Rental Application Form

Finding the right tenant is extremely important if a landlord wishes to maintain the value of their property or to ensure a smooth rental operation. The rental application process helps a landlord vet different tenants. The way it works is simple—the landlord uses a rental agreement form to gather necessary information to make informed decisions. And that’s why a comprehensive rental application helps in screen candidates and set the tone for a professional, convenient landlord-tenant relationship where both parties win.

Let’s talk about the role of such an agreement, the benefits, and the template you can use from FreshDox.com.

Why Use a Rental Application in Property Management?

At its core, a rental application form helps a landlord do a background check on potential tenants. The form has a lot of details, some even allow you to check a potential tenant’s rental history, personal background, employment, and financial status, among other things.

You have full right to know if they have gone through an eviction in the past or to screen potential renters for any violations they have. Think of it as the backbone of the tenant screening process. Using such a form, a landlord can do various things, such as verifying tenant information.

This verification is extremely important to ensure that the applicant has a stable income (through a credit report, for example), a clean rental history, and no legal issues that might affect their tenancy. But that’s not all! A rental application form is essential for property managers to evaluate whether prospective renters have the necessary financial stability to afford the rent consistently.

As they say, prevention is better than cure. With this knowledge, you can prevent any unpleasant surprises down the line.

In a nutshell, the rental application form is useful to conduct background and credit checks. It essentially authorizes the landlord to perform the necessary checks (that they deem suitable) to validate the information provided and assess the overall reliability of the applicant. This can also work as a legal basis if you find out that the tenant lied about something when negotiating the deal.

What are the Benefits?

There are numerous benefits to a well-structured and comprehensive rental application for landlords.

First of all, such a form helps streamline the tenant screening process. It allows the landlord to collect all necessary information from the start so that it is easier to compare applications and make better decisions to find the ideal prospective tenant.

Properties are fewer and far apart, especially in some regions such as California. As such, landlords can even charge a small application fee for this so they only get inquiries from serious renters. In many ways, a rental agreement form is the cornerstone for fair housing. Whereas a lease agreement is more of a legal document for bad circumstances, the rental agreement is a common ground for a better partnership between the landlord and the tenant.

And of course, using a detailed rental application also reduces turnover and vacancy rates. If you only select among qualified tenants, you can decrease the likelihood of rent defaults, evictions, and ultimately, frequent tenant turnovers.

Ultimately, these agreements protect property and the landlord’s interests. For example, let’s say you have two potential tenants. If you don’t have a rental agreement form, you might not be able to make the best decision.

If it’s something minor, it could still be fine, but keep in mind that people with a criminal history, a track record for bad behavior with previous landlords, a tendency to fail to maintain the rental property, etc. can be detrimental to your property.

You are only going to be able to identify tenants who are likely to take good care of the property and abide by the lease terms if you have a rental agreement form.

What Makes for a Good Rental Application?

A rental application should have the basic stuff—such as the prospective tenant’s full name, driver’s license, emergency contact, familial status, social security number, and so on. All this information can help you screen tenants more efficiently and ensure rent payments on time.

You can also ask for personal references, though these are not very important. The same applies to a co-signer to attest the tenant’s background.

Now, apart from the personal identification details such as the full name, contact information, and other pieces of data to verify the tenant’s identity, you also need to ask for the rental history in the application. Information on previous tenancies, including landlord references, can help you assess reliability and behavior as a tenant.

Of course, you also need the current employment status and proof of income here. Ask for the employment history and get confirmation from pay stubs. This is important to ensure you are getting someone who can pay for their rental unit on time.

Lastly, a good rental application also has consent from the applicant to conduct credit and background checks. This is important to determine suitability and form a legal framework in case something unpleasant should happen down the line.

Then these screen reports can be compared to find the best tenant.

FreshDox.com’s Rental Application Template

Attracting and selecting the best tenants for your property is something you should always prioritize as a landlord—and a rental application form helps you do precisely that. We have a free rental application for you that’s comprehensive and abides by fair housing laws. This tenant application form is something you can freely customize too!

So, let’s say you wish to include fields about expected monthly rent, previous security deposit, any move-in timeline, credit history or credit score, and more. Things like previous addresses, data of birth, terms of the lease application form, etc. are also quite common. A property owner might also want to include some FAQs in this form so the tenant can get more insights.

The best part about our online rental application for landlords is that it is a professionally crafted template. Designed to streamline the application process, our form template ensures that landlords and property managers can collect all necessary information to make better, more informed leasing decisions.

Subscribe to FreshDox.com today and gain access to a wide range of document templates, including our Rental Application, available in both PDF and Word formats. Our platform offers flexible subscription plans to suit the needs of individual landlords, property management companies, and real estate professionals.

You can even explore our services with a 14-day trial and choose the subscription plan that best fits your needs. Basic Membership allows for up to three downloads per month, ideal for private landlords with a few properties, while Premium Membership offers unlimited access, which is recommended for the needs of property management companies with multiple listings.

Now, you can leverage the full potential of your rental properties with FreshDox.com! Sign up today to download our Rental Application template for more efficient and effective tenant screening.