Indiana Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

An application is more than paperwork; it’s how you get the real story behind a potential tenant. The right questions help verify income, confirm rental history, and catch red flags before a tenant ever signs a lease.

Using a clear, complete, and law-compliant Indiana rental application can simplify your selection process. Consider using a fillable online form, like this free template from TurboTenant, to help ensure you comply with Indiana and federal laws while collecting essential information.

Your residential application should ask for:

• Personal details: Full names (including co-applicants and co-signers), dates of birth, Social Security numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, vehicle details, smoking statuses, and an emergency contacts
• Financial information: Current employment status, income, and relevant financial details to verify ability to pay rent
• Rental history: Current and previous addresses
• Professional and rental references: Contact information for employers and prior landlords to verify application details
• Pet information: Number, type, breed, size, and age of any pets

Importantly, these applications involve sensitive information, so both federal and state laws govern what landlords can collect and how they can use it.

Pre-Screener

Not every interested renter is the right fit, and you don’t want to waste time sorting through applications that never had a real shot. That’s where a pre-screener comes in.

This quick set of questions helps you filter out applicants who don’t meet your basic criteria before they ever reach the full Indiana rental application. Pre-screeners shouldn’t replace the official form, but they can save you time by cutting unqualified leads from your inbox.

A standard pre-screener usually asks for:

• Contact information,
• Household size,
• Self-reported credit score,
• Income,
• Employment status,
• Desired move-in date,
• Smoking status,
• Pet information,
• And more.

If an applicant’s pre-screener checks all of your boxes, you can send the full application to begin the tenant screening process knowing you’re dealing with legitimate candidates.

Federal Application Laws

You want control over who rents your property (and rightfully so). But certain laws affect how you can screen candidates. Your application must follow these federal guidelines:

Fair Housing Act (FHA): Under the FHA, landlords cannot discriminate against applicants based on the following protected characteristics:

• Race,
• Color,
• National origin,
• Religion,
• Sex,
• Familial status, and
• Disability.

Landlords also can’t ask questions about these traits or deny housing based on them. Questions like “What is your race?” or “What religion are you?” are illegal.

Additionally, the FHA prohibits discriminatory advertising and unequal rental terms. These regulations apply to landlords, property managers, and their employees (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): This anti-discrimination law reinforces the FHA and adds protections for public assistance recipients. In short, landlords cannot discriminate against applicants who receive public assistance or have lived in public housing. The ECOA also outlines how landlords can use credit reports and sets reporting requirements (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Under the ADA, landlords cannot deny applicants solely based on a disability. They must also provide reasonable accommodations for renters with disabilities (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Landlords must obtain an applicant’s written consent before running a credit check. If a landlord denies housing based on information from a credit or background check, the applicant must receive an adverse action notice explaining the decision (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: This federal law requires landlords to treat all applicants equally and strictly prohibits discrimination based on race or color (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

Indiana Application Laws

Each state handles tenant screening laws differently. The Indiana Fair Housing Act works alongside the federal FHA and outlines the state-specific laws landlords must follow during the application process (Ind. Code § 22-9.5).

Source of income: Indiana law does not consider source of income a protected characteristic. Landlords can legally evaluate income sources, including Section 8 vouchers, when deciding whether to accept a rental applicant.

Criminal history: Landlords can consider a tenant’s criminal history when making housing decisions, but must apply screening policies consistently across all applicants.

Eviction history: Indiana landlords may consider an applicant’s eviction history when reviewing a rental application. However, certain cases (such as dismissals or tenant wins) may be automatically sealed by the courts, while others may become eligible for sealing after specific conditions are met (Ind. SEA 142; P.L. 128-2025).

Portable tenant screening reports: Indiana allows tenants to use portable tenant screening reports, though no law requires landlords to accept them.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

Whether or not you accept pets in your rental unit, you should include a section in the application asking about any animals the tenant may own. Federal law does not classify emotional support animals (ESAs) or service animals as pets, and landlords cannot deny housing to a tenant because the tenant has an ESA or service animal.

Additionally, landlords cannot charge fees such as pet deposits or pet rent for ESAs and service animals. They can, however, still hold a tenant liable for any damage caused by an ESA or service animal to the rental property.

Pet information: Include questions about whether the tenant has a pet and whether it is an ESA or service animal. If you allow pets, ask about the type, breed, and size.

Fair Housing Act (FHA): Federal law prohibits landlords from discriminating against applicants who have an ESA or service animal, regardless of the animal’s type, size, or breed.

Denial Process

Indiana landlords must always conduct denials in a fair, equal, and consistent manner. In short, you should apply the same standards to every rental applicant.

Know this: Landlords can legally deny an application based on insufficient income, poor credit history, poor rental history, criminal background, or incomplete or false information.

Denial notice: Indiana law does not require landlords to send a denial notice or form to rejected applicants.

Credit/Background denials: If a landlord denies an applicant based on the results of a credit or background check, the FCRA requires landlords to send an adverse action notice. It must include:

• The name of the reporting agency,
• The contact information of the agency, and
• A reminder of the applicant’s right to dispute inaccuracies (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Document storage: Under Indiana law, landlords are not required to retain denied rental applications and screening reports. However, it’s considered best practice to store these documents for up to 2 years to defend against potential discrimination claims.