An Oregon rental application form is the document landlords use to collect financial and personal information that relates to a potential tenancy. The data helps you when screening applicants and can ensure that you rent to a suitable applicant.
You're not required to hire a lawyer to create a form, and there are templates at Doorloop that can help. Let's learn what to include in yours!
Tenants and landlords must provide certain information on the Oregon rental application form so that it complies with state laws.
Landlords can ask for:
Likewise, landlords must disclose this information:
Sometimes, the information provided varies, especially for different rental types like residential or commercial. Either way, both parties should get a clear picture about the lease's nature before signing any agreement.
State and federal laws are there to protect a potential tenant from unfair discrimination throughout the application process. Therefore, the Federal Fair Housing Act says that it is illegal for a landlord to discriminate against these protected classes:
Oregon state law goes further with additional protection for these classes:
You cannot ask about these criteria in person or in writing and can't use them to make your decision based on the rental application. It's illegal to ask about those pieces of information on a rental application form or use them in any way.
There are exemptions to the Fair Housing laws in Oregon, which include:
Typically, a landlord or agent should meet these criteria when charging an application fee to complete the Oregon rental application:
The landlord may only ask an applicant to pay one charge for the screening process in a 60-day period, regardless of how many they have applied to that the landlord owns. If the landlord fills the unit before the screening, they must refund that application fee within a reasonable amount of time.
Oregon doesn't allow you to charge a fee that might exceed the average actual cost of finishing the screening process, which often includes professional fees required for manual screening. Landlords should provide a receipt and copy of the background check according to guidelines from the Fair Credit Report Act.
If the applicant is approved, the landlord can charge a security deposit. Oregon state law claims that there's no limit as to what the security deposit amount could be. However, the landlord must provide a receipt for that security deposit, including that amount in the lease agreement. There are no holding requirements necessary for security deposits, though.
The screening process continues by using the information on the Oregon rental application to conduct a background check. These include:
The landlord must tell potential tenants the address and name of the credit report and screening company used.
Before the landlord can run credit checks on the tenant's information in the rental application, they must get written consent from the person. The Federal Credit Reporting Act requires it. Written permission can be included as a statement on the rental application or separately through another consent form.
Evictions are accessible to the public through the online record searching system in Oregon. Agents and landlords can use them to complete the screening for evictions instead of using a paid service. While this isn't necessarily part of the Oregon rental application, you should use whatever information you get to conduct this search.
The steps to take include:
If you get a consumer report on an applicant, including evictions and criminal history, you can take an adverse action against them by:
However, you must send them a notice letter called an adverse action notice if you do so. It's required, even if you didn't use the report information explicitly to make the decision.
The notice should include an explanation saying that the landlord didn't take the adverse action or explain why it was made and information about the consumer reporting agency used. This must be sent within 60 days.
We know it's difficult to create a rental application that's legal and gives you access to the data necessary to vet potential renters.
You can easily create your own Oregon rental application. Doorloop makes it easy to download the Word document, PDF, or customize it directly from the website. While you're at it, you can build a residential lease agreement that's ironclad to ensure that the process runs smoothly.
DoorLoop offers many other services, such as project management software and more. Request a demo today and see how easy it is to stay organized with Doorloop on your side!