Wyoming Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

A tenant screening process is only as good as the information it collects. Make sure to leave nothing to chance by using a free rental application template.

TurboTenant’s online application template helps landlords stay organized by including a set of standard screening questions to ensure every form is complete and compliant. Plus, it’s fully digital, so landlords can manage applications on their own time, even while camping out in Grand Teton National Park.

A free, fillable Wyoming rental application should collect:

• Personal information: Names of applicants (along with co-applicants and co-signers), dates of birth, Social Security numbers, email and phone number, vehicles, smoking status, and emergency contacts
• Financial information: Income and employment status
• Rental history: Current, previous, and past residences
• References: Professional and rental references
• Pet information: Details about pets and service animals
• Screening authorization: Written consent to run credit, criminal, and eviction background checks
• Move-in details: Desired move-in date, lease term preferences, and reason for moving

Next, we’ll review residential rental application laws, cover the role of pre-screeners, outline best practices for pets, and explain how to keep the denial process fully compliant with the law.

Pre-Screener 

With 162 billion spam emails sent every day, the average person already deals with enough junk. Needless to say, landlords don’t need to add unqualified applications to the mix.

Stop wasting time on applicants who don’t meet baseline criteria and start filtering renter leads with a pre-screener.

When potential tenants find a listing online, pre-screeners collect:

• Name, phone number, and email address,
• Move-in timeline,
• Employment status,
• Income details,
• Self-reported credit score,
• Household size,
• Pet information, and
• Smoking status.

If the information in the pre-screener matches the property’s criteria, landlords can send a full rental application form to qualified applicants. But while landlords can use this quick set of questions to streamline the selection process, it should never replace the standard application.

Federal Application Laws

From way up north in Sheridan to down south in Laramie, all landlords in Wyoming must follow federal application laws. These regulations create a level playing field for all applicants.

Fair Housing Act (FHA): Landlords can’t discriminate against applicants based on the following protected characteristics:

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

Landlords, property managers, and employees responsible for selecting renters can’t deny applicants or ask questions based on these protected characteristics. The law also prohibits discriminatory advertising and unequal rental terms (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): This federal law prohibits landlords from discriminating against applicants who receive public assistance or have lived in public housing, outlines how landlords assess credit reports, and sets reporting guidelines for applicants (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): According to the ADA, landlords can’t deny an applicant solely based on a disability, and they must accommodate the renter’s condition (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): Landlords must obtain an applicant’s written consent before pulling a credit report and must send an adverse action notice if they deny an applicant based on credit history (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: Landlords must treat all applicants equally and can’t discriminate based on race or color (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

Wyoming Application Laws 

Landlords must also follow the Wyoming Fair Housing Act and state landlord-tenant laws when renting out property. Here’s what you need to know:

The Wyoming Fair Housing Act reinforces the FHA at the state level and does not add any additional protected characteristics. State law does not prohibit landlords from considering an applicant’s source of income, criminal history, eviction history, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age when selecting a tenant.

Portable tenant screening reports: Wyoming allows landlords to accept portable tenant screening reports but does not regulate their use or require landlords to accept them.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

Most households include a loyal sidekick, whether it’s a dog, cat, or ferret. But are enough Wyoming landlords factoring pets and service animals into the tenant screening process?

Here’s what landlords should know about a renter’s animals, including household pets, certified service animals, and emotional support animals (ESAs).:

Pet information: Use a Wyoming rental application to ask whether the applicant has a pet, an ESA, or a service animal. Collect details such as the number of animals, their names, breeds, weights, and vaccination statuses.

Fair Housing Act: The FHA prohibits landlords from:

• Discriminating against applicants based on an ESA or service animal,
• Charging a pet deposit, pet fee, or monthly pet rent for ESAs or service animals, or
• Denying a renter based on the breed, size, or weight of an ESA or service animal.

Landlords can hold tenants accountable for property damage caused by animals, regardless of the tenant’s service status.

Denial Process

No landlord wants to deal with discrimination claims. Protect against them by handling denials consistently and in a legally compliant manner across all applicants. In Wyoming, landlords can deny an application based on:

• Insufficient income,
• Credit history,
• Rental history,
• Criminal background, or
• False or incomplete information.

Denial notice: Wyoming law does not require landlords to provide applicants with a denial notice.

Credit/background denials: If landlords deny an applicant based on a credit or background check, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires them to send an adverse action notice that includes the reporting agency’s name, contact information, and a statement of the applicant’s right to dispute errors (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

Document storage: Wyoming law does not require landlords to retain application documents or screening reports, but doing so is a best practice in the residential rental industry. With that in mind, always keep records for at least 2 years to help defend against discrimination claims.