Virginia Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

When preparing a Virginia rental application form, landlords should gather the following information from each tenant:

• Personal information: Name, date of birth, phone number, Social Security number, email address, and emergency contact for each applicant, co-applicant, and co-signer
• Financial information: Employment history (including employer references, if needed) and current income to verify ability to pay rent
• Rental history: References from past landlords to confirm there are no outstanding rental issues
• Smoking status: Whether the applicant smokes or plans to smoke in the rental unit
• Pets: Whether the applicant has pets, emotional support animals (ESAs), or service animals, including type, breed, and size
• Vehicle information: Make, model, and year of the applicant’s vehicle to help manage parking

Information gathered on the Virginia rental application is often sensitive and used to screen tenants. As such, landlords should handle the information carefully and ensure they adhere to state and federal laws. TurboTenant can help by providing free templates for Virginia landlords to streamline the process while staying legally compliant.

If you plan to proceed with a DIY application system, up next we’ll go over pre-screeners, review some crucial laws, and discuss what you can and can’t do when accepting or denying applications.

Pre-Screener

Sometimes, landlords choose to conduct a pre-screening of an applicant before going through the entire application process. This approach can save some time and quickly weed out people who, simply put, don’t meet the minimum standard for your rental.

A typical residential pre-screener will collect:

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

Pre-screeners are not a substitute for a complete Virginia rental application form or tenant background check; however, they are a logical first step. TurboTenant includes prescreeners to help you fill your vacancy faster.

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 FHA prohibits landlords from making rental decisions based on:

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

Approving or denying an application based on the above details is illegal, and landlords are prohibited from even asking for this information. For instance, a landlord can’t ask a question like, “What’s your religion?” without inviting a discrimination lawsuit. The Fair Housing Act applies to property owners, property managers, and their employees involved with screening (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): The ECOA governs how landlords assess credit history and prohibits discrimination against individuals based on their receipt of public assistance or residence in public housing (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): This anti-discrimination regulation bars landlords from asking about or denying an application based on a person’s disability. Per the ADA, landlords must make reasonable accommodations for renters with disabilities, such as allowing a service animal in a no-pet unit or installing a wheelchair ramp (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA governs how landlords use credit reports and requires them to obtain 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 (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: This longstanding federal law prohibits landlords from discriminating against applicants based on race and color in all real estate transactions (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

Virginia Application Laws

In addition to federal laws, Virginia landlord-tenant laws govern how landlords can assess rental applications. Basically, Virginia state law expands on federal 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 (Va. Code Ann. § 36-96.1).

Criminal history: Landlords can consider an applicant’s criminal history without regard for the timeframe in which the criminal history occurred. However, landlords should consider only convictions and, even then, weigh the actual health and safety risk posed by 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, until July 1, 2028, landlords 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” (Va. Code Ann. § 55.1-1245).

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Virginia landlords cannot deny housing to an applicant based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Furthermore, landlords cannot discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in the conditions, privileges, or sale or rental of a dwelling. The preceding also applies to notices, statements, or advertisements (Va. Code Ann. § 36-96.1).

Portable tenant screening reports: Virginia tenants may use a portable tenant screening report in place of paying for a new tenant background check. However, the law does not require landlords to accept them.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

In Virginia, landlords have the right to enforce “no pet” policies. However, because emotional support animals (ESAs) and service animals do not count as pets under federal law, landlords cannot deny housing solely because an applicant has an ESA or service animal.

Pet Information: When collecting information about the applicant’s pet (including breed, size, and weight), also ask whether the animal is a service animal or ESA.

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 aren’t legally allowed to collect a pet deposit or pet rent for these animals, the tenant is still responsible for any damage they may cause to the rental unit.

Denial Process

It’s essential to apply consistent criteria to all applicants when screening tenants to ensure fair treatment for everyone. With that in mind, you’re legally allowed to deny a renter’s application based on insufficient income, poor credit history, adverse rental history, criminal background, or if they provide incomplete or false information during screening.

Denial notice: Virginia does not require landlords to issue a denial notice unless they deny an applicant based on an adverse credit history.

Credit/Background denials: If a landlord denies an application based on credit history, the FCRA requires them to issue an adverse action notice, which explains the denial and includes:

• The name of the firm that conducted the background check,
• A reminder of the tenant’s right to dispute inaccuracies, and
• Contact details for the reporting agency (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Document storage: Virginia has no specific laws regarding the storage of denied rental applications or accompanying documents. However, common practice is to store them for at least 1 to 2 years in case of future discrimination claims.