A Arkansas 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 Arkansas laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Arkansas rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Arkansas 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 Arkansas 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 Arkansas. 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.
Arkansas application laws
Beyond federal law, Arkansas has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Arkansas Law
Arkansas application and screening fees
The rule: No Arkansas statute we reviewed limits what a landlord may charge for an application or screening. State law bars cities, counties and other local governments from controlling the amount of rental application fees (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409(b)).
The ban on local control applies to landlords, property owners, property managers, tenants, prospective tenants and real estate companies doing business in Arkansas (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409(b)(2)).
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.
Arkansas Law
Fair housing in Arkansas
Protected classes: The Arkansas Fair Housing Commission’s guidance says covered housing may not be denied or offered on different terms because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability. Apply that review to rent changes as well as applications. Check the statute's coverage and exemptions for your rental (42 U.S.C. § 3604; Arkansas Fair Housing Commission: prohibited conduct).
Domestic violence: State law read here bars refusing, ending or not renewing a tenancy because a tenant, applicant or household member is a victim of domestic abuse shown in a court order (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-16-112(b)(1)).
Accommodations: For covered housing, review necessary reasonable disability accommodations during applications as well as tenancy. This can include changing an application procedure or a parking rule. Reasonable modifications to the home or common areas are generally at the resident's expense; a reasonable interior-restoration agreement must except reasonable wear and tear. Check coverage and the particular request rather than applying a blanket refusal (Arkansas Commission, disability rights in housing; 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)).
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.
Arkansas rules on assistance animals
Assistance animals: Review an animal-related housing request under the current reasonable-accommodation rules. The federal regulation gives a guide dog under a no-pets policy as an example of a required accommodation. Federal rules also restrict inquiries about an applicant's disability or its nature or severity, with specified uniform-inquiry exceptions. HUD withdrew FHEO 2013-01 and FHEO 2020-01 effective September 17, 2025; use the Act and current regulations rather than those withdrawn notices (24 CFR 100.202(c) and 100.204; HUD withdrawal notice, 91 FR 17291).
Assistance animals: Arkansas Act 819 of 2025 permits some private-property emotional-support-animal bans, but expressly makes that permission subject to the federal Fair Housing Act as it existed January 1, 2025 and other existing federal law. It does not replace a covered housing accommodation review (Act 819 of 2025, section 1 (20-14-1005)).
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 Arkansas’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 Arkansas 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).
Arkansas rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Arkansas?
No Arkansas statute we reviewed limits what a landlord may charge for an application or screening. State law bars cities, counties and other local governments from controlling the amount of rental application fees (Ark. Code Ann. § 14-54-1409(b)).
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 Arkansas and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.