Louisiana Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

It’s imperative to have a complete picture of who’s applying to rent your property, and a comprehensive Louisiana rental application forms the backbone of your tenant screening process.

A rental application will help you collect:

• Personal information: Names of applicants, co-applicants, and co-signers, along with Social Security numbers, date of birth, phone number, email, vehicle details, emergency contacts, and smoking status
• Financial details: The tenant’s income and employment status
• Rental history: The tenant’s previous and current living situations
• References: Professional and rental references to confirm application details
• Pets: Number, type, size, breed, and service status of any pets or other animals

Applications request sensitive information, so federal and state laws regulate the types of questions landlords may ask and how they may use the information they obtain.

Time-saver: A free rental application from TurboTenant can streamline the way Louisiana landlords send, receive, and manage applications.

Pre-Screener

When a renter finds your property listing, they can fill out a residential pre-screener, a short questionnaire that serves as your first point of contact. With that in mind, you’ll never need to sort through unqualified leads again.

This fillable pre-screener streamlines the screening process by filtering out applicants who don’t meet your standards, whether due to income, desired move-in date, smoking status, or any other deal-breaking reason.

A pre-screener should ask for:

• Contact information,
• Preferred move-in date,
• Household size,
• Employment and income,
• A self-reported credit score,
• Smoking status,
• Pets,
• And more.

Once an interested party completes a pre-screener, you can decide whether or not to send them your full Louisiana application form. Using a pre-screener helps you weed out unqualified parties and instead focus your time on serious, qualified candidates.

Federal Application Laws

Choosing the right tenant is entirely your decision, but all landlords must abide by federal housing laws. Here’s everything you need to know to keep your application process legally compliant:

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

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

Landlords cannot deny applicants based on these characteristics or ask questions that reveal protected information. For example, asking “Are you Catholic?” is illegal. The FHA also prohibits unequal rental terms and discriminatory advertising. These rules apply to all Louisiana landlords, property managers, and employees responsible for selecting renters (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): The ECOA prohibits landlords from discriminating against anyone who has received public assistance or lived in any form of public housing. It also regulates how landlords evaluate credit reports and provides guidelines for the use of applicant information during the screening process (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Under the ADA, landlords must be willing to make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities and may not deny housing solely because of their disability. Accommodation may include allowing service animals in no-pet units or permitting reasonable modifications that improve accessibility within the rental (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA requires landlords to obtain an applicant’s written consent before running a credit check. If the landlord denies an application based on information in the credit report, they must inform the applicant by providing them with a written adverse action notice (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

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

Louisiana Application Laws

Across New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and beyond, every landlord in Louisiana must comply with Louisiana landlord-tenant laws and rental application rules outlined in the Louisiana Equal Housing Opportunity Act.

Louisiana law does not prohibit landlords from considering an applicant’s source of income, criminal history, or eviction history. Landlords can legally take these details into account in the tenant selection process.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Louisiana law includes sex as a protected characteristic but does not explicitly mention sexual orientation or gender identity (La. Stat. Ann. § 51:2601 et seq.).

Cultural characteristics: In addition to FHA-protected traits, Louisiana protects natural, protective, and cultural characteristics. Discrimination based on these traits is illegal (La. Stat. Ann. § 51:2601 et seq.).

Portable tenant screening reports: Tenants in Louisiana may use portable screening reports. However, no laws require landlords to accept them.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

About 66% of U.S. households have a pet. If you don’t already have a section for pets on your Louisiana rental application form, now’s the time to add one.

Even if you don’t plan to allow pets, you can’t legally discriminate against applicants who have an emotional support animal (ESA) or a service animal. However, you can still hold tenants liable for any pet-related property damage, even if the animal has a service status.

Pet information: In the application, ask about the number, breed, size, and type of any pets the applicant has. Include separate questions about ESAs or service animals, which are not considered pets under the FHA.

Fair Housing Act: Landlords cannot deny housing to an applicant solely because the applicant has an ESA or a service animal. They also can’t charge a pet deposit, pet rent, or pet fee for these animals. Denying housing based on the breed, size, type, or weight of an ESA or service animal is also illegal.

Denial Process 

As a best practice, landlords should handle denials consistently across all applicants. Failing to do so can leave the door open to discrimination claims.

Louisiana landlords can legally deny an applicant based on:

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

Denial notice: In most cases, Louisiana landlords do not need to send denial notices to rejected applicants.

Credit/Background denials: If a landlord denies an applicant based on information in their credit report or background check, however, the FCRA requires that they send the applicant an adverse action notice, which must include:

• The name of the agency that ran the report,
• The contact information of the reporting agency, and
• Reminder of the renter’s right to dispute errors (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Document storage: Although Louisiana law does not require landlords to retain denied rental applications and screening reports, it is prudent to keep these documents on file for up to 2 years. Doing so can help protect you if a discrimination claim arises. You can store these documents securely with TurboTenant (for free).