A West 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 West Virginia laws that apply, application fees, assistance animals, and how to approve or deny an applicant.
What should a West Virginia rental application ask?
An application collects personal and financial details, so ask only what you need to apply your written rental criteria. Your West 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 West 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 West 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.
West Virginia application laws
Beyond federal law, West Virginia has its own rules on application fees and fair housing. Check both before you send an invite.
West Virginia Law
West Virginia application and screening fees
The rule: Neither article caps an application fee. The deposit article defines an application fee as money a person pays to be considered as a tenant, and the fee falls outside its security deposit definition only if you and the applicant expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable (W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(2); W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)).
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.
West Virginia Law
Fair housing in West Virginia
Protected classes: The West Virginia Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, or to set different terms, conditions, services or facilities, because of race, color, religion, ancestry, sex, familial status, blindness, disability or national origin. You also may not publish a rental notice or advertisement that shows a preference on those grounds, or, on those grounds, tell someone a home is unavailable when it is available (W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(a) to (d)).
Accommodations: Refusing a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services, or a reasonable modification the tenant pays for, is disability discrimination. For a rental you may, where reasonable, condition a modification on the tenant agreeing to restore the interior at move-out, reasonable wear and tear excepted (W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)(3)).
Familial status: Familial status covers a child under 18 living with a parent, a legal custodian or their written designee, and anyone who is pregnant or securing legal custody of a child (W. Va. Code 16B-18-3).
Exemptions: Narrow exemptions exist: renting rooms in an owner-occupied rooming house with no more than four rented rooms, and, for familial status only, a single-family house rented without a broker or discriminatory ad by a private owner of no more than three such houses, or units in an owner-occupied building of up to four families (W. Va. Code 16B-18-4).
Retaliation: It is unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with anyone for exercising fair housing rights or helping someone else do so (W. Va. Code 16B-18-16).
Enforcement: A tenant may file a complaint with the West Virginia Human Rights Commission within one year, or sue in circuit court within two years (W. Va. Code 16B-18-11(a); W. Va. Code 16B-18-14(a)).
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.
West Virginia rules on assistance animals
Documentation: For an assistance animal you may ask for documentation from a professional treatment provider of the disability-related need, but not medical records or detailed information about the impairment. You may not charge a fee or deposit for it or apply your pet terms, and you may deny it only on objective, individualized evidence that the specific animal is a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage that another accommodation cannot prevent (W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)(10)).
Assistance animals: The state definition includes service, therapy or support animals weighing less than 150 pounds, with or without specific training or certification, that provide disability-related work, assistance or emotional support. That state definition does not resolve independent federal accommodation duties. Review both laws before treating a weight threshold as a reason to reject a request; the state also bars unreasonable delays in responding to an accommodation request (W. Va. Code 16B-18-3(p); W. Va. Code 16B-18-5(f)(10)(D); 42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)).
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 West Virginia’s deposit rules:
W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6 · W. Va. Code chapter 37, article 6A
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 West 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).
West Virginia rental application questions
Can I charge an application fee in West Virginia?
Neither article caps an application fee. The deposit article defines an application fee as money a person pays to be considered as a tenant, and the fee falls outside its security deposit definition only if you and the applicant expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable (W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(2); W. Va. Code 37-6A-1(14)).
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 West Virginia and local rules first, and avoid blanket bans.