Applying for an apartment means filling out a formal application that gives the landlord the information they need to decide whether to rent to you: personal identification, income and employment details, rental history, and consent to run a credit and background check. You pay a nonrefundable fee when you submit it, and most landlords want your monthly rent to be no more than about 30 percent of your gross income, meaning a $1,500 apartment generally calls for roughly $4,500 a month in pre-tax earnings.
What You’ll Be Asked to Provide
A standard application asks for your full legal name, date of birth, contact information, and a government-issued photo ID such as a driver’s license or passport. You’ll list your Social Security number so the landlord can pull your credit report.
The financial section is the heart of the application. Expect to hand over recent pay stubs, W-2 forms, or tax returns so the landlord can confirm your income covers the rent. Some ask for bank statements showing your current balance. Rental history fills in the rest: previous addresses, how long you lived at each, and contact information for former landlords. Those references will get a call about whether you paid on time, took reasonable care of the place, and followed your lease.
If You’re Self-Employed or Freelance
Applicants without a traditional employer face extra documentation. Instead of a couple of pay stubs, you’ll typically need some mix of the most recent year’s tax return, two to three months of bank statements showing consistent deposits, 1099 forms from clients, or a profit-and-loss statement. Landlords want to see a steady income stream, so pairing tax returns with recent bank activity is usually the strongest approach. A profit-and-loss statement alone may not carry much weight since it’s self-prepared, but it helps when backed by bank records.
What It Costs to Apply
Nearly every landlord charges a one-time, nonrefundable application fee to cover the cost of pulling your credit report and running a background check. Fees typically range from $25 to $100, with most falling between $30 and $75. Some jurisdictions cap the fee at the landlord’s actual screening cost, so the amount varies by location. Because the fee is nonrefundable whether you’re approved or not, applying to ten places at $50 each adds up fast. Target your applications instead of blanketing the market.
A holding deposit is a separate payment some landlords request after you apply. It takes the apartment off the market while your application is processed, usually for about two weeks, and often runs a few hundred dollars. It’s commonly credited toward your security deposit or first month’s rent if you sign the lease. Whether you get it back if you change your mind depends on the agreement you sign. If the written terms say the deposit is forfeited when an approved applicant backs out, the landlord can keep it. Read the holding deposit agreement before paying, and get the refund terms in writing.
What the Landlord Checks
Once you submit everything, screening typically covers four areas.
Credit. Landlords pull your credit report to look at payment history, outstanding debts, and overall creditworthiness. Late payments, collections, and high balances relative to your limits are red flags. A consumer report can include credit characteristics, rental history, and criminal history, all governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.1Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know
Background. A separate background screening may review criminal records, eviction history, and sex offender registries. Tenant screening companies compile these reports, which are also classified as consumer reports under the FCRA.2Federal Trade Commission. What Tenant Background Screening Companies Need to Know About the Fair Credit Reporting Act If a report contains errors, such as records belonging to someone else or offenses that have been expunged, you have the right to dispute them.
Rental history. The landlord calls your previous landlords to ask about payment consistency, care of the property, and whether you followed your lease. An eviction on your record is the single biggest obstacle in rental screening. If you have one, being upfront about it and explaining the circumstances goes further than hoping the landlord won’t find it.
Income and employment. Landlords verify that you actually hold the job you listed, usually by calling your employer or reviewing the documents you submitted. Most look for rent to be no more than about 30 percent of your gross monthly income, which means earning roughly three times the monthly rent.
Does Applying Hurt Your Credit Score
Most rental credit checks are soft inquiries. They show up on your report but don’t lower your score, which means you can apply to several apartments without any credit impact. Some landlords do run a hard inquiry, which can temporarily lower your score by a few points. If you’re applying to multiple places in a short window, the effect of one hard pull is generally minor. Most credit scoring models group similar hard inquiries made within a 14- to 45-day window into a single inquiry for scoring purposes, though this grouping is less consistently applied to rental checks than it is to mortgage or auto loan shopping. Ask the landlord before you apply whether they run a soft or hard pull, especially if you’re also shopping for a mortgage or car loan.
What a Landlord Isn’t Allowed to Do
Federal law prohibits landlords from rejecting you, charging you more, or setting different terms because of your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices Many state and local laws add protections for sexual orientation, gender identity, source of income, and other categories. An application question that seems designed to screen for a protected characteristic is a warning sign.
Criminal History
Landlords can consider criminal convictions, but they can’t apply blanket policies that reject everyone with any record. HUD guidance says a criminal screening policy must account for how long ago the conviction occurred, the nature and severity of the offense, and whether the policy is actually tied to a legitimate safety interest. Denying applicants based solely on an arrest that never led to a conviction is not permissible. The one statutory exception is that landlords may deny applicants convicted of manufacturing or distributing controlled substances.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
Service and Emotional Support Animals
If you have a disability and need a service animal or emotional support animal, the landlord must allow the animal as a reasonable accommodation even where the property has a no-pets policy. They cannot charge a pet deposit or pet fee for an assistance animal. If your disability and need for the animal aren’t apparent, the landlord may request reliable documentation but cannot demand details about the nature of your disability.4HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals
If You’re Denied
A denial triggers specific legal rights. When a landlord rejects your application based entirely or partly on information in a credit report or background check, federal law requires them to send you an adverse action notice. That notice must include the name, address, and phone number of the screening company, a statement that the screening company did not make the denial decision, and notice of your right to get a free copy of the report within 60 days and to dispute any inaccurate information.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports If the landlord used a credit score in the decision, the notice must also include the score itself, the score range, and the key factors that hurt your score.1Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know
This is where most applicants leave money on the table. Request that free copy of the report and actually read it. Screening reports sometimes contain errors: criminal records belonging to someone with a similar name, debts that have already been paid, or outdated information that should have aged off. If you find inaccuracies, dispute them with the screening company. You can also ask the landlord directly which information led to the denial and explain the circumstances.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What Should I Do If My Rental Application Is Denied Because of a Tenant Screening Report
Common denial reasons include a credit score below the landlord’s threshold, income that doesn’t meet the three-times-rent benchmark, a prior eviction, or negative references from a former landlord. Knowing the specific reason helps you address the issue before your next application, whether that means paying down a debt, gathering stronger income documentation, or lining up a co-signer.
Using a Co-signer or Guarantor
If your income, credit, or rental history doesn’t meet a landlord’s requirements on its own, a co-signer or guarantor can get you across the line. The two roles work differently. A co-signer signs the lease alongside you, has the right to live in the apartment, and shares equal responsibility for rent from day one. A guarantor signs a separate agreement promising to cover rent if you don’t pay, but has no right to occupy the unit.
Either way, the person backing you goes through the same screening you did. Landlords typically require a guarantor to earn significantly more than the primary tenant, often around five to eight times the monthly rent annually, because the guarantor’s income must cover both their own expenses and yours if things go wrong. A co-signer’s income requirements vary but tend to be similarly high. Both will need to provide pay stubs, tax returns, and consent to a credit check. Before asking someone to sign, make sure they understand they’re legally on the hook if you stop paying.
After You’re Approved
Most landlords respond within one to three business days. The timeline can stretch to a week or more if references are slow to respond or the landlord needs more documentation. Once approved, you’ll sign a lease and pay upfront costs that typically include a security deposit and the first month’s rent. Some landlords also collect last month’s rent at signing.
Security deposits generally equal one month’s rent, which puts the national average somewhere in the $1,500 to $2,000 range for 2026 based on current median rents. In high-cost cities, deposits can run considerably higher. Many states cap the maximum a landlord can charge, often at one or two months’ rent, so local rules may limit what you owe.
The Move-In Walkthrough
Before you unpack a single box, walk through the apartment with the landlord or property manager and document its current condition. Take photos and videos of every room, including close-ups of any existing damage like scuffed walls, stained carpet, cracked tiles, or scratched countertops. Both you and the landlord should sign a written checklist noting every imperfection. This record is your proof that the damage existed before you arrived, and it’s the best protection against unfair security deposit deductions when you move out. Landlords can’t deduct for normal wear and tear like faded paint or minor scuff marks, but disputes about what counts as “normal” are far easier to win when you have date-stamped photos from move-in day.
How to Spot Rental Application Scams
Scammers routinely copy legitimate rental listings, swap in their own contact information, and post the fake version on another site. Someone searching for a first apartment is the ideal target because they may not know what a normal application process looks like. The FTC identifies several red flags:7Federal Trade Commission. Rental Listing Scams
- The rent is suspiciously low compared to similar units in the neighborhood. Search the address online to see if the same property appears under a different owner or rental company.
- You can’t see the property before paying. A landlord who claims to be out of the country, refuses to show the unit, or demands payment before a tour is almost certainly running a scam.
- They want payment by wire transfer, gift card, or cryptocurrency. Legitimate landlords accept checks, money orders, or electronic bank transfers. Once you send money by wire or gift card, it’s essentially gone.
- There’s pressure to act immediately. Scammers create urgency to keep you from verifying the listing.
- No lease is offered. A real landlord provides a written lease before you hand over money.
If you suspect a scam, report it to local law enforcement, the website where the listing appeared, and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.7Federal Trade Commission. Rental Listing Scams