Georgia Rental Application

What information should landlords collect?

To identify ideal tenants, landlords should gather essential information from applicants to help guide their selection process. As such, Georgia application forms typically ask for the following details from interested parties:

• Personal information: Full names of the applicant, co-applicants, or co-signers, along with contact details, dates of birth, Social Security Numbers, and emergency contacts
• Financial information: Income sources, employment status, rental payment history, and creditworthiness
• Landlord and employer references: Verification of current employment and rental history with previous landlords
• Rental history: Where the applicant currently lives and where they’ve lived in the past few years
• Animals: Information on whether the applicant has pets, including the number, breed, size, age, and whether they qualify as emotional support animals (ESAs) or service animals
• Smoking status: If the applicant smokes and whether they plan to smoke on the property
• Vehicle information: Details such as make, model, year, and license plate number of the applicant’s vehicle(s)

Because the information landlords obtain from applications is sensitive, both federal and state laws regulate what landlords may request and how they may use that information to select tenants.

To help landlords like you, TurboTenant allows users to send and receive fillable rental application templates that uphold Georgia laws (fact-checked by our lawyers) with every free account.

Pre-Screener

While Georgia landlord-tenant laws don’t require pre-screening, it’s an efficient first step that helps landlords whittle down the pool of potential tenants.

By letting interested parties fill out a pre-screener, landlords gain a quick glimpse at basic details like:

• Income,
• Employment status,
• Whether the applicant has pets,
• The number of occupants,
• Self-reported credit score,
• And more.

By collecting this information from the start, pre-screener questionnaires make it easy for landlords to filter out poor fits before ever requesting an official Georgia rental application form.

Federal Application Laws

Federal regulations govern Georgia tenant screening, and landlords must comply with these laws when reviewing applicants and conducting tenant background checks in 2026. Staying compliant with the following laws will improve your chances of executing a fair application process and avoiding legal issues.

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

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

Asking leading questions that could reveal protected information, such as “What country were you born in?”, is illegal in all 50 states.

The FHA applies to landlords, property owners, property managers, employees, and anyone involved in marketing rentals or selecting tenants (42 U.S.C. §§ 3601–3619).

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA): This federal law prohibits discrimination in all transactions (including rental applications) that involve credit checks or payment arrangements.

Much like the Fair Housing Act, the ECOA prohibits landlords from accepting or denying applicants based on:

• Race,
• Color,
• Religion,
• National origin,
• Sex,
• Marital status,
• Age (if the applicant is legally able to enter a contract),
• Receipt of public assistance income, and
• If the applicant has exercised rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1691–1691f).

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Under the ADA landlords cannot discriminate against applicants with disabilities and requires property owners to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled tenants (like allowing a live-in caretaker or permitting a service animal in a no-pet property).

To reduce the risk of discrimination claims, landlords should avoid application questions that attempt to reveal a candidate’s disability. For example, asking “Do you have a mental health condition?” could land you in hot water with federal housing authorities (42 U.S.C. §§ 12101–12213).

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA): The FCRA sets rules for how landlords can use credit and background reports when screening tenants.

For starters, landlords must obtain written consent from applicants before pulling these reports. Furthermore, if a landlord denies an applicant based on findings in either report, they must issue the applicant an adverse action notice that includes the name and contact details of the reporting agency (15 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.).

Civil Rights Act of 1866: This foundational federal law gives all U.S. citizens the same rights to own, lease, and use property, regardless of race or color. These regulations aim to eradicate racial discrimination in all property transactions, including renting (42 U.S.C. § 1981).

Georgia Application Laws

In addition to federal regulations, Georgia state laws also dictate what information landlords can request on a residential rental application and whether they can legally deny an applicant based on the information they uncover.

The Georgia Fair Housing Law more or less mirrors the federal FHA and aims to protect tenants from discrimination during the application process.

However, unlike some states that offer additional protections beyond the federal legislation listed above, Georgia’s law covers only the same protected classes and includes no additional categories for rental applicants or tenants (Ga. Code Ann. § 8-3-200 through § 8-3-223).

Source of income: Georgia law does not prohibut landlords from discriminating based on an applicant’s source of income. Atlanta, however, passed legislation in 2020 that prohibits landlords from rejecting applicants solely because of their source of income, including those who use federal housing vouchers to pay rent (Ordinance 20-O-1155).

Criminal history: Landlords in Georgia can review an applicant’s criminal history as part of the application process. On the other hand, the federal FHA prohibits blanket bans on applicants with criminal histories, meaning landlords must consider the context of a conviction before deciding whether to approve or deny an applicant.

Eviction history: Landlords in Georgia may take into account an applicant’s past eviction history when choosing a tenant.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Georgia law does not protect tenants from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. However, the federal FHA prohibits sex discrimination, which includes sexual orientation and gender identity.

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

In Georgia, landlords may prohibit pets in their rental units.

However, the FHA does not consider emotional support animals (ESAs) pets, meaning they are exempt from pet-related restrictions. As such, landlords cannot prohibit or charge pet fees, pet rent, or pet deposits for ESAs or service animals, though tenants are still responsible for any damage their animals cause. Landlords must also make reasonable accommodations for disabled tenants with service animals.

Pet information: During the application process, landlords should ask whether applicants have pets, ESAs, or service animals. If landlords permit pets, they should include a section in the application to collect details like number, type, breed, size, and age.

Fair Housing Act: As mentioned earlier, the FHA protects applicants with ESAs or service animals. Landlords cannot charge pet-related fees or deny housing based on the animal’s breed, size, or weight, even if the animal doesn’t meet their rental unit’s pet regulations.

Denial Process

If a landlord decides not to approve a tenant, they must lawfully handle the denial and apply the same screening standards to all applicants. Valid reasons for rejecting a Georgia rental application include low income, bad credit, prior evictions, criminal history, or false or incomplete application details.

Denial notice: Georgia law does not require landlords to inform rental applicants of a rejection, nor do they need to explain why they denied the applicant.

Credit/background denials: Under the FCRA, if a landlord denies an application based on credit history, they must provide a written notice explaining that they decided because of information found in the applicant’s credit report (15 U.S.C. § 1681m).

This notice must include:

• The name of the organization that conducted the credit and background check,
• A statement informing the applicant of their right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information, and
• The contact information of the agency that provided the report.

Document storage: As of 2026, Georgia law does not require landlords to retain records of application denials, but storing rejected applications and screening reports for up to 2 years is standard industry practice. Keeping these documents can help landlords provide a transparent record of the screening process and defend themselves against potential discrimination claims from applicants.