Vermont Rental Application Form

What the Common Rental Application for Housing in Vermont is

This template is the 13-page Common Rental Application for Housing in Vermont (labeled "Form RENT"). It is built for affordable and subsidized rental housing, such as properties financed with federal funds or Low-Income Housing Tax Credits, where management companies must verify household income and assets. The instructions note it is not for tenant-based vouchers. It is a shared application used by many Vermont housing providers, not a lease and not a guarantee of an apartment.

Because it collects detailed household, income and asset information, it is much longer than a typical market-rate rental application. Plan on completing it in one sitting with your documents nearby.

Who uses it

Households applying to income-restricted apartments, senior housing, Rural Housing Service properties and similar developments in Vermont, and the management companies and agents who process those applications. Every adult in the household signs it.

What to have ready

• Names, Social Security numbers, birthdates and places of birth for everyone who will live in the unit
• Your address history for the past five years, with landlord names, addresses, phone numbers and dates
• Gross weekly pay for each working household member, plus other income such as Social Security, pensions, child support or Reach Up (attach any Social Security award letter)
• Bank account balances and interest rates, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds and other assets
• Child care costs, and medical expenses if the head, co-head or spouse is elderly or has a disability
• Three non-relative character references you have known for at least a year

How to fill it out online

Click "Fill Template Now", type into the fields page by page, add signatures for each adult on page 10, then download the PDF and return it to the address the property gives you. The main sections are below.

Pages 1-2: property and household

Enter the property name and location under I wish to apply for housing at. In Family Composition, add each person's name, Social Security number, relationship, place of birth, birthdate, whether they will live in the unit full or part time, and marital status. Then answer the custody, expected additions and absent member questions, give your current and mailing address, phone numbers and email, say whether you rent or own, and check the apartment size you want.

Pages 2-4: previous housing and income

Under Previous Housing, list every place you lived in the past five years. Note whether you live in subsidized or Tax Credit housing now and list states you have lived in. Under Income, list employment income by person with gross weekly salary, then each other income source with its gross monthly amount.

Pages 4-6: assets and expenses

The Assets section covers bank accounts, IRA, Keogh, annuity, pension and stock holdings, bonds and insurance policies, other real estate, and assets given away for less than they were worth in the past two years. Then list regular gifts or contributions, child care costs for children 12 and younger, and qualifying medical expenses.

Pages 7-9: general information, emergency contacts and references

Answer the questions about accessible units, live-in aides, displacement, homelessness, citizenship or eligible immigration status, full-time students, Section 8 vouchers, criminal history, sex offender registration, pets and smoking. If you answer yes to being homeless or at risk of homelessness, complete Appendix 1 or Appendix 2. Page 9 asks for emergency contacts and three character references.

Pages 10-11: certification and optional demographics

Read the certification carefully. It consents to background checks and warns that false statements can be punished under federal law. The head of household and each other adult sign and date. Page 11 asks for ethnicity, race and sex for federal fair housing monitoring; the form says answering is optional. You can also sign a PDF online if the property emails you its own copy.

Vermont rules on application fees and deposits

These points are general information, checked as of October 2026.

• No application fees. Under 9 V.S.A. § 4456a, a landlord or landlord's agent may not charge an application fee to apply for a residential rental unit. Bills introduced in 2025 to revise this section kept the prohibition.
• Deposit return. Under 9 V.S.A. § 4461, the landlord must return the security deposit with a written itemized statement of any deductions within 14 days after the tenant vacates or abandons the unit, or within 60 days for a seasonal rental that is not a primary residence. A landlord who misses the deadline forfeits the right to withhold any part of the deposit.
• Program rules. Subsidized and Tax Credit properties also follow federal and program eligibility rules, so ask the management company for its tenant selection plan.

Common mistakes

• Leaving a household member out of Family Composition, or listing income for someone not on that list.
• Entering net pay where the form asks for gross weekly salary or gross monthly amounts.
• Skipping the five-year housing history or the asset questions. The instructions say incomplete or unsigned applications will be returned.
• Missing a signature from any adult household member on page 10.