Tennessee Rental Application

What type of information should landlords collect?

To find qualified tenants, landlords must collect key information supporting their decision-making. A standard Tennessee rental application will typically request the following details from each applicant:

• Personal information: Full legal names of all applicants, co-applicants, or co-signers, plus contact details, date of birth, Social Security Numbers, and emergency contacts
• Financial information: Employment status, income sources, rental payment history, and indicators of creditworthiness
• References: Current employer and previous landlord contact information for verification
• Rental history: The applicant’s current address and a record of where they’ve lived in recent years
• Animals: Whether the applicant has pets, including type, breed, size, age, and if any qualify as service or emotional support animals (ESAs)
• Smoking status: Whether the applicant smokes and their intention to smoke on the property
• Vehicle details: Make, model, year, and license plate number of all vehicles associated with the applicant

Because rental applications involve sensitive personal information, federal and Tennessee laws set clear limits on what landlords can ask for and how to use the information when selecting tenants.

To keep you compliant, TurboTenant allows users to send and receive unlimited Tennessee-specific rental applications with every free account. And worry not: our legal experts review state laws regularly to help ensure you’re compliant from the jump.

Pre-Screener

Tennessee law doesn’t require landlords to pre-screen tenants, but doing so can save them significant time from sorting through unqualified applicants. It’s an effortless way to narrow down your applicant pool before diving into the complete rental application process.

A pre-screener lets you gather key details upfront, like income, employment, pets, number of occupants, and more, so you can identify strong candidates and filter out poor fits from the start.

Federal Application Laws

Federal regulations govern rental applications in Tennessee, and landlords must follow the rules when evaluating applicants and conducting background checks. Complying with the following national laws will ensure a fair screening process and reduce your risk of legal issues.

Fair Housing Act (FHA) 

The Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from discriminating against rental applicants based on the following protected characteristics:

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

Questions that attempt to reveal protected information, like “Where were you born?” are off-limits under the law.

The Fair Housing Act applies to landlords, property managers, employees, and anyone advertising rental properties or selecting tenants.

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)

The Equal Credit Opportunity Act bans discrimination in any transaction involving credit checks or payment terms, which includes rental applications.

Similar to the Fair Housing Act, the ECOA prohibits landlords from approving or rejecting applicants based on the following protected factors:

• Race
• Color
• Religion
• National origin
• Sex
• Marital status
• Age (if the applicant is legally able to enter a contract)
• Receipt of public assistance income
• Whether the applicant has exercised rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act protects applicants with disabilities from discrimination. It requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for them, like installing a wheelchair ramp or a visual smoke detector in a rental property.

To avoid discrimination claims, landlords should avoid questions that could expose information about a tenant’s disability. For instance, asking “Do you have any medical conditions I should be aware of?” could lead to a Fair Housing violation.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act outlines how landlords must handle credit and background reports during the tenant screening process.

Landlords must obtain written permission from applicants before accessing their credit or background reports. If a landlord denies an applicant based on information in either report, they must provide an adverse action notice that includes the name and contact details of the reporting agency.

Civil Rights Act of 1866

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 guarantees all U.S. citizens equal rights to own, lease, and use property, regardless of race or color.

Tennessee Application Laws

Beyond federal guidelines, Tennessee state law also governs the type of information landlords can request in a rental application and under what circumstances they can legally reject an applicant based on that information.

Tennessee protects renters under the Tennessee Human Rights Act, which mirrors the federal Fair Housing Act in many ways. The act aims to prevent discrimination in the tenant screening process based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability, or familial status.

Source of income: Tennessee law does not prohibit landlords from discriminating against rental applicants based on their source of income. Landlords can legally refuse to rent to those who intend to use housing vouchers, such as Section 8, or other public assistance to pay rent.

Criminal history: In Tennessee, landlords can legally consider an applicant’s criminal history during the screening process, but they must do so carefully due to the federal Fair Housing Act. Policies that result in blanket denials for applicants with criminal histories can lead to discrimination claims if they negatively impact certain protected classes.

Eviction history: Tennessee landlords can factor an applicant’s eviction history into tenant selection decisions.

Sexual orientation & gender identity: Tennessee law doesn’t offer specific protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. With that in mind, the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits sex-based discrimination, which the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) interprets to include both sexual orientation and gender identity (HUD No. 21-021).

Pets, ESAs, and Service Animals

In Tennessee, landlords can enforce no-pet policies in their rental properties.

However, the federal Fair Housing Act classifies service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs) separately from pets, so landlords cannot apply pet restrictions to them. As such, landlords must accommodate tenants with disabilities who need assistance animals.

Also, landlords must not charge pet fees, rent, or deposits for service animals or emotional support animals living with a tenant. That said, tenants remain responsible for any damage their animals cause within a rental unit.

Pet information: During the application process, landlords should ask applicants whether they have pets, emotional support animals (ESAs), or service animals. If they permit pets, the application form should ask for details such as the number of pets, type, breed, size, and age.

Fair Housing Act: As noted earlier, federal fair housing laws protect applicants who have emotional support animals or service animals. Landlords cannot deny housing or impose pet-related fees based on the animal’s breed, size, or weight, even if those restrictions would normally violate the rental’s pet policy.

Denial Process

Landlords must lawfully deny applicants and apply consistent screening criteria to all prospective tenants when denying them. In Tennessee, valid reasons for rejection include insufficient income, poor credit, past evictions, criminal history, or false or incomplete information on the application.

Denial notice: Tennessee law doesn’t require landlords to inform applicants of a rental denial or explain the reason. However, federal law may require notification if the denial is based on a credit or background report.

Credit/background denials: Under the FCRA, when a landlord rejects a rental application due to information in a credit report, they must issue a written notice saying that they based the decision on details found in the applicant’s credit history.

This notice must include:

• The name of the company that performed the credit or background check
• A statement notifying the applicant of their right to dispute any information within the report
• The contact details of the agency that supplied the report

Document storage: Tennessee law doesn’t require landlords to retain records of rental application denials, but doing so is considered a best practice in the industry. Holding onto these documents can help protect against discrimination claims and offer a clear record of the landlord’s decisions while selecting tenants.