North Carolina Rental Application
The North Carolina Rental Application is a three (3) page document that contains a set of questions used to provide a landlord with a clear picture of applying tenants’ rental, criminal, and financial background. This allows them to compare each applicant with a list of criteria, giving them the ability to see if there are any immediate disqualifiers. If the application passes the initial check, the landlord will run a series of paid background checks. These checks serve two (2) purposes; they provide landlords a means of fact-checking completed applications, and it provides them with a lawful way of acquiring the applicant’s credit score, criminal record, and other personal history.
State Laws
Maximum Application Fee: South Carolina law does not provide restrictions on what landlords can charge for screening applications.
Security Deposit Limits (§ 42-51): For leases on a week-to-week basis, deposits cannot exceed a value equal to two (2) weeks’ rent. For leases on a month-to-month basis, deposits are capped at one-and-a-half (1.5) months’ rent. For longer leases, landlords can require up to two (2) months’ rent for a deposit.
Returning Deposits (§ 42-52): Deposits must be returned within thirty (30) days. If the landlord intends to make deductions from the deposit, they have sixty (60) days to return the remainder of the deposit (with a list of deductions).