Make a rental application form online in minutes: pick the sections, add your own questions, preview it on a phone, and share a private link. Applicants apply without an account, and their answers arrive in your Zenant inbox.
Free to build and preview with no account. Publishing a link and receiving applications requires a free Zenant account, created here. No credit card, and no fee to review responses. Existing Zenant accounts need a paid plan to publish.
Prefer paper? Get the free printable rental application.
Choose the standard sections you need and add your own questions.
See exactly what applicants see, at phone or desktop width.
Create a free account and get a private link to share.
Read every response in your Zenant Applicants inbox.
Conditional questions and screening are not part of this tool. For applications tied to a unit you manage in Zenant, see online rental applications.
A rental application collects the same facts from every applicant so you can compare them fairly. These are the sections most landlords use, and why each one matters.
Full legal name, email and phone. You need them to reach the applicant, and the legal name to match an ID and a lease later.
When they want to move in and how many people will live in the home. Ask for the names of the other adults so each one can apply too.
Current address, how long they have lived there, the current rent, and the current landlord's name and phone. A current landlord is often the best reference you will get.
Employer, position, time with the employer, and gross monthly income, plus any other income they want considered. Use it to compare income with the rent; the free rent-to-income calculator does the math.
A personal or professional reference, and someone to call in an emergency once they are a tenant.
Whether pets will live in the home, with type and size, and the vehicles that will need parking. Assistance animals are not pets, and the form tells applicants they do not need to list them.
The applicant confirms the answers are true and complete. It sets expectations and gives you a basis to act if something turns out to be false.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability and familial status, and many states and cities add more, such as source of income, age or marital status. Leave off questions that ask about these directly or indirectly, for example:
The builder leaves these out and flags some risky wording in custom questions, but it is not a legal review. Rules differ by state and city, including on criminal and eviction history questions, so check yours.
Many landlords charge a fee to cover screening, but the rules vary widely: some states cap the amount, some require it to match the actual cost, and some limit when you can collect it. The free form here does not charge applicants anything. If you charge a fee another way, check your state and local rules first.
An online form is quicker for applicants on a phone, cannot be handed back half complete, and puts every response in one inbox. Paper still helps at an open house. Use both: build the online form above, and print the free printable rental application for anyone who asks for paper.
A blank rental application form to print or save as a PDF, for applicants who would rather fill in paper.
Open the toolFill in the tenant, property, amount and date, then print the receipt or save it as a PDF.
Open the toolSee the income an applicant needs for a rent, or the most rent an income supports, at 2.5x, 3x or your own rule.
Open the tool