Chances are it's not as bad as you think. Yes, they will pull a credit report—which is a little like being undressed in front of a large crowd—and they're going to charge you ($30-$40) for the privilege. But before you start worrying about that time you missed two payments and they threatened to disconnect the cable, remember that in this day and age, few people have pristine histories. If landlords only took people with spotless credit, three quarters of the apartments in town would be empty.

So what, exactly, are they looking for? Here's a run through the application:

What you need:
The first thing is to understand what they want to know. If you think you will have to fill out an application right away, be sure to have the following information on hand:
* Driver's License * Social Security Number * Current landlord's address and phone, how long you've rented there and how much rent you pay. * All previous addresses you've had, the names of those landlords and their contact information, how long you rented there and what you paid. * Employer address and phone, immediate supervisor's name and how long you've worked there. (If you're just starting, make sure to bring an employment verification letter—it can speed things along.) * Annual salary and any other information about additional income and the source. * Bank account information. (Some landlords require extra info, so just in case.)

How long it takes:
Application processors verify employment information, run a credit check and talk to previous landlords. It can take a couple of days, especially when they have to wait for people to get back to them. Make sure you provide correct contact information for the references and, if you can, mention to your supervisor or landlord that someone might be calling to ask them for help expediting the process.

On the other hand, it can go much faster, says Maurice Ortiz, marketing director for the Apartment People, which acts as a clearinghouse, processing applications for the landlords who list with them. "People have driven up in front of the office with a truck and said, 'I need an apartment now,'" Ortiz says. "And we've gotten them in that night—it can happen that quickly."

Personal info:
Obviously your new landlord wants to know who you are and that you are who you say you are, thus the provision of a birth date, driver's license number and a Social Security number. This also allows for the credit check.

Financial/Employer info:
In days of yore, applications could go on for pages as you listed every credit card you had and what you owed on it. The credit check eliminates this, getting most of them down to a page or a page-and-a-half.

"We don't have a grading system," says Ortiz. "Landlords want to see if you pay your bills on time. You never know what's going to happen with people, so they might look to see if you're paying one too many people or if you have too much outstanding credit, but mostly they want to see that you don't have any judgments and liens. Very rarely does the owner call back and say the person's credit is not good enough to rent them an apartment."

And they will call your employer to verify your salary. "Basically what the owner is looking for is that the person can afford to pay the rent each month," Ortiz says. "There has to be proof that person can pay the rent." What's the measure of affordability? "Usually it's 30 percent of a person's income," Ortiz says. "It varies, but we go with 30 percent of gross annual income." Some surrounding areas have laws on the books that prohibit you from renting an apartment with a monthly rent that is more than 30 percent of your monthly take-home pay. Ortiz notes that if you're not at the level of income to afford the apartment, as is the case with many college students, you can always get a co-signer.

References:
Sometimes even more significant than the credit check is what your previous landlords have to say about you. They'll be asking about past rental history. Did you pay the rent on time? Were there complaints? Did you leave the place a mess or skip out on owed rent? (If so, you probably don't want to put them down as a reference...) "People may not have the best credit, but if their old landlord says they paid the rent on time, landlords might weigh that more heavily," Ortiz says. "If a renter wants an apartment, we try as hard as we can to get the renter and the landlord together."

So what if one of your old landlords says bad things about you or there's some kind of ongoing disagreement between you and your last landlord that hasn't been settled? "That could be an issue, depending on what is said," Ortiz says. "But if you've got an explanation, the landlord will usually take it into account."

Flip side:
They're asking for all this information from you, so it's probably good to check out your prospective landlord—call the Better Business Bureau to see what has been said about your landlord or management company.