What is a Rental Application Form?
A Rental Application Form is tenant screening form which the landlord demands from prospective tenants before renting or leasing out residential property.
The application form includes identity information such as name, social security number, phone numbers, contact information; employment history, income and credit check; references from previous employees, landlords and previous rental history.
The screening basically helps the landlord to know more about the tenant and to also check the credibility of the potential tenant. It also allows the landlord to perform background check and get a credit report on the people who would be living in the rental property.
Why do you need a Rental Application?
Every landlord wants tenants that are responsible and that can reliably pay rent as at when due and using a Rental Application Template can help landlords to screen the prospect tenants. The rental application form is easy to fill out and landlords or their agents can use it to collect vital information from prospective tenants. Once the details of all the required information have been collected, a landlord or agent can proceed to review an applicant’s background especially their rental, credit, and employment histories, and hence, use the information supplied to decide whether to enter into a tenancy agreement with the applicant or decline it.
Rental Application Charges and Fees?
The landlord may charge a fee to cover the cost of checking the background and the credit history of potential tenants. Usually the landlord or the property manager hire an agency or a company to complete the formalities of a rental application process. The complete process might take anywhere between 24 hrs to 72 hrs to complete.
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How to Fill a Rental Application Form
Step 1: Enter your name in full in the space provided followed by the date of birth, social security and driver’s license numbers separately. If you have used any other name(s) different from the names already entered in the first line on the form, declare the name(s) as well in the space provided under ‘Any other names you’ve used in the past.’ Enter your phone numbers both for your home and workplace. In the next line, enter the names of all other proposed occupants of the apartment using separate lines for everyone followed by their birth date, and the relationship of each person to you.
Step 2: Under ‘Rental/Residence History,’ enter the address, zip code, state, the rent amount in each case, the length of time in each apartment list, and the name and phone number of the landlord or their agent in each case for your current residence, previous residence and prior residence accordingly. You must state the reason for leaving in each case and be honest in answering other questions in this section such as ‘Did you pay rent in full?’
Step 3: Under ‘Employment History,’ the tenant must provide the details of the current, previous and prior employments on the Blank Rental Application Template. The name, address and phone numbers of the employer as well as the name and phone number of the supervisor must be listed for each category of employment. You should never forget to enter the gross income per month in each case.
Step 4: Under ‘Credit History,’ enter your bank name, type of accounts, balance owed or on deposit and the account numbers for each bank account listed on the Blank Rental Application Template. If you are on loan as at the time of filling out the form, indicate the type of loan, name of bank and the account number respectively.
Step 5: Under ‘Vehicles,’ enter the details, that is, make, model, color, year of manufacture, and license plate of any vehicle you will be parking on the premises in the space provided on the form.
Step 6: Under ‘References and Emergency Contacts,’ enter the name, address, and phone number of any individual that should be contacted in case of an emergency in the appropriate space on the form.
Step 7: Under ‘General Information,’ the tenant should answer all the listed questions as accurately as possible. The questions are many and are meant to elicit responses that will further help the landlord to determine the suitability of a tenant being granted a rental lease or not.
After all the questions have been accurately answered and the processing fees (if any) paid, the prospective tenant must sign and date the Rental Application and return the form to the landlord or their agent.
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