West Virginia Rental Application Form

What the West Virginia Rental Application is

This is a two-page West Virginia rental application, written for apartment rentals, that a prospective tenant fills out so a landlord can review identity, housing history, work history, finances and references. It is a general template, not a form issued by the State of West Virginia. Landlords can use it as is or ask you to complete their own application.

The closing statement makes two things clear: the application is not a lease or rental agreement, and it comes with a non-refundable processing fee that is not returned even if you do not get the apartment.

Who uses it

Renters applying for an apartment or house in West Virginia, and small landlords or property managers who want a ready-made application with screening questions and an authorization for credit and criminal checks.

What to have ready

• Your birth date, Social Security number, driver's license number and any other names you have used
• Names, birth dates and relationships of all other proposed occupants
• Up to three residences: address, last rent paid, owner or manager with phone, reason for leaving and dates
• Up to three jobs: employer, address, phone, occupation, supervisor, monthly gross pay and dates
• Bank and loan information, vehicle details for everyone moving in, and contact details for a doctor, lawyer and a relative who lives elsewhere

Our guide to documents needed for a rental application lists the paperwork landlords usually ask for.

How to fill it out online

Click "Fill Template Now", type into the fields on both pages, sign at the end and download the completed PDF for the landlord. The form is laid out in grids, so work across each row.

Page 1: applicant and occupants

Enter your first, middle and last name, Birth Date, Social Security #, Driver's License #, Any Other Names You've Used In The Past, and home and cell phone. Under All Other Proposed Occupants, list each person with birth date and relationship to you.

Page 1: rental and employment history

The Rental/Residence History grid has columns for Current, Previous and Prior Residence. For each one, give the address, last rent amount paid, owner or manager and phone, reason for leaving, whether rent is or was paid in full, whether you gave notice, whether you were asked to move, and the dates. Also note the names your utilities are billed under. The Employment History grid works the same way for current, previous and prior jobs, including monthly gross pay.

Page 1: credit history and vehicles

Under Credit History, list the bank or institution and the balance for savings, checking, credit card and auto loan accounts. Under Vehicles, include every vehicle belonging to anyone who will live there, with make, model, color, year and license plate.

Page 2: references and general information

List a doctor, a lawyer and your nearest relative living elsewhere. Read the paragraph under this section: by signing, you allow the landlord to contact these people if you cannot be located, and you allow the listed relative to remove your belongings if you abandon the apartment. Then answer the General Information questions about late rent notices, smoking, expected length of stay, bankruptcy, move-in date, felony convictions, eviction notices, pets, problems with your current landlord, income you want considered, lawsuits and anything negative a background check may show.

Signature

Sign and date under Agreement and Authorization Signature. If the landlord sends a separate lease afterward, you can sign it online too.

West Virginia rules on fees and deposits

These points come from West Virginia Code Chapter 37, Article 6A (Residential Rental Security Deposits), checked as of October 2026. They are general information.

• Application fees. W. Va. Code § 37-6A-1 defines an application fee as money paid to be considered as a tenant, but Article 6A does not set a maximum amount or require a refund. Ask the landlord about the fee before you apply, since this form says it is non-refundable.
• No deposit cap. Article 6A does not set a maximum security deposit.
• Return deadline. Under § 37-6A-2, the landlord must return the deposit, minus allowed deductions, with a written itemization within the notice period. Section 37-6A-1 defines that period as 60 days after the tenancy ends or 45 days after a new tenant moves in, whichever is shorter. If damage exceeds the deposit and needs a third-party contractor, the landlord can notify you within that period and gets 15 more days to itemize.
• Penalty. If a landlord's failure to comply is willful or not in good faith, § 37-6A-5 lets the tenant recover the unreturned deposit plus damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld.

Common mistakes

• Leaving out a household member's vehicle. The form asks for vehicles belonging to all proposed occupants.
• Skipping the "Is/Was rent paid in full" and "Were you asked to move" boxes, which landlords check against references.
• Not reading the abandonment and relative-removal clause before signing.
• Paying the processing fee without confirming it is for a unit you can actually qualify for.