A residential rental application looks superficially like a commercial one and is governed by an entirely different set of rules. The residential applicant is a consumer and a protected person; the commercial applicant is a business whose finances you may examine as thoroughly as you like. Confusing the two produces either a residential process that breaks the law or a commercial process that fails to ask the questions that matter.
What the residential form may ask
Identity, addresses, employment and income, rental history and references, occupants, pets and vehicles. What it must not ask is anything about a protected characteristic, and what it must not do is vary between applicants. Older forms occasionally still carry questions that were normal decades ago and are not now; read any inherited form line by line before using it.
The consumer reporting layer is residential only
Screening a residential applicant means obtaining a consumer report, which requires a permissible purpose, the applicant's authorisation, and an adverse action notice where the report contributes to a decline or to worse terms. None of that framework applies in the same way to a company applying for commercial premises, which is why a commercial process cannot simply be scaled down for residential use.
What a commercial application asks instead
Accounts or management figures, the proposed use, fit-out intentions, the covenant behind the tenancy including any parent company or personal guarantee, and trading history. These are questions about a business's ability to pay over a term, and there is no equivalent of fair housing constraining them. A commercial applicant expects to be asked and will usually volunteer more.
One process each, kept separate
If you let both, keep two forms, two criteria sets and two decision records, and do not let one team run both from a single template. The most common failure is a residential application quietly acquiring a commercial question, such as asking about a household's savings in a way that has nothing to do with the stated criteria and everything to do with judgement.
Questions people ask about residential rental application
Can I ask a residential applicant the same things as a commercial one?
No. The residential applicant is a consumer protected by fair housing and consumer reporting law; the commercial applicant is a business and is not.
Do I need consent to screen a commercial tenant?
Company information is generally obtainable without it, but a personal guarantee usually means screening an individual, which brings the consumer rules back.
What is the commonest residential form error?
An inherited question touching a protected characteristic, and inconsistent application of criteria between applicants.