Missouri Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

To focus on well-qualified tenants, landlords need to collect the right information to guide their decision-making. As such, a standard Missouri application form typically asks tenants for the following:

• Personal information: Names of all applicants or co-signers, contact details, birth dates, Social Security numbers, and emergency contacts
• Financial information: Income, job status, rental payment history, and credit background
• Landlord and employer references: Contact information to verify rental history and employment
• Rental history: Current address and previous places lived over the past few years
• Animals: Number, type, breed, size, and age of pets, including any service or support animals
• Smoking status: Whether the applicant smokes or plans to smoke on the property
• Vehicle information: Make, model, year, and plate number of any vehicles on-site

Because applications collect sensitive personal information, federal and Missouri laws set clear limits on what landlords can gather and how they can use the information they uncover to screen tenants.

Pre-Screener

Missouri landlord-tenant law doesn’t require landlords to use pre-screeners, but doing so can help narrow the pool of potential tenants. A well-crafted pre-screener saves time and allows unqualified applicants to move on to the next rental opportunity sooner.

Typically, a residential pre-screener asks for the tenant’s:

• Income,
• Self-reported credit score,
• Pets,
• Household size,
• Desired move-in date,
• And more.

When interested renters complete a quick pre-screener, landlords can determine whether they meet the minimum criteria to rent. A pre-screener should not, however, replace a Missouri rental application form or a full tenant screening.

Federal Application Laws

Federal laws apply to all rental applications nationwide, and landlords should review these regulations carefully when evaluating applicants and conducting tenant background checks. Staying compliant helps promote a fair screening process and reduces the risk of legal issues.

Fair Housing Act (FHA): At the federal level, this law bars landlords from treating applicants differently based on protected traits, including:

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

Questions that reveal protected information, like “Do you plan to have children?” or “Do you go to church in the neighborhood?”, violate the law, plain and simple.

The FHA applies to anyone involved in the rental process, including landlords, property managers, their staff, and individuals who advertise rentals or screen tenants (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): When screening tenants, this law helps prevent discrimination tied to credit checks or payment terms in rental applications. It blocks landlords from approving or rejecting applicants based on the protected characteristics outlined in the FHA and also prohibits discrimination based on:

• Receipt of public assistance income, or
• Whether the applicant has exercised rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Per the ADA, applicants with disabilities are protected from discrimination during the rental process. Housing providers must also be open to reasonable accommodations, like installing grab bars or approving a reserved parking space near the unit.

To avoid discrimination claims, landlords should steer clear of questions that attempt to reveal an applicant’s disability. Asking questions such as “Do you receive disability benefits?” or “Have you ever had surgery for a medical condition?” can trigger legal action against the landlord (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): This law sets the ground rules for handling credit and background checks during tenant screening. Landlords must first obtain written permission before running these reports. If the landlord denies an application based on those findings, they must issue an adverse action notice that includes the name and contact information of the reporting agency (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: Longstanding federal protections ensure every U.S. citizen has equal rights to lease, own, and use property, regardless of race or skin color. This law targets racial discrimination across all property transactions, including home sales, subleases, and rental agreements (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

Missouri Application Laws

Along with federal regulations, Missouri law limits what landlords can ask in a rental application and when they can lawfully reject an applicant based on the information they receive.

Missouri’s Human Rights Act (MHRA) mirrors the federal Fair Housing Act by banning housing discrimination based on race, color, sex, national origin, religion, disability, and familial status. It also adds ancestry as a protected class, giving tenants additional protection under state law (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 213.040).

Source of income: Missouri landlords can legally deny applicants based on their source of income. State law also prevents cities from enacting local ordinances banning this practice, thereby limiting protections in cities like Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia, Webster Groves, and Clayton. Landlords statewide can reject tenants who receive Housing Choice Vouchers, Social Security benefits, or veterans’ benefits (House Bill 595).

Criminal history: Missouri landlords can consider criminal history during screening, but they must avoid blanket bans that may disproportionately impact protected groups under the federal FHA. In Kansas City, however, a 2025 ordinance adds criminal history to the list of protected classes, making it illegal to discriminate against formerly incarcerated applicants (Kansas City Ordinance 241074).

Eviction history: Landlords across Missouri may reject applicants with prior evictions, provided they apply the same screening standards to every applicant.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Missouri law does not list sexual orientation or gender identity as protected classes. However, federal law prohibits discrimination based on sex, which courts have interpreted to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

Missouri landlords have the right to ban pets in their dwelling units.

However, under the federal FHA, emotional support animals (ESAs) and service animals are not considered pets and cannot be restricted from rentals. Landlords must make reasonable accommodations for tenants who require these types of animals.

Landlords also can’t charge pet fees, rent, or deposits for ESAs or service animals. That said, tenants must cover any damage their animals cause, regardless of status.

Pet information: During the application process, landlords should ask whether an applicant has pets, ESAs, service animals, or a combination of the three. If the property allows pets, the fillable Missouri application form should include a section for the pet’s number, type, breed, size, and age.

Fair Housing Act: As noted earlier, the FHA protects applicants who use ESAs or service animals. Landlords may not charge pet fees or deny housing based on the animal’s breed, size, or weight, even if those details would normally disqualify the applicant.

Denial Process

Landlords who deny an applicant must comply with the law and apply consistent screening criteria to every applicant. In Missouri, valid reasons for denial include insufficient income, poor credit, recent evictions, certain criminal convictions, or missing or false information on the application.

Denial notice: Missouri law doesn’t require landlords to notify applicants when they reject an application.

Credit/Background denials: The FCRA requires landlords to provide a written notice if they reject an application based on information in the applicant’s credit report. The notice must clearly state that the landlord based the decision on details revealed in the report (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

This notice must include:

• The name of the company that ran the credit and background check,
• A statement about the applicant’s right to dispute any errors or incomplete information, and
• Contact details for the agency, including its name, phone number, and mailing address.

Document storage: Missouri law doesn’t require landlords to keep screening records from denied applicants. Still, many landlords retain application-related documents for 1 to 2 years to defend against potential discrimination claims and stay aligned with fair housing laws.