A Michigan 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 Michigan laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Michigan rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Michigan 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 Michigan 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 Michigan. 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.
Michigan application laws
Beyond federal law, Michigan has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Michigan Law
Michigan application and screening fees
The rule: Michigan's landlord-tenant statutes set no limit on application or screening fees. If you have 5 or more rental units in Michigan, you may not charge different fees or set different terms based on an applicant's lawful source of income (MCL 554.601c(1)(b); MCL 554.601 to 554.616).
If you set a minimum income, a covered landlord must count a rent voucher or subsidy toward it. The threshold-counting provision excludes emergency rental assistance; the separate bar on discriminatory terms because of using that assistance still applies (MCL 554.601c(1)(f); MCL 37.2502(3)(e), (f)).
Application forms and inquiry records may not show a preference, limitation or discrimination based on a protected class (MCL 37.2502(1)(f)).
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.
Michigan Law
Fair housing in Michigan
Protected classes: Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act bars housing discrimination based on religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status or marital status. Since April 2, 2025, a landlord with 5 or more rental units in Michigan, counting related entities, may not discriminate based on a tenant's lawful source of income, such as a housing choice voucher (MCL 37.2502; MCL 554.601c).
Refusing to rent: The bar covers refusing to rent, different terms, saying a unit is unavailable when it is not, and ads, application forms or inquiry records that show a preference (MCL 37.2502(1)(a) to (f)).
Exemptions: Those protections do not apply to renting part of an owner-occupied two-family building, a room in a single-family home where the owner or an immediate family member lives, or the owner's own home for up to 12 months after living there at least 3 months (MCL 37.2503(1)(a), (b)).
Source of income: A tenant may sue over source of income discrimination for an injunction and damages of actual loss or up to three times the monthly rent, whichever is less, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees (MCL 554.601d(1)).
Refusing to rent: For covered housing, the separate disability Act bars discriminatory refusals, terms, application forms and inquiry records because of a disability unrelated to the person's ability to acquire, rent or maintain property, or use of adaptive aids. Section 37.1503 excludes specified owner- or family-occupied two-family buildings and rooms in a shared single dwelling from section 37.1502. Check coverage and other applicable protections (MCL 37.1502; MCL 37.1503).
Source of income: Housing assistance the agency has not approved within 30 days after you give it all the information it requires, including proof of required repairs, is not a protected source of income (MCL 554.601(f)).
Accommodations: Michigan also generally requires a housing accommodation for a person with a disability unless the responsible person demonstrates undue hardship. Review the particular request under the applicable disability law rather than treating a standard policy as the complete answer (MCL 37.1102).
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 Michigan’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 Michigan 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).
Michigan rental application questions
Can I refuse an applicant with a housing voucher in Michigan?
Not if you and related entities have 5 or more rental units in Michigan. Since April 2, 2025, those landlords may not refuse or treat applicants differently based on a lawful source of income, and must count a voucher toward any income requirement. Housing assistance the agency has not approved within 30 days after you give it all the information it requires, including proof of required repairs, is not a protected source of income (MCL 554.601c; MCL 37.2502(3), (4); MCL 554.601(f)).
Can I charge an application fee in Michigan?
Michigan's landlord-tenant statutes set no limit on application or screening fees. If you have 5 or more rental units in Michigan, you may not charge different fees or set different terms based on an applicant's lawful source of income (MCL 554.601c(1)(b); MCL 554.601 to 554.616).
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 Michigan and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.