A Vermont 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 Vermont laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Vermont rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Vermont 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 Vermont 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 Vermont. 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.
Vermont application laws
Beyond federal law, Vermont has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Vermont Law
Vermont application and screening fees
The rule: You may not charge anyone a fee to apply to rent a home in Vermont. To run a background or credit check, you must accept any unexpired government-issued identification (the original or a copy), an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or a Social Security number, and you may not require a Social Security number or refuse an application because it lacks one (9 V.S.A. § 4456a).
The identification and Social Security number rules took effect July 1, 2025 (9 V.S.A. § 4456a(b)).
Fair housing law also bars refusing to rent because a person receives public assistance (9 V.S.A. § 4503(a)(1)).
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.
Vermont Law
Fair housing in Vermont
Protected classes: Vermont law bars refusing to rent, setting different terms, harassing, advertising a preference or falsely saying a unit is unavailable because of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, marital status, religious creed, color, national origin, citizenship, immigration status or disability, because a person intends to live with minor children, because a person receives public assistance, or because a person is a victim of abuse, sexual assault or stalking (9 V.S.A. § 4503(a)(1) to (4)).
Accommodations: Allow a tenant with a disability to make reasonable modifications at the tenant's expense, and make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services (9 V.S.A. § 4503(a)(9), (10)).
Exemptions: The rental rules do not apply to a building of three or fewer units where you or a member of your immediate family lives in one unit, though your advertising must still comply. They also do not bar refusing to rent to a minor, or to a household too large for the unit under occupancy laws (9 V.S.A. § 4504(1) to (3)).
Screening: Legitimate business practices needed to manage the property, such as checking references, are allowed, but not as a pretext for discrimination (9 V.S.A. § 4504(4)).
Domestic violence: Do not disclose a tenant's status as a victim of abuse, sexual assault or stalking to harass or retaliate against the tenant, push the tenant out or regain possession. Keep any documents about that status confidential (9 V.S.A. § 4503(a)(5); 9 V.S.A. § 4474).
Enforcement: A person may file a charge with the Human Rights Commission or sue in Superior Court for damages, including punitive damages, and attorney's fees. Each violation can also bring a criminal fine of up to $10,000 (9 V.S.A. § 4506(a), (b); 9 V.S.A. § 4507).
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.
Vermont rules on assistance animals
Assistance animals: The Human Rights Commission's published housing rules require an exception to a no-pets policy for an assistance animal necessary to mitigate a qualifying mental or physical disability. Housing assistance animals can provide emotional support and need not have special training. Keep this housing accommodation analysis distinct from the narrower service-animal rules for public businesses (Vermont HRC Rules 1(a), 48, 49).
Assistance animals: Assess the individual animal and request. The commission's housing rule identifies direct threats to others, substantial physical damage, substantial interference with others' reasonable enjoyment, an unreasonable accommodation, undue burden or a fundamental change to the dwelling as possible grounds for refusal when shown. An ordinary no-pets rule alone does not resolve the request (Vermont HRC Rule 49).
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 Vermont’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 Vermont 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).
Vermont rental application questions
Can I charge a rental application fee in Vermont?
No. A landlord or agent may not charge anyone a fee to apply for a residential rental. For a background or credit check you must accept a government ID, an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or a Social Security number, and you may not require the Social Security number (9 V.S.A. § 4456a).
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 Vermont and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.