New Hampshire Rental Application

What information should landlords collect? 

An intelligent screening process often starts with a free rental application. These digital forms provide a list of essential questions, making it quick and easy to create a complete application.

Use your free, fillable rental application template to collect:

• Name(s) of applicants, co-applicants, and co-signers,
• Social Security numbers,
• Dates of birth,
• Email addresses,
• Phone numbers,
• Employment statuses,
• Income and credit histories,
• Rental histories,
• References,
• Pets and/or service animals,
• Emergency contacts,
• Smoking statuses, and
• Vehicle information.

Since application forms collect sensitive information from applicants, federal and state laws regulate what landlords can ask and how they use the information they reveal to select tenants.

Next, we’ll review pre-screeners, federal and New Hampshire application laws, pets, denial processes, and everything else you came here for.

Pre-Screener

A pre-screener is the first step to saving time, avoiding red flags, and spending your energy on the right people. With a quick pre-screener in place, you’ll send your standard New Hampshire rental application form only to suitable leads.

A pre-screener should ask for:

• Personal and contact information,
• Desired move-in date,
• Income and employment,
• Self-declared credit score,
• Household size,
• Smoking status, and
• Pet details.

If the pre-screener meets your baseline criteria, send out a complete application for further evaluation. And even if you do use a pre-screener, make sure every qualified party still completes your comprehensive New Hampshire rental application form.

Federal Application Laws

Before kicking off the application process for your New Hampshire rental property, make sure you’re following all federal application laws, which include:

Fair Housing Act (FHA): The FHA forbids landlords, property managers, and employees who select renters from discriminating against applicants based on these protected characteristics:

• Race
• Color
• National origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Familial status
• Disability

Under the FHA, landlords (or their employees who conduct screening) can’t ask questions about protected characteristics, offer unequal renting terms, or use discriminatory advertising (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): The ECOA protects renters who receive public assistance and/or live in public housing. This law also governs how landlords may assess credit reports and sets out reporting guidelines for applicants (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The ADA prohibits landlords from denying an applicant solely based on a disability and requires landlords to accommodate the renter’s condition (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA requires landlords to obtain an applicant’s written consent before obtaining their credit report and to notify applicants if they deny them based on their credit history (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: Landlords can’t discriminate based on race and color and must treat all applicants equally (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

New Hampshire Application Laws 

In addition to federal laws, landlords must comply with New Hampshire landlord-tenant laws and the New Hampshire Law Against Discrimination.

Source of income: As a landlord in New Hampshire, landlords can legally consider an applicant’s source of income (including Section 8 vouchers), criminal history, and eviction history when making a rental decision.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: As of 2026, landlords can’t discriminate against or deny solely based on an applicant’s sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, which are all listed as protected characteristics in New Hampshire (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 354-A:8).

Portable tenant screening reports: Landlords can use them, but aren’t required to accept them. If you choose to accept portable tenant screening reports, you must disclose the amount you’ll charge in writing before collecting any related fees from applicants. You must also state whether you’ll order a criminal or tenant background check.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

Whether your listing accepts pets can be a make-or-break factor for renters.

Including a section for pets and animals with service status in a New Hampshire rental application can help landlords appeal to renters while protecting their investment and complying with federal laws.

Pet information: Inquire about pets, ESAs (emotional support animals), and service animals in the rental application. Ask about important details such as the amount, size, name, and breed of the animal(s) in question.

Fair Housing Act: Under the FHA, landlords can’t:

• Discriminate against an applicant based on their ESA/service animal,
• Deny an application based on the ESA/service animal’s weight, size, or breed, or
• Charge a pet deposit, pet fee, or monthly pet rent for ESAs/service animals.

Landlords can hold a tenant responsible for animal-related property damages caused by their pet, ESA, or service animal.

Denial Process

Always handle denials in a legal, consistent manner across all applicants. In New Hampshire, landlords can legally deny an applicant based on:

• Credit history,
• Rental history,
• Criminal background,
• Insufficient income, or
• Incomplete/false information.

Denial notice: New Hampshire law doesn’t specify protocols for landlords’ denial notices.

Credit/Background denials: If a landlord denies an applicant based on a credit or background check, the Fair Credit Reporting Act and the New Hampshire Fair Credit Reporting Act require them to send an adverse action notice to the rejected party stating the reporting agency’s name and contact info and the applicant’s right to dispute errors (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 359-B:23, 15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Document storage: Landlords are not legally required to store denied applications and screening reports, but should always hold onto them for a few years. These documents can serve as evidence and help protect landlords against rental discrimination claims.