A Virginia 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 Virginia laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a Virginia rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia. 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.
Virginia application laws
Beyond federal law, Virginia has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
Virginia Law
Virginia application and screening fees
The rule: A nonrefundable application fee may not exceed $50, plus the actual out-of-pocket cost you pay a third party for background, credit or other checks. For public housing or other HUD-regulated units the limit is $32 plus those costs. You may also take a refundable application deposit (Va. Code § 55.1-1203(A), (C)).
If the applicant does not rent, refund the application deposit, less your actual expenses and damages, with an itemized list within 20 days. If you rejected the applicant and the deposit was paid by cash, certified check, cashier's check or postal money order, the refund is due within 10 days (Va. Code § 55.1-1203(A)).
You may ask for a social security number or individual taxpayer identification number and may photocopy a driver's license or similar photo identification, but not a U.S. government identification where federal law forbids copying it (Va. Code § 55.1-1203(B)).
You must consider evidence that an applicant is a victim of family abuse to offset a low credit score of an otherwise qualified applicant, shown by a letter from a domestic violence program, HUD-certified counselor or attorney, a police report or a court order (Va. Code § 55.1-1203(D)).
A landlord owning more than four Virginia rental units, or more than a 10 percent interest in more than four, individually or through a business entity, may not deny an applicant based solely on payment history or an eviction for nonpayment between March 12, 2020 and 30 days after the Governor's COVID-19 state of emergency expired or was revoked, and must follow the written denial notice process; the penalty is $1,000 plus attorney fees (Va. Code § 55.1-1245(J)).
Information you receive with an application stays a confidential tenant record and may be released only in response to a subpoena (Va. Code § 55.1-1209(B)).
From July 1, 2027, before you request or collect any payment or information, you must tell applicants in writing, or post where they can see it, your fees and deposits and whether they are refundable, your selection criteria, automatic denial criteria, other criteria that may lead to denial, the name and address of any consumer reporting agency you use, and the applicant's right to a free copy of the report and to dispute it (Va. Code § 55.1-1203(A) (effective July 1, 2027)).
For landlords covered by the pandemic-period screening rule, a denial notice must explain the applicant's right to challenge reliance on the protected payment history or nonpayment eviction, include statewide legal-aid contact information, and state the seven-day deadline from the postmark. Additional electronic or telephone notice can permit proceeding after the next business day without an assertion, subject to the statute's notice and timing-validation conditions (Va. Code 55.1-1245(J)(2), current version).
If the applicant asserts that right and you relied on a screening report, make a good-faith effort to ask its producer whether the determination rested solely on protected pandemic-period history. The statute permits proceeding with the report information if its producer does not respond within three business days of the request (Va. Code 55.1-1245(J)(2), current version).
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.
Virginia Law
Fair housing in Virginia
Protected classes: The Virginia Fair Housing Law makes it unlawful to refuse to rent to, or set different terms for, anyone because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, source of funds, familial status, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status or disability, or to advertise a preference based on any of them (Va. Code § 36-96.3(A)).
Accommodations: Disability discrimination includes refusing reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services, and refusing reasonable modifications the tenant pays for; for a rental you may, where reasonable, require the interior to be restored at move-out. Any agreed restoration must except reasonable wear and tear (Va. Code § 36-96.3(B)).
Source of income: Source of funds means any lawful source of money paid to or for a renter, including assistance, benefit and subsidy programs (Va. Code § 36-96.1:1).
Exemptions: An owner of no more than four rental units in Virginia (and no more than a 10 percent interest in more than four) may decline a renter based on source of funds, and any owner may do so if the source is not approved within 15 days of the request for tenancy approval (Va. Code § 36-96.2(I), (J)).
Exemptions: Most of the law does not apply to an owner renting no more than three single-family houses without a broker or discriminatory ads, or to an owner-occupied building of up to four units; the advertising rule still applies (Va. Code § 36-96.2(A), (B)).
Disability: On request, provide a smoke alarm suited to a tenant or household member who is deaf or hard of hearing; you may take a refundable deposit up to its cost but may not raise rent for it (Va. Code § 36-99.5).
Documentation: Do not seek extra disability verification when the disability or accommodation need is obvious or known. If the disability is known but the related need is not, verification may address that need. Otherwise, reliable supporting documentation may include someone with whom the requester has or had a therapeutic relationship. Evaluate the request and its supporting information (Va. Code 36-96.3:1(B)-(E)).
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.
Virginia rules on assistance animals
Pet fees and deposits: For an assistance animal in covered housing, Virginia bars pet fees, pet deposits and extra rent. Uniform resident rules may still apply if they preserve equal use and enjoyment. Physical-damage responsibility applies where residents with pets bear comparable responsibility; this is different from charging an animal fee (Va. Code 36-96.3:1(A)).
Accommodations: Evaluate accommodation requests individually. A necessary request without undue financial and administrative burden or fundamental alteration must be granted. If those burdens may arise, offer a good-faith discussion of effective alternatives; the requester need not accept an alternative when the requested accommodation is also reasonable. For animals, assess actual substantial harm and possible accommodations rather than relying solely on breed, size or type (Va. Code 36-96.3:2).
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 Virginia’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 Virginia 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).
Virginia rental application questions
What is the most I can charge for a rental application in Virginia?
$50, plus the actual cost you pay a third party for screening ($32 plus costs for HUD-regulated housing). A refundable application deposit must be refunded, less actual expenses, within 20 days if the applicant does not rent (Va. Code § 55.1-1203(A), (C)).
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 Virginia and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.