A Florida 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 Florida laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Florida rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Florida 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 Florida 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 Florida. 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.
Florida application laws
Beyond federal law, Florida has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Florida Law
Florida application and screening fees
The rule: Part II sets no limit on rental application or screening fees. The state has taken over this field: local governments may not regulate the screening process or application fees (Fla. Stat. § 83.425).
If an applicant is a servicemember, you must finish processing the application within 7 days and tell the applicant in writing whether it is approved or denied, with the reason for a denial. Without a timely denial you must lease the unit if the other terms are met (Fla. Stat. § 83.683(1)).
If you offer a fee in lieu of a deposit, you may not use an applicant's choice to pay it when deciding the application (Fla. Stat. § 83.491(7)).
Check whether a reported arrest is covered by a sealing or expunction order before treating an omitted answer as dishonesty. Sections 943.059(6) and 943.0585(6) allow a person to deny or not acknowledge covered arrests, subject to listed exceptions for specified proceedings, employment and licensing. Ordinary rental applications are not among those listed exceptions. Resolve a disputed record through the reporting company and the relevant legal process before relying on it (Fla. Stat. 943.059(6); Fla. Stat. 943.0585(6)).
Do not assume every juvenile record disappears at age 21. Section 943.0515 generally retains records for two years after age 19, but serious or habitual juvenile offenders and those committed to a maximum-risk residential facility have a different period ending five years after age 21. Adult forcible-felony charges or adjudications and specified registration-related records can require retention and merger with an adult record. Verify the actual record status; this age rule alone does not decide whether a screening report is lawful or an applicant qualifies (Fla. Stat. 943.0515).
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.
Florida Law
Fair housing in Florida
Protected classes: The Florida Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, or advertise a preference because of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status or religion (Fla. Stat. § 760.23).
Exemptions: A private owner of no more than three single-family houses who rents without a real estate licensee and without discriminatory advertising is exempt from these sections, with conditions (Fla. Stat. § 760.29(1)(a)).
Enforcement: A complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Relations must be filed within 1 year after the practice (Fla. Stat. § 760.34(2)).
Military status: You may not discriminate against a servicemember in offering a unit or in lease terms (Fla. Stat. § 83.67(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.
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 Florida’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 Florida 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).
Florida rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Florida?
Part II sets no limit on rental application or screening fees. The state has taken over this field: local governments may not regulate the screening process or application fees (Fla. Stat. § 83.425).
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 Florida and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.