Virginia Rental Application

What type of information should landlords collect?

When collecting a Virginia rental application, landlords should gather the following information:

• Name, date of birth, phone number, social security number, emergency contact, and email address of each applicant
• Employment history and current income
• Rental history, including references from past landlords
• Smoking status
• Personal and professional references
• Pets, including type, breed, and size
• Vehicle information

Information gathered on the rental application is often sensitive. Landlords should handle and use the information carefully and make sure to adhere to state and federal laws. Up next, we’ll review some of those laws and discuss what you can and can’t use when accepting or denying an application.

Pre-Screener

Sometimes landlords choose to conduct a pre-screening of an applicant before going through the entire application process. This can save some time and quickly weed out people who, at first glance, don’t meet the minimum standard for your rental. Pre-screeners are not a substitute for a full Virginia rental application, and you’re still required to follow all federal and state guidelines during the process.

A pre-screener might collect:

• Basic contact info for the applicant
• Current employment status and income
• Self-reported credit score
• Desired date of move-in
• Number of occupants
• Smoking status
• Pets

Federal Application Laws

The federal government has enacted laws to protect renters and provide guidance to landlords on making informed rental decisions. These laws include:

Fair Housing Act (FHA): The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from making a decision on a rental application based on the following characteristics:

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

Approving or denying an application based on the above details is against the law, and even asking about those details is prohibited. Landlords can’t ask a question like, “What’s your religion?” without inviting a discrimination lawsuit. This law applies to property owners, property managers, and their employees (Fair Housing Act).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): The ECOA governs how landlords assess credit history and prohibits them from discriminating against individuals based on their receipt of public assistance or residence in public housing (Equal Credit Opportunity Act).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): The ADA bars landlords from asking about or denying an application based on a person’s disability. Landlords are required to make reasonable accommodations for renters with a disability, as well (Americans with Disabilities Act).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA guides landlords on how to use a credit report in a rental application, requiring the landlord to get an applicant’s consent before conducting a background check. If the landlord rejects an application based on an adverse credit report, they must notify the applicant via an adverse action notice (Fair Credit Reporting Act).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: The Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibits landlords from discriminating against applicants based on race (Civil Rights Act of 1866).

Virginia Application Laws

In addition to federal laws, Virginia landlord-tenant laws also govern how landlords can assess a rental application in the state. Virginia law includes an expansion of Fair Housing laws to provide additional protections and guidance.

Source of income: As a part of Virginia’s Fair Housing laws, landlords cannot discriminate against an applicant based on their source of income.

Criminal history: Landlords can consider an applicant’s criminal history without regard for the timeframe in which the criminal history occurred. However, landlords should only consider convictions and, even then, weigh the actual health and safety risk against the crimes when making a decision.

Eviction history: Virginia landlords can decide whether or not to rent to an applicant based on their eviction history. However, they cannot consider evictions that happened between March 12, 2020, and 30 days after the “revocation of any state of emergency declared by the Governor related to the COVID-19 pandemic” (§ 55.1-1245 I.2).

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Virginia has added sexual orientation and gender identity to their list of protected classes in the state’s Fair Housing law. Landlords cannot deny housing to an applicant based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, they cannot discriminate in terms of conditions, privileges, or sale or rental of a dwelling based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The preceding also applies to notices, statements, or advertisements.

Portable tenant screening reports: Virginia landlords are permitted to use a portable tenant screening report in place of a new background check. However, they are not required to do so.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

If you allow pets, you can create a section of your Virginia rental application to collect information on the type, size, and breed of the pet.

Pet Information: When collecting information on the type of pet the applicant has, ask whether the pet is a service or emotional support animal (ESA). We’ll explain the importance of these distinctions below.

Fair Housing Act: The FHA prohibits landlords from denying an application solely because the applicant has a service animal or an emotional support animal. While landlords are not allowed to collect a pet deposit or pet rent for these kinds of animals, the tenant is still responsible for any damage they might cause to the rental unit.

Denial Process

It’s essential to apply consistent criteria when assessing a Virginia rental application to all applicants, ensuring fair treatment for everyone. You must treat all applicants the same. However, you’re legally allowed to deny an application based on insufficient income, poor credit history, adverse rental history, criminal background, or if they provide incomplete or false information on the application.

Denial notice: Virginia does not require a denial notice unless you deny an applicant based on an adverse credit history.

Credit/background denials: If you deny an application based on credit history, the FCRA requires you to issue an adverse action notice, which explains the denial and includes:

• Name of the firm conducting the background check
• Information detailing the tenant’s right to dispute inaccuracies
• Contact details for the reporting agency

Document storage: There are no specific laws in Virginia regarding the storage of rental applications or tenant screening reports; however, common practice is to store them for at least a few years in case any future claims of discrimination arise.