A Ohio 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 Ohio laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Ohio rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Ohio 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 Ohio 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 Ohio. 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.
Ohio application laws
Beyond federal law, Ohio has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Ohio Law
Ohio application and screening fees
The rule: No section of chapter 5321 caps or regulates rental application or screening fees. Ohio's fair housing law still governs screening: do not ask about, record, or use an application form with questions on race, color, religion, sex, military status, familial status, ancestry, disability or national origin, and do not ask whether an applicant has a disability or how severe it is, except as that law allows (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(8); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(17)).
Questions you may ask every applicant include whether the applicant can meet the requirements of the tenancy, currently uses a controlled substance illegally, or has ever been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense involving the illegal sale, manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(17)).
Anyone may make inquiries and keep records about those characteristics for the purpose of monitoring compliance with the fair housing law (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(8)).
Reasonable occupancy standards based on the number and size of bedrooms and the overall size of the unit are allowed if they are not used to get around the fair housing law (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.024(C)).
In Columbus, an operator may not knowingly reject or discourage a prospective tenant, misstate availability, or impose different rental prices, terms or fees because of the person's source of income. The city includes lawful income that can be verified, such as wages, Social Security, rent vouchers, child support and public assistance. Check the property's city before choosing criteria; the state list alone does not describe every local protection (Columbus City Code 4551.03(a); Columbus City Code 4501.378).
For a Columbus income threshold, subtract a rent voucher or subsidy from the total monthly rent before testing whether the income requirement is met. Record the subsidy and tenant-paid portions separately so a full-rent income multiplier does not screen out an otherwise qualified voucher applicant. This city-specific calculation does not decide the applicant's overall eligibility or establish another city's rules (Columbus City Code 4551.03(b)).
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.
Ohio Law
Fair housing in Ohio
Protected classes: Ohio's fair housing law bars refusing to rent or to negotiate, otherwise making housing unavailable, and setting different terms, conditions, facilities or services because of race, color, religion, sex, military status, familial status, ancestry, disability or national origin, and it bars discriminatory statements and advertising. You must make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices and services when needed for a person with a disability to have equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, and permit reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.01; Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.024; Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.055).
Familial status: Familial status covers a child under 18 living with a parent or guardian who has legal custody of the child, or living, with that parent's or guardian's written permission, with a designee of the parent or guardian, and anyone who is pregnant or securing legal custody of a child under 18 (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.01(A)(15)).
Military status: Military status means a person's status in service in the uniformed services (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.01(A)(22)).
Accommodations: For a modification, you may ask for a description and assurances of workmanlike work and permits, a restoration agreement where reasonable, and in some cases payments into an interest-bearing escrow for restoration whose interest goes to the tenant; you may not require a larger security deposit than you customarily require of all tenants (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(18)).
Exemptions: The exemptions are narrow: a religious organization, or a nonprofit charitable or educational organization run by or in connection with one, may limit housing it owns or operates for other than a commercial purpose to persons of the same religion or give them preference, unless membership in the religion is restricted by race, color or national origin; a bona fide private or fraternal organization may limit its noncommercial lodgings to its members or give them preference; and, for familial status only, qualifying housing for older persons is exempt. Reasonable occupancy standards are allowed, and no one must rent to a person whose tenancy would be a direct threat to others' health or safety or cause substantial physical damage to others' property (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.024).
Source of income: Source of income is not among the characteristics the state law lists (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)).
Enforcement: A charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission must be in writing and under oath: within one year for housing discrimination under 4112.02(H), which includes coercing or interfering with anyone exercising fair housing rights, and within six months for retaliation under 4112.02(I) against someone who opposed discrimination or took part in a charge, investigation or hearing. An aggrieved person may also sue over a housing violation in the court of common pleas within one year (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.05(B)(1); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(12); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(I); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.055(A)(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.
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 Ohio’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 Ohio 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).
Ohio rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in Ohio?
No section of chapter 5321 caps or regulates rental application or screening fees. Ohio's fair housing law still governs screening: do not ask about, record, or use an application form with questions on race, color, religion, sex, military status, familial status, ancestry, disability or national origin, and do not ask whether an applicant has a disability or how severe it is, except as that law allows (Ohio Rev. Code ch. 5321; Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(8); Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02(H)(17)).
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 Ohio and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.