A Alabama rental application tells you who will live in your rental, where they have lived and how they will pay the rent. When every applicant answers the same questions, you can compare renters fairly and show that you did.
This guide covers what to ask, how to pre-screen leads, the federal and Alabama laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Alabama rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Alabama rental application should ask for:
- Applicant and co-signer names, email, phone and date of birth,
- A Social Security number, entered securely,
- The desired move-in date and everyone who will live in the home,
- The current address and current landlord’s contact details,
- Employer, job title and monthly income,
- Any housing voucher or rental assistance,
- Pets, assistance animals, vehicles and smoking, and
- Past evictions and consent to screening.
The Rentari application covers all of this in six short sections. Renters can upload a pay stub, photo ID, bank statement or reference letter, and you choose which background questions to ask, with up to four of your own.
See it first: open the whole application before you send it.
Pre-screen your leads
Not every lead fits your rental. A short pre-screener shows who meets your basic criteria before anyone spends time or money on a full application.
Send the Rentari pre-screener from Leads. Your Alabama pre-screener asks every lead for:
- Monthly household income,
- Desired move-in date,
- How many people would live there,
- Pets, and what kind,
- Smoking, and
- A self-reported credit band.
When a lead’s answers fit, invite them to apply. Remember: pre-screener answers are what the renter tells you, so verify them with the application and screening.
Federal application laws
Federal law sets the baseline for every screening decision in Alabama. These five laws shape how you screen applicants:
Fair Housing Act (FHA): You may not treat applicants differently because of these seven protected characteristics:
- Race,
- Color,
- National origin,
- Religion,
- Sex,
- Familial status, or
- Disability
It also bars ads that show a preference and different rental terms for different applicants (42 U.S.C. § 3604).
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): Bars credit discrimination, including because income comes from public assistance. Courts differ on whether a lease counts as credit, so count assistance income the same way as wages (15 U.S.C. § 1691).
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Covers places open to the public, such as a leasing office. Disability rules for the rental home itself come from the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 12182).
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Covers credit, criminal and eviction reports. You need the renter’s consent before screening. Rentari collects it before our screening partner, RentButter, runs the checks (15 U.S.C. § 1681b).
Civil Rights Act of 1866: Bars race discrimination when renting any property, including homes the Fair Housing Act exempts, such as some small owner-occupied buildings (42 U.S.C. § 1982).
Criminal history: HUD warns that blanket bans on applicants with any criminal record can be discriminatory, and an arrest alone does not show that a person did anything.
Further reading: HUD fair housing rights and obligations and FTC guidance for landlords.
Alabama application laws
Beyond federal law, Alabama has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Alabama Law
Alabama application and screening fees
The rule: The Act sets no limit on application or screening fees and no refund rule for them. An intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental application is a breach you may end the lease for, and it cannot be cured (Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-101 to 35-9A-603; Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(a)).
Screening must not treat applicants differently because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability (the statute says handicap) (Ala. Code § 24-8-4).
Alabama's fair housing law lets an application ask the number, age, sex and familial relationship of the applicants and intended occupants and whether any intended occupant was convicted of illegally manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance, and it does not bar acting on such a conviction (Ala. Code § 24-8-7(f), (l)).
Local rules: Cities and counties can add their own limits. Check local rules before you set a fee.
In Rentari: You choose an optional application fee when you send the invite. It is paid to you on top of any screening fee.
Alabama Law
Fair housing in Alabama
Protected classes: Alabama's fair housing law makes it unlawful to refuse to rent after a bona fide offer, refuse to negotiate, or otherwise make a dwelling unavailable, or to set different terms, conditions or services, because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status or national origin, or because of a handicap (disability) of the renter, someone who will live there, or anyone associated with the renter. Advertising that indicates a preference, limitation or discrimination on any of those grounds is also unlawful (Ala. Code § 24-8-4).
Refusing to rent: Falsely telling someone, on one of those grounds, that a dwelling is not available to inspect or rent is unlawful (Ala. Code § 24-8-4(4)).
Familial status: Familial status protects households with children under 18 and anyone who is pregnant or securing legal custody of a child (Ala. Code § 24-8-3(5)).
Exemptions: Narrow exemptions cover rooms or units in an owner-occupied building of four or fewer units and some single-family houses rented by an owner of no more than three, but the advertising ban still applies, and the house exemption is lost if a broker or a discriminatory advertisement is used (Ala. Code § 24-8-7(a) to (c)).
Accommodations: Refusing a disabled tenant's reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services, or refusing reasonable modifications of the unit at the tenant's expense, is unlawful discrimination; for a rental you may, where reasonable, require the tenant to restore the interior at move-out, reasonable wear and tear excepted (Ala. Code § 24-8-7(g)(1), (2)).
Listing services: Denying anyone access to, or membership or participation in, a multiple listing service, brokers' organization or other service or facility relating to the business of renting dwellings, on any of those grounds, is also unlawful (Ala. Code § 24-8-5).
Pets, ESAs and service animals
Ask about animals on every application, but treat an assistance animal differently from a pet. Here is what to keep in mind:
Pet information: The Rentari application asks whether an animal will live at the property and lets the renter mark an assistance animal.
Not a pet: A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet. Under federal fair housing law you generally can’t:
- Charge a pet fee, pet deposit or pet rent for one, or
- Apply your pet breed, size or weight limits to it.
Damage: The renter stays responsible for any damage the animal causes.
In Rentari: An assistance animal is routed as a fair housing request and is never charged a pet fee.
Alabama rules on assistance animals
Documentation: For an assistance-animal request to make an exception to a no-animal housing policy, Alabama permits reliable documentation of the disability only when it is not readily apparent or known, and of the disability-related need for the animal only when that need is not readily apparent or known. The chapter defines reliable documentation as permitted accommodation documentation from the requester's medical provider and applies to landlords enforcing policies in covered housing. Keep all documentation obtained under this section confidential. An obvious or known fact does not trigger a new documentation requirement under this rule (Ala. Code 24-8A-2, 24-8A-3).
Approvals and denials
Apply the same written criteria to every applicant, and handle each decision the same way.
Approval: Choose Accept complete household in the household decision. Your lease draft is ready to review. Before move-in, check Alabama’s deposit rules:
Lawful reasons to deny: Deny only for reasons in your written criteria that you apply to every applicant, such as income below your standard, credit history, rental history including unpaid rent or eviction judgments, or incomplete or false information. Use criminal history only where Alabama and local law allow it, and weigh the offense and how long ago it happened.
Adverse action notice: If a screening report contributes to a denial, or to terms such as a co-signer, a higher deposit or higher rent, federal law requires a notice that:
- Names the reporting company and how to reach it,
- Says that company did not make the decision,
- Explains the renter’s right to a free copy of the report within 60 days, and
- Explains the right to dispute the report.
In Rentari: Choose Deny selected applicants and send individual notices in the household decision to send each notice. You make the decision.
Record keeping: Federal law sets no retention period for a private landlord’s applications. A fair housing lawsuit can be filed up to two years after a decision, so keep each application, your written criteria and the decision at least that long (42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)(1)(A)).
Screening reports: When you no longer need a screening report, destroy it securely. The FTC Disposal Rule covers consumer reports (16 C.F.R. Part 682).
Alabama rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Alabama?
The Act sets no limit on application or screening fees and no refund rule for them. An intentional misrepresentation of a material fact in a rental application is a breach you may end the lease for, and it cannot be cured (Ala. Code §§ 35-9A-101 to 35-9A-603; Ala. Code § 35-9A-421(a)).
Who pays for screening on Rentari?
In most states the renter pays the screening fee at the end of the application and nothing is charged to you. Where a state requires the landlord to pay, the invite tells you. The fee is shown before payment.
Can I ask about criminal history?
You choose whether the application asks about criminal convictions; it is off by default. Check Alabama and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.