A North Carolina 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 North Carolina laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a North Carolina rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your North Carolina 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 North Carolina 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 North Carolina. 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.
North Carolina application laws
Beyond federal law, North Carolina has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
North Carolina Law
North Carolina application and screening fees
The rule: North Carolina's landlord and tenant chapter sets no limit on rental application or screening fees. You have no duty to screen applicants for a criminal record, and you may use a criminal background check as a ground for refusing to rent (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14.5).
A tenant's or applicant's criminal record does not make a future injury foreseeable to you for liability purposes (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14.5).
Screening must still follow the State Fair Housing Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-4).
If you act as a North Carolina real estate broker, keep rental transaction records for three years after the transaction concludes or all funds you hold for it are disbursed to the proper parties, whichever is later. If the agency agreement ends first, use the later of that termination or disbursement of the transaction funds held by or paid to you. The Commission includes applicant background information in its retention guidance; identify the applicable start date before scheduling disposal. This is a brokerage record rule, not a blanket three-year rule for every property owner (21 NCAC 58A .0108(a), (b); NCREC, tenant background information (2015)).
For brokerage files stored in the cloud, set clear policies for authorized access, security and continued availability when a broker leaves the firm. Once the applicable retention period and any other preservation duty are satisfied, dispose of consumer reports and information taken from them so unauthorized people cannot read or reconstruct it; ordinary deletion or moving a file to shared storage may not accomplish that (NCREC, March 2026 digital record guidance; FTC, disposing of tenant consumer reports).
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.
North Carolina Law
Fair housing in North Carolina
Protected classes: The State Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, misrepresent availability or advertise a preference because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicapping condition or familial status (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-4).
Exemptions: The rental rules do not apply to a building with four or fewer families where you or a family member live, or to renting rooms in a private home you live in, but the advertising ban still applies (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-6).
Accommodations: You must let a tenant with a disability make reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense (where reasonable you may require the interior to be restored at move-out, reasonable wear and tear excepted) and make reasonable accommodations in your rules, policies, practices or services (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-4(f)).
Domestic violence: You may not end, refuse to renew or refuse to rent because someone is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-42.2).
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 North Carolina’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 North Carolina 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).
North Carolina rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in North Carolina?
North Carolina's landlord and tenant chapter sets no limit on rental application or screening fees. You have no duty to screen applicants for a criminal record, and you may use a criminal background check as a ground for refusing to rent (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 42-14.5).
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 North Carolina and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.