The Florida Rental Application Form is a legal document used by property owners to determine the suitability of a prospective tenant before signing a legally binding lease agreement with them. The document helps landlords reduce the chances of incurring losses due to delayed rent payments, defaulting, or lease breakage.
A standard rental application form requires applicants to fill in personal details like their full name, date of birth, phone number, email address, social security number, and driver’s license number, if applicable.
The form also collects information about the potential tenant’s rental and/or eviction history, employment history, and current income.
The applicant is also required to consent to have their background and credit score potentially checked by the landlord in order to verify the details provided by them on the form. This is required to ascertain whether the prospective tenant is able to pay the periodical rent on time.
However, do note that asking for certain pieces of information is prohibited by the federal Fair Housing Act in order to prevent landlords from discriminating against potential tenants. According to the law, the application form cannot ask for (or base a decision on) details regarding a potential tenant’s race, color, nationality, religion, sex, familial status, or disabilities.
However, some exceptions and exemptions to the law of Fair Housing do exist.