Virginia Rental Application Form

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Virginia runs two caps, and which one applies turns on how the unit is funded rather than on any index. Section 55.1-1203(C) sets the general figure at $50 and then provides that where an application is being made for a dwelling unit that is a public housing unit or other housing unit subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an application fee shall not exceed $32. The lower figure is tied to the regulatory status of the unit, not to the applicant's income, not to the size of the building and not to whether a voucher is in play. Both figures are in force now and neither moves with a published index.

2. 2

   Both caps are exclusive of the screening invoice, which is the single most misread line in the Virginia rule. The subsection reads: an application fee shall not exceed $50, exclusive of any actual out-of-pocket expenses paid by the landlord to a third party performing background, credit, or other pre-occupancy checks on the applicant. So a Virginia applicant who is billed more than $50 has not necessarily been overcharged. The question is how the total divides: what part is the landlord's own application fee, which is capped, and what part is the documented out-of-pocket payment to the third party, which is not.

3. 3

   The fee and the deposit are two different payments with two different rules. Section 55.1-1203(A) provides that any landlord may require a refundable application deposit in addition to a nonrefundable application fee. The fee is capped and does not come back. The deposit is not capped in amount, is refundable, and is where the deadlines, the itemization duty and the remedy all live. Neither of them is a security deposit, which is a separate instrument elsewhere in the Act. Working out which payment was taken is the first step in working out what is owed back.

4. 4

   The default refund clock is 20 days, and it does not run alone. From the application deposit the landlord shall refund to the applicant within 20 days after the applicant's failure to rent the unit or the landlord's rejection of the application all sums in excess of the landlord's actual expenses and damages, together with an itemized list of such expenses and damages. The itemized list is part of the duty rather than a courtesy, and without it there is no way to test whether what was kept matches what was actually spent. Note the two trigger events: the applicant not renting, and the landlord rejecting.

5. 5

   One form of payment accelerates the clock to 10 days, and the acceleration is conditional on both facts being true. Where the application deposit was made by cash, certified check, cashier's check, or postal money order, the refund shall be made within 10 days of the applicant's failure to rent the unit if the failure to rent is due to the landlord's rejection of the application. The payment method alone does not shorten it, and a rejection alone does not shorten it. The shorter deadline needs the certified or cash instrument and a landlord rejection together.

6. 6

   Virginia states a remedy, and it reaches the fee itself only by one route. For the deposit, Section 55.1-1203 provides that if the landlord fails to comply with this section, the applicant may recover as damages suffered by him that portion of the application deposit wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney fees. The nonrefundable fee is a different matter. The one provision in the section that reaches it is the family-abuse duty: a landlord shall consider evidence of an applicant's status as a victim of family abuse, as defined in Section 16.1-228, to mitigate any adverse effect of an otherwise qualified applicant's low credit score, and if the landlord does not comply, the applicant may recover actual damages including all amounts paid to the landlord as an application fee, application deposit, or reimbursement for any of the landlord's out-of-pocket expenses that were charged to the prospective tenant, along with attorney fees.

7. 7

   A second version of this section is already published, and it is dated. A 2026 act amends Section 55.1-1203 with effect from July 1, 2027, and the Virginia Law portal carries the current text and the future text side by side, each with its own effective-date caption. What changes is not the money: the $50 and $32 figures and the 20-day and 10-day deadlines carry forward word for word, with the existing subsections relabelled. What is added is a notice duty owed before any payment or information is requested, covering the fees and whether each is refundable, the selection criteria applicable to the unit, the consumer reporting agency's name and address, and the applicant's right to a free copy of the consumer report on a denial and to dispute what it says. On this page that is a forthcoming duty with a date on it, and nothing more.

Virginia Requirements for Rental Application Form

• The $50 Cap, and the Costs That Sit Outside It

  Section 55.1-1203(C) provides that an application fee shall not exceed $50, exclusive of any actual out-of-pocket expenses paid by the landlord to a third party performing background, credit, or other pre-occupancy checks on the applicant. The figure is in force now and is not indexed, so there is no annual republication to track. Read the exclusion clause carefully, because it is what the cap does not cover: the landlord's own charge for handling the application is inside the $50, and the screening company's documented invoice is outside it. A bill above $50 is therefore not conclusive either way until the two parts are separated.

• The $32 Cap for a HUD-Regulated Unit

  The same subsection provides that where an application is being made for a dwelling unit that is a public housing unit or other housing unit subject to regulation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an application fee shall not exceed $32, exclusive of any actual out-of-pocket expenses paid to a third party by the landlord performing background, credit, or other pre-occupancy checks on the applicant. The trigger is the regulatory status of the dwelling unit itself, so the lower figure follows the property rather than the applicant or the source of the rent. In force now, and not indexed.

• The Refundable Application Deposit, Alongside the Nonrefundable Fee

  Section 55.1-1203(A) provides that any landlord may require a refundable application deposit in addition to a nonrefundable application fee. These are two payments with two different sets of rules, and the whole Virginia architecture rests on the distinction. The fee is capped and does not come back. The deposit is uncapped in amount, refundable, and is what every deadline and remedy in the section attaches to. Neither is a security deposit, which is a separate instrument elsewhere in the Act. Before asking what is owed back, establish which of the two was actually collected.

• The 20-Day Return, With an Itemized List

  Section 55.1-1203(A) provides that if the applicant fails to rent the unit for which application was made, from the application deposit the landlord shall refund to the applicant within 20 days after the applicant's failure to rent the unit or the landlord's rejection of the application all sums in excess of the landlord's actual expenses and damages together with an itemized list of such expenses and damages. Two trigger events start the clock: the applicant not renting, and the landlord rejecting. The itemized list is part of the duty, not an extra. Without it there is nothing to compare the amount retained against.

• The 10-Day Return Where the Deposit Was Cash or a Certified Instrument

  The accelerated deadline needs two facts, not one. Section 55.1-1203(A) continues that if, however, the application deposit was made by cash, certified check, cashier's check, or postal money order, such refund shall be made within 10 days of the applicant's failure to rent the unit if the failure to rent is due to the landlord's rejection of the application. So the form of payment alone does not shorten the clock, and a rejection alone does not shorten it either. Keep proof of how the deposit was paid; it is what decides which of the two deadlines applies.

• The Remedy for a Withheld Deposit

  Section 55.1-1203(A) closes with the remedy: if the landlord fails to comply with this section, the applicant may recover as damages suffered by him that portion of the application deposit wrongfully withheld and reasonable attorney fees. Note its reach. It is expressed in terms of the application deposit, so it does not turn the nonrefundable fee into a refundable one. There is no multiplier and no fixed penalty figure stated, and none is implied here. Whether a particular withholding falls inside it is a question for a licensed attorney, and review is available as an option.

• Identification the Application May Require, and What It May Not Photocopy

  Section 55.1-1203 provides that the landlord may photocopy each applicant's driver's license or other similar photo identification, containing either the applicant's social security number or control number issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles pursuant to Section 46.2-342, but that a landlord shall not photocopy a U.S. government-issued identification so long as to do so is a violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 701. On numbers, it provides that the landlord may require each applicant to provide a social security number issued by the U.S. Social Security Administration or an individual taxpayer identification number issued by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. The taxpayer identification number is an alternative the statute names in terms.

• Family-Abuse Evidence Against a Low Credit Score

  Section 55.1-1203 provides that a landlord shall consider evidence of an applicant's status as a victim of family abuse, as defined in Section 16.1-228, to mitigate any adverse effect of an otherwise qualified applicant's low credit score. The statute lists the ways that status may be established: a letter from a sexual and domestic violence program, a housing counselor certified by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or an attorney representing the applicant; a law-enforcement incident report; or a court order. It is a duty on the landlord to consider, and it is the only provision in the section whose remedy reaches the nonrefundable fee: on noncompliance the applicant may recover actual damages, including all amounts paid to the landlord as an application fee, application deposit, or reimbursement for any of the landlord's out-of-pocket expenses that were charged to the prospective tenant, along with attorney fees.