A Maine 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 Maine laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Maine rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Maine 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 Maine 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 Maine. 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.
Maine application laws
Beyond federal law, Maine has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Maine Law
Maine application and screening fees
The rule: You may not charge a fee to submit an application or to review or approve one. The only exception: you may charge the actual cost of one background check, one credit check or one other screening process, but only after telling the applicant that the law requires you to give them a complete copy of what the check returns, and you must then give it (14 M.R.S. § 6030-H).
You may not charge the same applicant more than one screening fee in any 12-month period (14 M.R.S. § 6030-H(3)).
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.
Maine Law
Fair housing in Maine
Protected classes: The Maine Human Rights Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, advertise a preference or ask about an applicant's race or color, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry, national origin or familial status, or about a past protection order. You also may not refuse to rent to someone, or set different terms, primarily because they receive public assistance, including housing subsidies. Check the coverage exceptions below and any independent federal duties before applying this summary (5 M.R.S. § 4581-A).
Accommodations: For covered housing, permit reasonable disability-related modifications at the resident's expense and make necessary reasonable changes to rules, policies, practices or services. A reasonable restoration agreement may address the interior at move-out, allowing for ordinary wear (5 M.R.S. 4582-A(1), (2)).
Exemptions: State coverage exceptions include an owner-occupied two-family dwelling's other unit and up to four rented rooms in an owner-occupied one-family home. Advertising and the specified brokerage and financing provisions remain applicable. Religious noncommercial housing and qualifying older-person housing have separate statutory exceptions; check their conditions and any federal duties (5 M.R.S. 4581(1)-(4)).
Accommodations: The rule covers owners, managing agents and anyone with the right to rent or manage a housing accommodation, and their agents (5 M.R.S. § 4581-A(1)).
Advertising: Ads and listings may not state any preference or limitation based on these traits (5 M.R.S. § 4581-A(1)(C)).
Public assistance: Receiving federal, state or local public assistance, including medical assistance and housing subsidies, is protected (5 M.R.S. § 4581-A(4)).
Harassment: You and your agents may not sexually harass a tenant, and a tenant harassed this way may end the lease early (14 M.R.S. § 6016-A; 14 M.R.S. § 6001(6)(D-1)).
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.
Maine rules on assistance animals
Documentation: Maine's housing definition of assistance animal includes an animal a qualified licensed health professional determines necessary to mitigate a disability, or an animal individually trained to perform disability-related work or tasks. Review the applicable definition and need rather than treating every animal request as an ordinary pet application (5 M.R.S. 4553(1-H)).
Assistance animals: For a protected assistance animal, do not condition its use on a fee or security deposit; the resident remains responsible for damage. The state statute allows a defense showing a direct threat to others' health or safety, substantial damage to others' property, or substantial interference with others' reasonable enjoyment. Review the facts and independent duties for the particular request (5 M.R.S. 4582-A(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 Maine’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 Maine 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).
Maine rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Maine?
Not for submitting or processing an application. You may charge the actual cost of one background, credit or other screening check, no more than once in 12 months, after telling the applicant you must give them a complete copy of what the check returns (14 M.R.S. § 6030-H).
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 Maine and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.