Hawaii Rental Application

What type of information should landlords collect?

A rental application is your first chance to get to know your next potential tenant. Collecting key details is critical to assess the applicant properly and to do so in a legally compliant and fair way. TurboTenant provides landlords with free online rental application templates that allow you to quickly and easily send and receive digital applications in just a few steps.

(Tip: TurboTenant also lets landlords collect rent online, manage maintenance requests, and access legally reviewed, sample lease agreements.)

Landlords should collect the following information in a Hawaii rental application form:

• Personal information: Applicant names, dates of birth, social security numbers, emergency contacts, personal email and phone numbers, vehicle details, and more.
• Rental history: It’s important to understand an applicant’s previous rental history to get a sense of how they might be as a tenant.
• Financial details: Includes employment status and income history to determine if the applicant to afford rent payments.
• Personal and professional references: It’s not uncommon for a landlord to verify employment or rental history by asking for written or phone references.
• Pets: If you choose to accept pets, this could be a section that inquires about the type, size, and status of the pets.

Pre-Screener

If you want to save time before processing a full Hawaii rental application, you can send any interested parties a pre-screener first. This can be a quick way to assess a candidate without diving into their complete background.

A pre-screener could ask for:

• Contact information
• Current employment status and income
• Self-reported credit score
• Desired move-in date
• Number of occupants
• Smoking status
• Pets

Pre-screeners are a great way to check on an applicant quickly, and TurboTenant includes them with every application.

Federal Application Laws

To ensure all U.S. residents share an equal playing field when applying for housing, several federal laws have been passed to protect all citizens.

Fair Housing Act (FHA): The Federal Fair Housing Act is a notable federal law that prohibits landlords from discriminating against applicants based on protected characteristics, including:

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

It’s illegal to deny an applicant based on a protected class, and landlords are also not even allowed to ask about them. Asking a question like, “What is your sexual orientation?” or “What is your religion?” is against the law. This applies to landlords, property managers, or any employee who works for the owner (Fair Housing Act).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits landlords from discriminating against an applicant based on the same criteria as the FHA, and anyone who has received public assistance or has lived in public housing. This law also dictates how a landlord may assess a credit report, providing reporting guidelines for applicants (Equal Credit Opportunity Act).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The ADA forbids landlords from denying an application based on a disability. It also requires landlords to provide reasonable accommodations for a renter’s disability (Americans with Disabilities Act).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Under the FCRA, landlords must get written consent from the applicant before running a credit check. If a landlord denies an applicant due to their credit history, they must notify the applicant (Fair Credit Reporting Act).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: Landlords cannot deny an applicant based on race or color and must treat all applicants equally (Civil Rights Act of 1866).

Hawaii Application Laws

Just as the federal government has enacted specific laws to ensure fair housing decisions across the country, Hawaii has passed some laws to address nuances for the state. That includes a law addressing Discrimination in Real Property Transactions.

More of the specifics below.

Source of income: Landlords in Hawaii are not allowed to discriminate against an applicant based on their previous participation in public housing or Section 8 initiatives (HI Rev Stat § 368F-2)

Criminal history: Landlords in Hawaii cannot enforce “blanket bans” on any applicant just because they have a criminal history. However, no other restrictions apply to landlords in the state when considering criminal histories.

Eviction history: Hawaii does not limit a landlord’s ability to use an applicant’s eviction history when deciding on a Hawaii rental application.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Hawaii has added sexual orientation, gender expression, age, and HIV-infection status as protected characteristics. These protections prevent landlords from discriminating against applicants based on these details (HI Rev Stat § 515-3)

Portable tenant screening reports: Some states allow the use of a previous tenant screening (also known as a portable tenant screening report) when applying for housing. Hawaii does not have laws currently addressing the use of these reports.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

Pet information: If you accept pets, collecting information on the applicant’s pets is a good idea when they apply for the rental unit. This could include type, breed, and size.

Fair Housing Act: The FHA prohibits landlords from denying applicants because they have a service or emotional support animal (ESA). But even though the application cannot be denied based on this fact, the tenant may still be liable for any damages an animal causes to the unit.

Denial Process

Landlords should assess all applicants consistently to avoid discrimination claims or improper tenant screening. Landlords can legally deny an applicant for poor credit history, insufficient income, adverse rental history, criminal history, or incomplete and false information.

Denial notice: Hawaii does not require landlords to issue a denial notice when rejecting an application.

Credit/Background denials: The FCRA requires landlords to issue an Adverse Action notice if denying an application based on a credit check. The notice must contain:

• The name of the firm that performed the tenant screening
• Language explaining that applicants have the right to refute the report
• Contact details for the firm that ran the check

Document storage: If a Hawaii landlord owns four or more units in the same building, or three or more units in total, they must store all relevant documents for at least 1 year. This includes rental applications, lease agreements, advertising materials, and anything related to leasing the property (HAR § 12-46-304).