Delaware Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

Since a Delaware rental application gives every applicant a fair chance to apply for your property, what should you focus on to collect the right information while treating everyone equally under the law?

As a Delaware landlord, you can collect information regarding:

• Names and contact details for applicants, co-applicants, and co-signers,
• Social Security numbers and dates of birth,
• Employment statuses,
• Income histories,
• Smoking statuses,
• Rental histories, including past evictions and landlord references,
• Pets, and
• Vehicles.

Because fillable rental application forms handle sensitive personal data, state and federal laws regulate which questions landlords can ask and how they may use the answers when making rental decisions.

Pro tip: Use a property management platform like TurboTenant to create a free online rental application template, streamline your workflow, and save time.

Pre-Screener

A pre-screener lets landlords quickly determine whether a potential renter meets their basic requirements before sending out a standard application. Many landlords use pre-screeners to save time and avoid wasting energy on applicants who don’t qualify in the first place.

Landlords usually ask about the following in a pre-screener:

• Applicant contact info,
• Employment status,
• Verified income,
• Self-reported credit score,
• Desired move-in date,
• Number of occupants,
• Pet information, and
• Smoking status.

A well-structured pre-screener helps you narrow down qualified applicants early and focus your time on serious renters. Just make sure you apply the same criteria to every applicant and send out a comprehensive application for those who meet your minimum requirements.

Federal Application Laws

To promote fair housing access, the federal government enforces laws that govern how landlords can accept or reject rental applications.

Fair Housing Act (FHA): The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from discriminating against an applicant based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or familial status. These protected characteristics cannot play any role in the decision-making process.

The FHA prevents landlords from advertising a unit in a way that indicates a preference for or against anyone based on the above list of protected characteristics. All property managers, landlords, and their employees must follow these guidelines (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): The ECOA protects certain classes from discrimination in financial and credit-based decisions, including individuals who receive public assistance. This law also regulates how landlords may assess a credit report in connection with a Delaware rental application (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Landlords may not discriminate against an applicant based on disability and may not reject a rental application for that reason. They must also provide reasonable accommodations for renters with disabilities after move-in (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Similar to the ECOA, the FCRA governs how landlords may use credit reports in rental applications. Landlords must obtain the applicant’s consent before running a credit check and notify the applicant of any adverse decisions based on their credit history (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: Landlords in the United States may not consider race when making rental application decisions (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

Delaware Application Laws

To ensure fair and equitable access to housing, many states have passed their own laws to guide the process. Delaware enforces its own Fair Housing Act, which outlines state-specific rules that landlords and renters must follow throughout the rental process.

Source of income: As of 2026, Delaware landlords may not discriminate against an applicant based on their source of income (like public assistance or Section 8 housing vouchers) (Delaware Fair Housing Act).

Criminal history: Delaware has not passed laws explicitly governing how landlords may use criminal history to evaluate applicants. However, landlords should avoid blanket policies that deny anyone with a criminal background and should instead evaluate each applicant individually.

Eviction history: Delaware landlords may consider eviction history in a residential rental application, but should verify that any information discovered is accurate.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Delaware’s Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from considering an applicant’s sexual orientation or gender identity when making rental decisions (6 Del. C. § 4603).

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

If you allow pets, a free rental application should include a pet-specific section to collect information about them. Service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs), however, are not considered “pets” under the law, and landlords cannot ban them from a unit.

Pet information: This section allows landlords to collect details about a pet, ESA, or service animal, including breed, size, weight, and age.

Fair Housing Act: The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits landlords from denying an application because an applicant has an ESA or service animal, regardless of the animal’s type, breed, size, or weight. While landlords must accommodate these animals, tenants remain responsible for any damage they cause. Landlords also cannot charge pet deposits or collect pet rent for ESAs or service animals.

Denial Process

To avoid potential challenges, landlords must ensure that all application denials are legal and applied consistently to every applicant who submits a rental application. Landlords may legally deny an applicant based on insufficient income, poor credit history, adverse rental history, criminal background, or incomplete or false information.

Denying an applicant for any other reason could expose the landlord to discrimination claims.

Denial notice: Delaware does not require landlords to issue a denial notice when rejecting an application unless the denial is based on information in a consumer report.

Credit/background denials: The FCRA requires landlords to notify applicants in writing when denying an application due to a poor credit report, using an adverse action notice. The notice should include:

• The name of the firm that conducted the credit or background check,
• An explanation of the applicant’s right to dispute the findings in the report, and
• Contact details for the reporting agency (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Document storage: Delaware landlords must keep records of rental application fees for at least 2 years after receiving payment (25 Del. C. § 5514(d)).

While the law does not specifically require landlords to retain full rental applications, keeping all application-related records is a best practice among landlords seeking to protect themselves against potential discrimination claims.