Inviting Applicants and Customizing Application Forms

Get a prospect from "interested" to a completed, FCRA-compliant application with a single secure link — one applicant at a time or many at once.

Go to Invite Applicant(s) →

Adding applicants

The Invite Applicant(s) form starts with one applicant row (name, email, phone) and lets you click Add Another Applicant to queue up several people for the same property/unit and message in a single send — each gets their own tokenized link and their own copy of the invite email (and text, if SMS is enabled). Email is required; phone is only required if you turn on Send SMS Text Invitation.

For larger batches, use the Bulk CSV invite button on the main Applications page (not the invite form itself) to upload a spreadsheet of applicants and queue them all as a background job — you'll get a toast when the batch finishes processing.

Property & unit (optional)

Choosing a property lets you narrow to a specific vacant unit, or leave it as Any available unit so the applicant can be matched later. Units already marked occupied won't appear in the unit picker. You can also send an invite with no property attached at all.

Documents & reports requested

This section controls what the applicant is asked to complete and pay for:

• Rental Application — the standard application form (see below for customizing its fields)
• Criminal Background Check — $5, requires FCRA consent
• Eviction History — $5, requires FCRA consent
• Address History (SSN trace) — free when bundled with a paid report above; $5 if requested by itself

On the Free and Starter plans, every report above is required on every invite — you can't opt out. Upgrading to Growth or Portfolio unlocks Pick & Choose, letting you check or uncheck individual reports per invite.

Customizing the application form fields

When Rental Application is included, expand Customize Application Form Fields to edit what the applicant fills out. The form starts with a default set of fields — full legal name, middle name/initial, date of birth, last 4 of SSN, current address, previous address, current employer, gross monthly income, desired move-in date, number of occupants, pets, vehicles, and personal references — each individually marked required or optional. You can:

• Remove any default field you don't need
• Toggle a field between Required and Optional
• Add a custom field with your own label and type (text, long text, number, date, phone, or email), optionally marked required

Drag-to-reorder fields is noted in the UI but not implemented yet.

Report fee responsibility

By default, the applicant covers report fees and pays VerticalRent directly at checkout. Flip the toggle to cover fees yourself instead — in that case the cost is deducted from your Screening Credits balance, and the form shows your current balance with a warning (and a "Buy Credits" shortcut) if you don't have enough. Your default for this choice lives in Settings → Account and can be overridden per invite.

Separately, you can charge your own Application Fee (optional, paid directly to you). This requires a connected Stripe account — if you haven't connected one yet and set a fee above $0, the form will prompt you to connect before sending.

Personal message

Add a note the applicant will see alongside the invite, or click Write with AI (2 AI credits) and describe a tone — VerticalRent drafts a message using the applicant's name, unit address, and fee details, which you can edit before sending.

FCRA consent

If you requested criminal or eviction screening, a required FCRA Permissible Purpose section appears before you can send. You must check the box certifying you have a permissible purpose under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(3)(A) to obtain consumer reports on the applicant — the full disclosure text is available to expand and read. The invite cannot be sent without this consent when consumer reports are requested.

What the applicant sees

The applicant lands on a secure, tokenized link (valid 30 days) — no account required to start. Depending on what you requested, they'll see:

• Any state-specific tenant-rights notice for the property's state
• A disclosure of exactly which screening reports you requested and their cost, plus an FCRA authorization statement
• Your customized rental application fields, with specialized inputs (address autocomplete, employer lookup with an "unemployed" toggle, formatted income entry, and an encrypted SSN field for screening)
• Optional supporting document uploads — pay stubs, bank statements, tax returns/W-2s, an employment verification letter, and proof of past rent payments
• An optional instant bank verification via Plaid, which the applicant can use voluntarily to strengthen their application (separate from landlord-requested income verification, which is not yet available)
• Up to two prior landlord references they can invite for a quick rating
• A payment step (Stripe) if any fees are due from them, or a message that the landlord covered costs if not

Tracking invite status

Sent invites live on the Applications → Invites tab, each showing:

• Status — Pending, Accepted (once the applicant submits), or Expired (30 days after sending)
• Whether the email and/or SMS actually delivered
• Exactly when the applicant opened the email, if they have
• Copy link to grab the invite URL directly
• Resend to re-deliver the same link by email/SMS — available on any invite that hasn't been accepted yet

There's no way to cancel or delete a sent invite — an unused link simply expires after 30 days.