Wisconsin Rental Application Template

Updated: Nov 8, 2026

What Is a Wisconsin Rental Application?

A Wisconsin rental application is the form a prospective tenant completes so a landlord can compare applicants for one unit by identity, income, rental history and credit before offering a lease.

The application comes before the lease and does not rent the unit by itself. It collects the facts a landlord weighs, and its signature block holds the applicant’s authorizations to check them. The same questions go to every applicant, so the landlord compares like with like.

When a rental application is used

A rental application is handed out once a unit is advertised and before the landlord chooses a tenant. Each person who will sign the lease is an applicant. People who will live in the unit without signing are listed in the form’s Other Occupants block.

Rental application vs lease agreement

The rental application gathers information about the applicant; the lease sets the rent, the term and each party’s duties. A lease is a separate document signed after the landlord approves the application. The Wisconsin lease agreement forms page lists the lease types.

What the Wisconsin Rental Application Form Asks For

The Wisconsin rental application form asks for the applicant’s identity, housing history, income and credit, plus the other occupants, vehicles, pets and an emergency contact. Its blocks run in this order:

• Unit Information, completed by the landlord
• Personal Information: name, date of birth, prior names, contact details
• Other Occupants: everyone else who will live in the unit
• Rental History: current and previous address, landlord, rent
• Employment History: employer, job title, gross monthly income
• Other Sources of Income, with papers that back them up
• Credit and Financial Information: bank accounts and credit references
• Other Information: vehicles, pets, furniture, smoking, past evictions
• Emergency contact, credit report line, authorizations and signature

Unit Information, filled in by the landlord

The Unit Information block is the one part of the application the landlord completes. It names the landlord or agent, the address and unit number, the monthly rent, the security deposit amount, the type of tenancy and the utilities included. The applicant reads it first to confirm the terms of the unit applied for.

Authorization to check the answers

The authorizations sit above the Signature of Applicant line at the end of the form. By signing, the applicant agrees to the checks they describe, so the answers about employers, landlords, banks and creditors are verified rather than taken on trust. Every answer is better true and complete: a mismatch found in a check weighs on the landlord’s decision.

Pets, smoking and eviction questions

The Other Information block asks yes or no questions about pets, furniture, smoking and past evictions. A yes on pets asks for the type and how many; a yes on evictions asks for a short explanation on the line below.

Application Fee, Earnest Money and the Credit Report Line

The Wisconsin rental application has a credit report line where the applicant writes the amount paid for a consumer credit report, if one is paid with the application. The line stays blank when nothing is paid.

Earnest money and the utility disclosure

Earnest money is a payment a prospective tenant hands the landlord before a lease is signed, to hold the unit while the application is considered. If charges for water, heat or electricity are not included in the rent, the landlord shall disclose this fact to the tenant before entering into a rental agreement or accepting any earnest money or security deposit, under Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.04.

The Unit Information block has a line for the utilities included, so the application itself shows which of them the rent covers.

Wisconsin Rental Application Form Details

The table below sums up the Wisconsin rental application form: the other names it goes by, the average time to fill it in, the count of fillable fields and the format.

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How to Fill Out a Wisconsin Rental Application

The Wisconsin rental application is filled out in form order, from the Unit Information block to the applicant’s signature. The steps below follow that order, one block at a time, typed into the fillable PDF or handwritten on a printed copy.

The screenshots under each step show the Wisconsin Rental Application filled with sample entries in blue, so you can see where each answer goes. The names, addresses, dates and amounts are examples only.

Unit, applicant and occupant details

1. Print and Alert Clear buttons Open the PDF and find the Print and Alert Clear buttons and the note field at the top. These are tools of the PDF, not questions, so there is nothing to answer here. Use the note field only if a name does not fit in its box.

   

2. Rental Application bullets Read the bullets under the RENTAL APPLICATION heading before you fill anything in. They cover who completes the form and what to have ready.

   

3. Unit Information Check this landlord’s block: the date, the name of the landlord or agent, the address and unit number, the monthly rental amount, the security deposit amount, the type of tenancy and the utilities included. A landlord fills it in before handing out the form.

   

   
4. Personal Information Write the applicant’s full name in the first, middle and last name boxes, then add the date of birth.

   

   
5. Personal Information (continued) Add any prior names you have used, your Social Security number, address, city, state and ZIP, both phone numbers, driver’s license number and email.

   

6. Other Occupants List each other person who will live in the unit with a full name, relationship, date of birth and Social Security number. The form has three lines for this. Leave them blank if nobody else will live there.

   

   

Rental and employment history

7. Rental History Give your current address, how long you have lived there, your current landlord and phone number, your reason for moving and your current rent amount with the period.

   

8. Rental History (previous address) Repeat the same details for your previous address: how long you lived there, the previous landlord and phone number, your reason for moving and the rent amount. Finish the city, state and ZIP line.

   

9. Employment History Write your current employer, the starting date and the employer’s address.

   

10. Employment History (current job) Add your job title, gross monthly income before deductions, supervisor and phone number. If you have a second employer, begin it on the next lines with the name, starting date and address.

    

11. Employment History (other employer) Finish the other employer with the job title, gross monthly income before deductions, supervisor and phone number. Leave this part blank if you have only one employer.

    

Income, credit and signature

12. Other Sources of Income On page 2, list any additional income you want the landlord to consider. Keep papers that back it up within reach, since the form notes that verification is needed.

    

    
13. Credit and Financial Information Enter up to two bank accounts with the bank, account number and account type. Then add up to two credit references, such as auto loans, personal loans or credit cards, with the type, creditor, account number, total amount owed and monthly payment.

    

    
14. Other Information List up to three automobiles or other vehicles with the make and type, year, color and license number. Then answer the questions about pets (and what type and how many), furniture, smoking and past evictions, with a short explanation if the answer to the eviction question is yes.

    

    
15. Emergency Contact and Signature Give the emergency contact’s name, phone number, relationship and address. If you want to pay for a consumer credit report with the application, write the amount on the credit report line. Then read the authorizations, sign on the Signature of Applicant line and add the date. Keep a copy of the signed form.

    

    

Other Wisconsin Forms
Need other Wisconsin templates? We provide free templates and straightforward personalization experience to anybody who would love having fewer to none difficulties when confronted with paperwork.

Wisconsin Last Will Wisconsin Small Estate Affidavit Wisconsin Bill of Sale Wisconsin Power of Attorney Wisconsin Eviction Notice Wisconsin Promissory Note Wisconsin Non-compete Agreement Wisconsin Prenuptial Agreement Wisconsin LLC Operating Agreement Wisconsin Marital Settlement (Divorce) Agreement

Landlord Disclosures to Wisconsin Rental Applicants

A Wisconsin rental application opens a process in which the landlord owes the applicant disclosures about unpaid utilities, nonstandard rental provisions and known lead-based paint, each under its own cited section. The utility rule is set out above under earnest money.

Nonstandard rental provisions

Nonstandard rental provisions belong to Wis. Stat. § 704.28, the section on what a landlord may withhold from a security deposit. Any such nonstandard rental provisions shall be provided to the tenant in a separate written document entitled "NONSTANDARD RENTAL PROVISIONS," under Wis. Stat. § 704.28. The landlord shall specifically identify each nonstandard rental provision with the tenant before the tenant enters into a rental agreement, under Wis. Stat. § 704.28.

Lead-based paint in housing built before 1978

Target housing means any housing constructed before 1978, except housing for the elderly or persons with disabilities or any 0-bedroom dwelling (unless a child under 6 years of age resides or is expected to reside there), under 42 U.S.C. § 4851b.

For target housing, the lessor provides the lessee with a lead hazard information pamphlet, discloses any known lead-based paint or lead-based paint hazards, and provides any lead hazard evaluation report available to the lessor, under 42 U.S.C. § 4852d.

Wisconsin Security Deposit Rules

The Wisconsin rental application shows the security deposit amount in its Unit Information block, and the landlord returns that deposit, less the amounts the section allows, within 21 days after any of the events listed in Wis. Stat. § 704.28.

• When a landlord returns a security deposit after the tenant vacates, the landlord may withhold only amounts reasonably necessary to pay for the items Wis. Stat. § 704.28 lists.
• Wis. Stat. § 704.28 does not authorize a landlord to withhold any amount for normal wear and tear, or for other damages or losses for which the tenant cannot reasonably be held responsible under applicable law.
• Wis. Stat. § 704.28 applies to residential tenancies only.

Type of Tenancy and the Notice to End It

The Wisconsin rental application names the type of tenancy in its Unit Information block, and for a month-to-month tenancy at least 28 days’ notice must be given to end it, except in the cases below, under Wis. Stat. § 704.19.

• If rent is payable on a basis less than monthly, such as weekly, notice at least equal to the rent-paying period is sufficient, under Wis. Stat. § 704.19.
• All agricultural tenancies from year to year require at least 90 days’ notice, under Wis. Stat. § 704.19.

These notice periods apply to periodic tenancies, such as month to month, and to tenancies at will, under Wis. Stat. § 704.19. The tenancy type on the form shows the applicant whether one of them applies before the lease is signed.

After a Wisconsin Rental Application Is Approved

An approved Wisconsin rental application leads to the lease, the move-in check and the first deposit steps, in this order:

1. Read the lease and any separate NONSTANDARD RENTAL PROVISIONS document before signing, as Wis. Stat. § 704.28 has the landlord identify each such provision first.
2. Confirm which of water, heat and electricity the rent covers, a fact the landlord shall disclose under Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.04 when they are not included.
3. Keep proof of any earnest money and security deposit paid.
4. Complete the check-in sheet and return it to the landlord within 7 days from the date occupancy begins, under Wis. Stat. § 704.08.
5. Request a list of physical damages or defects, if any, charged to the previous tenant’s security deposit, a right under Wis. Admin. Code ATCP 134.06.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a sample of a filled Wisconsin rental application?

Yes. The screenshots under each step of the filling guide above show the form with sample entries in blue. The names, addresses, dates and amounts in them are made up and show only where each answer goes.

Can a Wisconsin landlord use a different rental application, such as a REALTORS Association form?

A landlord chooses which application form to hand out, whether a trade group’s form, such as one from the Wisconsin REALTORS Association, or their own. Any of them can be read against the blocks listed on this page: identity, rental and employment history, income, credit, occupants and the authorizations above the signature.

How long does it take to fill out the application?

The details table above lists about 18 minutes. The time depends on how many details you have at hand. Gather your addresses, employer information and bank details first, and the form goes faster.

Can I fill in the Wisconsin rental application on my computer?

Yes. The template is a fillable PDF, so you can type your answers into the fields on a computer and then print it. You can also print the blank form and write in the answers by hand.

What should I do with the application after filling it in?

Read through each answer once more and check that names, dates and phone numbers are correct. Sign and date the form, then keep a copy before you hand the original to the landlord.

General information, not legal or tax advice.

Jennifer M. Settles

Author & Attorney

With over 25 years of experience as a business and transactional attorney, Jennifer has mastered the craft of closing highly successful deals for her clients. Through her wide-ranging expertise in commercial contracts, real estate transactions, M&A and corporate law, Jennifer secures results that are second-to-none.