Landlords use rental applications as tools to collect information from applicants who are interested in moving into their rental. These documents must conform to the government's fair housing laws, and collects personal information of the applicant so the landlord may make a well-informed decision on most reliable and most qualified candidate. Rental applications may reveal an applicant’s income status, credit score, criminal record, and any history of bankruptcies or evictions. Since the process of screening every applicant is often tedious, and comes at a cost to the landlord, there is usually a fee passed on to the applicant. These fees can range between $25-75.
Ohio doesn’t have any state laws that dictate how much a landlord may request for a security deposit, however, applicants are encouraged to check with their local city and county laws. The state of Ohio does dictate that a landlord must return the tenant’s deposit within 45 days (Ok. Stat. Ann. Tit. 41, § 115).