A Hawaii 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 Hawaii laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Hawaii rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Hawaii 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 Hawaii 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 Hawaii. 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.
Hawaii application laws
Beyond federal law, Hawaii has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Hawaii Law
Hawaii application and screening fees
The rule: You may charge an application screening fee to cover the cost of checking an applicant, such as reference checks, tenant reports, criminal background checks and credit reports. Charge it only for applicants who are 18 or older or emancipated minors. Chapter 521 sets no dollar limit on the fee (HRS § 521-46(a)).
If the applicant asks, give a receipt for the fee and a breakdown of the costs it covers (HRS § 521-46(b)).
Return any part of the fee not used for screening within 30 days after you submit the screening requests (HRS § 521-46(c)).
For covered rental transactions, do not advertise that housing-assistance participants are excluded, discourage their applications, refuse a transaction because of participation or program requirements, or impose different rental conditions. Chapter 368F defines the covered assistance as Section 8 housing choice vouchers or permanent supportive housing (HRS 368F-1 and 368F-2).
Check the statutory exceptions for reasonable ability-to-pay verification, specified small owners, approval delays, owner-occupied homes and publicly subsidized affordable projects. The small-owner exception generally covers no more than four statewide units, but not an owner holding more than a 10% interest in more than four. The approval-delay exception concerns a good-faith tenancy request, including inspection, not approved within 21 days. Confirm the exact property and program facts (HRS 368F-3).
Preserve rental records for one year from the later of the record date or the related practice or action when the building has at least four housing accommodations or the owner has at least three. Covered records include applications and applicant-supplied information, advertising, agreements, eviction records and records affecting tenancy terms (HAR 12-46-304(a)).
When a chapter 368 or 515 complaint or civil action is pending, keep all relevant records until final disposition under the rule. Required records that are destroyed or unavailable can support an adverse-evidence presumption (HAR 12-46-304(c), (d)).
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.
Hawaii Law
Fair housing in Hawaii
Protected classes: Hawaii law makes it a discriminatory practice to refuse to rent, or to set different terms, because of race, sex (including gender identity or expression), sexual orientation, color, religion, marital status, familial status, ancestry, disability, age or HIV infection. It also bars falsely saying a unit is unavailable, steering, and refusing reasonable modifications for a person with a disability. It also requires reasonable accommodations for a person with a disability (HRS § 515-3(a); HRS § 515-4(a)).
Exemptions: The rule does not apply to renting a unit in a building for two families where the owner lives in the other, or renting up to four rooms in a home where the owner lives (HRS § 515-4(a)).
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.
Hawaii rules on assistance animals
Pet fees and deposits: A pet deposit may not be charged for an assistance animal that is a reasonable accommodation for a tenant with a disability (HRS § 521-44(b)).
Assistance animals: You must make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services for a person with a disability, including an assistance animal, subject to reasonable restrictions. If the disability or the need for the animal is not apparent you may ask for verification, such as a letter from the person's treating health care or mental health professional or social worker, but you may not ask for medical records or about the diagnosis or its severity, and an online vest, tag or registration is not valid verification (HRS § 515-3(a)(9)).
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 Hawaii’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 Hawaii 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).
Hawaii rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Hawaii?
You may charge an application screening fee to cover the cost of checking an applicant, such as reference checks, tenant reports, criminal background checks and credit reports. Charge it only for applicants who are 18 or older or emancipated minors. Chapter 521 sets no dollar limit on the fee (HRS § 521-46(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 Hawaii and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.