Rental Application Fee and Employment Verification

[Lyndsey Keller]

I've been doing a lot of searching and reading lately on the forums, and I have 2 concerns about the application/screening process.

1) I had never even thought to have an application fee. I've been asking around, and no one around here has ever had to pay to apply, some haven't even filled out an application! I'm afraid that if I ask for an app fee, people in this area are going to look at me like I'm nuts. But at the same time, I WILL be doing credit/background/eviction checks, and the costs will add up....I know that if I was looking for a place to rent, I'd be leery about giving an app fee. I didn't see anything in Ohio's laws about this either. Is this legal here?

2) I was reading about the whole income verification letter/form and how some companies want to be paid to send them to you, etc. This sounds expensive and like a long-process. Why can't you just ask the prospective tenant to bring the 2 most current pay stubs with them to the showing? Is that tacky?