-action notice.
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