A Rental Application: Fill & Download for Free

I read an excellent essay on just this topic sometime in the past year or so. The writer was a black woman living in the U.S. who had a white sounding name. Her answer to why she gave her daughter such an obviously black sounding name could be summed up in a single word: disappointment. The writer said that once she started to move out into the world her life was one disappointment after another.Show up for a job interview and be told that the person before her was a perfect fit and got the job. Yet the job is still posted in the newspaper the following week.Show up to apply for an apartment rental only to be told the vacancy had been filled. Yet the vacancy sign is still up the following week.The writer said she gave her daughter a black sounding name so people would know in advance that she was black and not invite her for an interview, or not invite her to fill out a rental application.

In 2008 my parents lost their home. We had two dogs a Boxer, and a Boxer mix. They desperately looked for a rental situation, but having the dogs kept getting in their way. They could’ve dumped them at a shelter or re-homed them. However, my parents loved the dogs, and they were our family. My Mom wrote out a detailed letter explaining our situation, and why we needed to keep our dogs. She added it to every rental application. Thankfully someone finally agreed, and we ended up in a house on the same street. I have worked in the Veterinarian field for a long time, and I hear this often. My first thought is where there’s a will there’s a way. Second, a dog isn’t an old piece of furniture that you can leave on a curb or give away when things change. They’re like children. You wouldn’t take your kid to an orphanage, because moving them is hard. Dogs are a 15 year commitment (give or take), and if you aren’t willing the make that commitment you shouldn’t have one. If you’re dead set on abandoning him try networking through friends/family, rescues, and then shelter. I hope he finds a wonderful lifetime fur ever home with committed owners. Before you get another pet to replace him think long and hard if you’re prepared to make an appropriate commitment to it.

The answer to your question will become obvious when you remember that the person who will be reading your application is trying to decide whether or not they want to be your landlord.If you were thinking about renting to someone, would a statement like, “My previous landlord was toxic,” make you more willing or less willing to become that person’s landlord?If you were thinking about renting to someone, would a statement like, “My previous landlord tried to evict me illegally,” make you more willing or less willing to become that person’s landlord?The purpose of a rental application is not to vent about how rotten your previous landlord was. Your goal in filling out a rental application is to convince a potential landlord that they should rent to you. The way you achieve this goal is by coming across like you will be a good tenant.Complaining about a previous landlord makes you look like you’ll be a problem tenant. Don’t do it.Ask yourself why you chose the new place you’re applying to rent. What makes it better than the old one? Better location? Larger size? Quieter street? Whatever the new place’s positive characteristic is, concentrate on that.