A New Jersey 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 New Jersey laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a New Jersey rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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 New Jersey. 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.
New Jersey application laws
Beyond federal law, New Jersey has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
New Jersey Law
New Jersey application and screening fees
The rule: Since May 1, 2026, a landlord or agent may not charge more than $50 as an application or similar fee to apply to rent a home. The cap does not apply to a unit in a one-family or two-family dwelling, or to a real estate licensee who is not the landlord, and it is adjusted each January for inflation starting in 2027, with the current figure posted by the Division of Consumer Affairs (N.J.S.A. 46:8-18.1; P.L.2025, c.405, s.3 (effective date)).
A violation carries a penalty of up to $500 for a first offense, $750 for a second and $1,000 for each later one, and the overcharge goes back to the applicant (N.J.S.A. 46:8-18.1(b)).
Under the Fair Chance in Housing Act you may not ask about criminal history, on the application or orally, until you have made a conditional offer, with narrow exceptions for certain methamphetamine production convictions in federally assisted housing and lifetime sex offender registration (N.J.S.A. 46:8-55(a)).
Before you accept any application fee, tell the applicant in writing whether your criteria include criminal history and that they may offer evidence of inaccuracies, rehabilitation or other mitigating factors (N.J.S.A. 46:8-55(b)).
The Fair Chance in Housing Act does not cover a unit in an owner-occupied building with four or fewer units (N.J.S.A. 46:8-54).
When you evaluate an applicant, you may not consider a court record of a case for nonpayment or habitually late rent from the COVID-19 public health emergency and the 60 days after it, and screening companies may not knowingly report one (N.J.S.A. 2A:42-144; N.J.S.A. 2A:42-147).
After a conditional offer you may consider only the listed convictions: murder, aggravated sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, human trafficking and the listed sex offenses at any time; first degree offenses within six years; second or third degree within four years; and fourth degree within one year, each counted from the conviction or the end of any prison sentence (N.J.S.A. 46:8-56(b)).
Never consider arrests or charges without a conviction, or expunged, pardoned, vacated, juvenile or sealed records, and never require a drug or alcohol test (N.J.S.A. 46:8-56(a); N.J.S.A. 46:8-60).
You may withdraw a conditional offer over a criminal record only after an individualized assessment shows it is necessary for a substantial, legitimate and nondiscriminatory interest, and you must give the applicant the specific reasons in writing and a chance to appeal with evidence (N.J.S.A. 46:8-56(c)).
When you apply a minimum income requirement, count a military or veteran housing allowance backed by Veterans Affairs documentation as income (N.J.S.A. 46:8-51).
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.
New Jersey Law
Fair housing in New Jersey
Protected classes: New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, or to set different terms, because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, pregnancy or breastfeeding, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, familial status, disability, military service, nationality, or source of lawful income used for rent (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(g)).
Source of income: You may not refuse a rental assistance payment or apply a minimum income or financial standard that is not based only on the tenant's share of the rent (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(g)(4)).
Familial status: You may not refuse to rent to a family because it includes children under 18, except in qualifying housing for older persons (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(g)(5)).
Advertising: Ads, applications and inquiries may not express a discriminatory limitation (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(g)(3)).
Exemptions: Except in publicly assisted housing, the Act does not apply to renting the other unit of a two-family home the owner lives in, or rooms in a one-family home the owner or occupant lives in (N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(n)).
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.
New Jersey rules on assistance animals
Assistance animals: New Jersey's Division on Civil Rights explains that a necessary emotional-support animal can require an exception to a no-pets policy. For covered housing, review whether the animal is needed for the resident's equal use and enjoyment of the home and whether the provider can demonstrate undue burden. Evaluate the particular disability-related request (NJ Division on Civil Rights: disability accommodations).
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 New Jersey’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 New Jersey 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).
New Jersey rental application questions
How much can I charge for a rental application in New Jersey?
No more than $50, since May 1, 2026, adjusted for inflation each year from 2027. Units in one- and two-family homes are exempt (N.J.S.A. 46:8-18.1; P.L.2025, c.405, s.3 (effective date)).
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 New Jersey and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.