Rental Application
A rental application provides information necessary for a landlord or property manager to determine a tenant’s background and ability to pay rent. Some landlords require online applications. Others may have you fill out a paper form.
Application fees generally range from $25 to $100, with $35 to $75 being most common. These fees pay for background and credit checks and are usually non-refundable. Missouri does not regulate application fees.
Information that landlords commonly require includes:
- Positive identification (driver’s license, non-driver ID or passport)
- Contact information (email address, personal phone, work phone)
- Proof of income: W-2s, current pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns
- Social Security Number
Note: A landlord cannot require you to provide your Social Security Number, but the landlord can legally reject you if you decline to provide it. Landlords typically use SSNs to run background and credit checks, but they have ways of doing these checks without an SSN. Landlords also can use an SSN to help collect a court judgment if you violate the lease and the court rules that you owe money.
Some landlords may ask for additional information such as:
- Confirmation of current employment
- Personal or professional references
- Contact information for previous landlords
- Pet information, if applicable
Read more about rental applications.
Landlords are prohibited by law from discriminating against rental applicants because of their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex (gender), disability, and familial status. Read more.
Leasing
If the landlord or property manage approves your application, you will need to sign the lease, which is a binding contract. Although one-year leases are most common, some landlords may offer shorter or longer lease terms or month-to-month leases.
Many landlords offer online lease signing – in fact, many now require it – and you agree to the lease with an electronic signature. If online leasing is not required, you will be asked to physically sign a paper copy of the lease.
It is important to read the lease with care because you will be making important commitments that the landlord can enforce through court action if you violate the lease. If you have questions about the lease, ask them and get answers before signing.
You likely will be required to pay the first month’s rent and a security deposit before you will be allowed to move in. In Missouri, landlords are prohibited from charging a security deposit that exceeds two months’ rent. For competitive reasons, most landlords require a security deposit of one month’s rent, and some do not require a deposit at all. Read more about security deposits.
Move-In
Before you move in to your rental unit, you should:
- Ask when and where you will get the keys
- Ask about procedures for requesting maintenance and repairs
- Arrange for any utilities that the lease requires you to pay for.
Important: Before moving in any of your furniture or other items, carefully inspect the unit to see if there is any pre-existing damage, including stains, cracks, holes, scuff marks, carpet tears, other flooring issues, broken blinds, cracked windows, missing screens, etc. If any appliances are included, make sure they are in good condition and operational. If you find any damages and/or problems with appliances, document them by writing them down and taking photographs. Date and sign the written document, keep a copy for yourself, and give a copy to the landlord as soon as possible. Ask the landlord to correct any conditions that are dangerous or that will interfere with your use of the premises. Be sure to preserve the written document and the photographs so they will be available after your lease ends. This is important so you will be able to prove pre-existing damage if the landlord claims that you caused it and tries to withhold money from your security deposit (and possibly sue you) for damage you didn’t cause.
Note: Photographs are superior to video if you need to prove pre-existing damage in court at a later time. This is because judges prefer to view photographs rather than video and because photographs generally have higher resolution than video.
During the lease, if you make any requests to the landlord to correct unsatisfactory conditions, do so in writing and preserve those written requests. If the conditions make the premises fully or partially uninhabitable for your continued occupancy, you may be able to break the lease and/or defend against claims the landlord might make against you, and your records of requests for repairs will be crucial if there is a lawsuit. Read more about habitability issues under Defenses on the Rent-and-Possession Evictions page and under Common tenant claims on the Counterclaims page.
Move-Out
When you’re ready to move out of your leased rental unit, you should understand that you have a legal obligation to return the unit to the landlord in the same condition it was in when you first occupied the unit, with the exception of ordinary wear and tear. See the Security Deposits page for information about what constitutes ordinary wear and tear. This means that you should:
- leave the unit in as clean a condition as when you moved in, and
- repair any damage exceeding ordinary wear and tear if you are able to do so.
After you have moved your belongings out of the unit and before you surrender keys to the landlord, take photographs showing all parts of all rooms to document the condition in which you left the unit. Safeguard these photos in case the landlord disputes the move-out conditions.
Under the Missouri security deposit law, the landlord is required to notify you either in person or in writing of the date and time when the landlord will inspect the premises to determine whether to deduct anything from your deposit for damage to the unit. You have the right to be present during this inspection, and it is highly recommended that you be present so you can point out any damage that already existed when you moved in and dispute any claims by the landlord that certain damage exceeds ordinary wear and tear.
See the Security Deposits page for other legal requirements relating to your deposit.
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