A Washington, D.C. Rental Application allows landlords to assess potential tenants before granting a lease agreement.
According to D.C. regulations, landlords are prohibited from requesting information about an applicant’s past criminal history. Additionally, before accepting a rental application, landlords must furnish the eligibility criteria upon which approval decisions will be based.
State Laws
Here is crucial information about renting in Washington, D.C., including application fees, security deposits, and more. Ensure you’re aware of the state laws before moving forward with a Washington, D.C. lease agreement.
Application Fees
Before requesting any fee or deposit from a prospective tenant, a landlord must first disclose the purpose and amount of each fee or deposit, whether required or optional, and whether the fee or deposit is refundable or non-refundable.
Security Deposits
The landlord can ask for a security deposit when an applicant gets approval. In turn, the landlord must also provide a receipt unless a personal check with the payment’s purpose is used.
The law also mandates landlords to place security deposits into an interest-bearing escrow account within 30 days of receiving them, even if they’re from multiple properties.
Pet Deposits
Landlords can request a pet deposit, but this rule doesn’t apply to service animals and emotional support animals. The entire security deposit, however, cannot exceed one month’s rent. It’s important to note that this law doesn’t prevent landlords from charging a monthly pet fee.
Landlord Disclosure
Under § 42–3541.02(c)(1)(A), the landlord is required to disclose their eligibility criteria before accepting a prospective tenant’s rental application fee. The criteria can include financial factors like credit and income, employment, criminal history, and rental history.
Eligibility Criteria for Evaluating Pending Criminal Activity
After extending a conditional offer, a landlord can only consider pending criminal accusations or convictions within the past 7 years if they pertain to certain specific crimes.
These crimes, whether committed within the District of Columbia or any other state, include a range of serious offenses like arson, burglary, assault with intent to harm, murder, sexual abuse, child exploitation, terrorism, fraud, and drug-related crimes (§ 42–3541.02(d)).
When evaluating an applicant’s criminal history, the landlord can only factor in these offenses.
How To Conduct an Eviction Record Search
In Washington, D.C., eviction records are part of public records and can be accessed by anyone. This can be accomplished through a third-party screening program or manual searches at no cost. To get started:
- Visit the Washington, D.C. Superior Court’s eAccess System.
- Complete the captcha code.
- Enter the potential renter’s name in the “Name Search” tab to access civil court documents. Look for “Landlord & Tenant Branch” under “Case Type.”
- Click “Search” to view the records.
It’s important to note that the D.C. Superior Court might seal certain eviction records. These situations include cases where the tenant owed $600 or less, the eviction resulted from a housing assistance program, or a settlement agreement was reached between the landlord and tenant.
Sample
Below is an example of a standard Washington, D.C. rental application. You may download this form for free or use our document builder to create a customized application.
