A RE/MAX rental application is the screening form the listing agent will ask you to complete before you can be approved for a lease on a RE/MAX-managed property. Because RE/MAX operates as a franchise network, there is no single downloadable form on remax.com; each office uses its own version, its own fee, and its own criteria. The practical path is the same across offices: get the form from the listing agent, fill it out completely in one pass, attach proof of income, pay the per-adult fee, and wait two to five business days for a decision.
Where to Get the Form
The agent managing the property controls the application. Most offices use an online portal such as QuickLeasePro or ManageBuilding, and the link is usually embedded in the property listing itself. Some agents still hand out a paper copy at the showing. If you can’t locate the link, call the listing agent directly. Searching the main RE/MAX website for a blank form is wasted time; it isn’t there.
What to Gather Before You Start
Pull your documents together before you open the form so you can complete it in one sitting. You’ll need:
- Full legal name, date of birth, and Social Security number. A single transposed digit in the SSN can stall or kill the application, because that number is what links your credit file.
- A government-issued photo ID (driver’s license or passport).
- Every address you’ve lived at for the past three to five years, with contact information for each landlord. Property managers call these references to verify on-time rent and lease compliance. If a prior landlord has retired or a management company has turned over, note that on the form and give whatever alternative contact you can. A blank landlord field invites suspicion even when the gap is innocent.
- Names and phone numbers for personal or professional references. These matter less than landlord references, but a reference who doesn’t answer the phone can slow processing. Pick people who will actually pick up.
Proving Your Income
The industry benchmark is that your gross monthly income should be at least three times the monthly rent. On an $1,800 unit, that means at least $5,400 a month in gross earnings. Some offices combine the income of all adult applicants on the lease, so two people can qualify together even if neither clears the bar alone.
If you work a traditional salaried or hourly job, bring your two most recent pay stubs covering the last 30 to 60 days. The agent may also ask for an employment verification letter confirming your position and salary. Started a new job recently? Bring the offer letter; it establishes your agreed compensation before you’ve accumulated pay stubs.
Self-Employed and Gig Workers
If you work for yourself, expect to produce more paperwork than a W-2 applicant. At minimum, have the last two years of federal tax returns ready, including the Schedule C showing your net business profit. Many property managers treat Schedule C net profit as your qualifying income rather than gross revenue, because that’s what you actually kept. Some will reduce that figure by roughly 15 percent for self-employment taxes, so your net needs to clear the three-times-rent threshold with room to spare.
Agents reviewing gig-worker applications typically also want:
- Three to six months of bank statements showing consistent deposits.
- Any 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC forms from paying clients.
- A current client contract or statement of work if you have ongoing retainer arrangements.
- An earnings dashboard export, if you’re on a platform like a rideshare, delivery, or freelance marketplace.
The more you bring unprompted, the less likely the manager is to kick your file into additional review.
When to Add a Co-Signer
If your income or credit falls short on its own, a co-signer (also called a guarantor) can save the application. The guarantor doesn’t live in the unit; they agree in writing to cover your rent if you stop paying. They fill out a separate application, pay their own application fee, and go through the same screening you do.
The income bar for a guarantor is higher. Where you need three times the rent, a guarantor typically needs to show four to five times. In expensive markets like New York City, some landlords push that number even higher. A guarantor also needs clean credit; the same eviction history or outstanding collections that would sink your application will disqualify them. Choose someone whose finances will actually hold up under scrutiny before you put their name on the form.
Authorizing the Credit and Background Check
A separate section, often a standalone page, asks you to sign a consent allowing the property manager to pull your credit report and run a criminal background check. This written consent is required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Expect to supply details beyond what you gave in the personal section: date of birth, any former legal names or aliases, and sometimes your current employer. These help the screening company match records to the right person.
Signing also triggers protections on your side. The consumer reporting agency compiling your file must follow reasonable procedures to keep its information accurate, and you have the right to dispute anything that turns out to be wrong. That dispute right becomes important fast if the application is denied.
Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals
If you have a service animal or an emotional support animal, the process is not the same as bringing a pet. Under the Fair Housing Act, assistance animals are not pets, and the property manager cannot charge a pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent for one.
For a trained service dog, the landlord’s questions are limited to two: whether the animal is required because of a disability, and what task the animal has been trained to perform. They cannot ask about the nature of your disability or demand medical records.
For an emotional support animal where the disability isn’t visually apparent, the property manager can ask for documentation from a licensed healthcare professional (a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse practitioner, or similar provider) confirming that you have a disability-related need for the animal. The provider doesn’t have to disclose your diagnosis or use a particular form. Online “registration” certificates obtained without a professional evaluation do not count as reliable documentation under HUD guidance. The property manager should decide on a reasonable accommodation request within about 10 days of receiving documentation and cannot charge a fee to process it.
Submitting the Application and Paying the Fee
Once every field is filled out and your documents are attached, submit through the office’s portal, or hand-deliver a hard copy if that’s how the agent operates. A non-refundable application fee is due at submission. It covers the cost of the credit report and background check.
Fees vary by franchise and by market, generally running between $40 and $100 per adult applicant. Some states cap what a landlord can charge, with a handful limiting the fee to $50 or less. Every adult going on the lease pays separately, which adds up quickly for group households. Ask the listing agent for the exact fee before you submit so there are no surprises.
After payment clears, the agent should send an email confirmation of receipt. Processing typically takes two to five business days while the property manager verifies your income, calls your landlord references, and waits for the screening company’s reports.
If Your Application Is Denied
A denial based on information in your credit report or background check triggers specific rights under federal law. The RE/MAX agent or franchise must give you a written adverse action notice that includes:
- The name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting agency that supplied the report.
- A statement that the agency itself did not make the denial decision and cannot explain why you were denied.
- Notice that you have the right to request a free copy of your report from that agency within 60 days.
- Notice that you have the right to dispute any inaccurate or incomplete information in the report.
The most common reasons applications are denied are income below the three-times-rent threshold, a credit score below the office’s minimum, outstanding debt owed to a prior landlord, eviction filings in the past several years, and unverifiable employment or income.
If the denial was based on something you believe is wrong (a debt you already paid, an eviction that belongs to someone else, an account you never opened), dispute it directly with the credit bureau. The bureau must investigate within 30 days and correct any errors it confirms. Once the record is clean, you can reapply.
What a Franchise Cannot Do
Every RE/MAX franchise is bound by the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in rental decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability. A property manager cannot reject you, impose different terms, or steer you toward a different unit because of any of those characteristics. Many state and local laws add protected categories such as sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, or marital status.
Criminal history screening adds a wrinkle. A blanket policy of denying every applicant with any criminal record can violate the Fair Housing Act when it disproportionately excludes people in a protected class without a legitimate safety justification. Federal guidance directs housing providers to make an individualized assessment that weighs the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and what the applicant has done since, rather than applying an automatic disqualification. Arrests that did not lead to a conviction generally cannot be used as a basis for denial at all.
If you believe a RE/MAX franchise denied your application for a discriminatory reason, you can file a complaint with HUD or with your state’s fair housing agency. The complaint process is free, and retaliation against someone who files is itself a violation of the law.