Guide to rental application fees: what to know and how to stay compliant

Disclaimer: This article is not legal advice. We encourage you to consult a local real estate attorney for guidance on this or any other legal topic. 

Screening helps you evaluate a rental applicant’s credit, criminal history, and eviction records, but pulling those reports comes at a cost. In many states, landlords can pass that cost on to applicants through an application or screening fee. However, some states cap what you can charge or restrict when and how fees can be collected.

With RentSpree, you can have the applicant pay when they apply, where local law allows, or cover the fee yourself. Just share a screening link, and TransUnion-powered reports land in your dashboard in as little as two hours. No subscriptions, no contracts, no chasing anyone down for payment. If the applicant pays, RentSpree handles the collection for you. 

This guide explains what rental application fees cover, how much you can charge, the rules landlords need to follow, and how applicant-paid screening works.

What does a rental application fee cover?

A rental application fee is a one-time charge that covers the cost of screening an applicant. When you collect this fee (or have the applicant pay it directly to a screening provider), it pays for the reports you need to make an informed decision.

A standard tenant screening report typically includes:

• Credit report: shows the applicant's payment history, outstanding debts, and how reliably they manage financial obligations. RentSpree's reports include a ResidentScore®, a credit score designed specifically for rental decisions that weighs eviction risk and payment patterns more heavily than a standard FICO score.
• Criminal background check: searches available records at the national and local level. Coverage varies by jurisdiction due to local laws and data availability. In some jurisdictions, you're required to conditionally accept an applicant before viewing criminal results (more on that in the compliance section below). 
• Eviction history search: reveals prior filings, which can signal patterns of nonpayment or lease violations.

Together, these reports give you a baseline picture of the applicant's financial reliability and rental track record.

Adding income verification to your screening package

A standard screening package typically covers credit, criminal, and eviction. You may also want to add income verification, which confirms whether the applicant's reported earnings match their actual deposit history. 

Many platforms let applicants upload income documents like pay stubs, bank statements, or tax returns. This can give you a useful picture of the applicant's finances, but these documents are increasingly easy to fake. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, 93.3% of housing providers reported experiencing fraud in a recent survey, and 84.3% of those saw applicants faking pay stubs, employment references, or other income documentation. Bank-verified income verification pulls deposit history directly from the applicant's financial institution through Finicity (a Mastercard company), so there's no way to submit misleading documents.

‍RentSpree's screening reports are powered by TransUnion and include credit, criminal background, and eviction history. The applicant typically pays $39.99 for a standard package, or $49.99 with bank-verified income verification. In New York, state law caps the screening fee at $20, and RentSpree adjusts its pricing to stay within that limit. You can also choose to cover the fee yourself. Since some jurisdictions limit or prohibit passing screening costs to applicants, always check your local rules before setting up your screening process. 

The $49.99 comprehensive package also includes automated reference checks. Instead of calling previous landlords or employers yourself, RentSpree sends reference questionnaires on your behalf and collects responses digitally. This saves time on one of the most tedious parts of screening, and because the responses come directly from the reference rather than through the applicant, you get a less filtered picture of their rental or employment history. 

How much can you charge?

Most landlords charge between $30 and $75 for a rental application fee. The exact amount depends on what your screening includes and whether your state sets a cap. If you're using a screening platform where the applicant pays the provider directly, you don't collect or handle the fee yourself. With RentSpree, for example, applicants typically pay $39.99 for a standard screening (credit, criminal, eviction) or $49.99 if you include bank-verified income verification and reference checks in the screening package. 

One rule applies everywhere: charge every applicant the same amount. Federal fair housing law doesn't set a dollar cap on application fees, but it does require that your fee policy apply uniformly to all applicants regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. Waiving the fee for some applicants and not others can expose you to a discrimination complaint.

Rental application fee laws by state

Most states don't restrict how much you can charge for a rental application fee, but a growing number do. The table below covers states with specific caps, bans, or refund requirements. If your state isn't listed, there's likely no statewide limit, though local ordinances may still apply. Always check your city and county rules before setting a fee.

Regulations are trending toward tighter restrictions. New Jersey's $50 cap took effect in 2026, and California adjusts its ceiling annually. Even in states without caps, keeping your fee close to your actual screening cost is the safest practice. 

One way to simplify the process is to use a platform like RentSpree where the applicant pays the screening fee through the platform rather than to you. You don't collect the fee, track it, or handle refund requests if they come up. Since fee cap rules vary by state and city, check your local requirements before setting up your screening process. 

Compliance rules landlords need to know

Screening-related compliance requirements vary by jurisdiction, but three key legal obligations come up across most markets: 

Refundability. Rental application fees are generally non-refundable once screening has been conducted. However, some states require you to refund the full amount if you never run the screening, and others require you to refund any portion of the fee that exceeds your actual screening cost. Oregon law (ORS 90.295) requires a refund if the unit is filled before you screen the applicant or if screening doesn't happen for any reason. California requires itemized receipts and a refund of any amount that exceeds your actual screening cost. The simplest way to avoid disputes is to disclose on the application whether the fee is refundable and under what conditions.

Denial notices. When you deny an applicant based on information in a screening report (or charge a higher deposit, require a co-signer, or change the lease terms because of it), the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires you to send a written notice. This notice must include the name and contact information of the company that provided the report, a statement that the screening company didn't make the rental decision, and information about the applicant's right to request a copy of the report and dispute inaccuracies. Missing this step can result in penalties of $100 to $1,000 per violation, plus attorney fees. RentSpree automates this notice directly from the screening dashboard on every plan, so you don't need to draft or send it yourself, and you're protected if an applicant ever claims they weren't notified.

Conditional acceptance. In some areas, including New York City, Cook County (IL), Washington D.C., Maryland, Detroit (MI), Berkeley (CA), Oakland (CA), and New Jersey, state or local law requires you to conditionally accept an applicant before you can view their criminal background check. You review credit, eviction, and income first, confirm the applicant meets your baseline criteria, then unlock the criminal report. If you skip this step or view the criminal report out of order, the screening may not be compliant, which could expose you to a fair housing complaint. RentSpree builds this into the screening workflow, so you follow the required order automatically without tracking it yourself.

How to set up screening without paying out of pocket

Most screening platforms let you pass the cost to the applicant, where local law allows. With RentSpree, you create a screening request, choose whether you or the applicant covers the fee, and share a link. The applicant completes the application online, pays the screening fee through the platform using a debit or credit card (if you've set them as the payer), and authorizes TransUnion to generate the reports. Results come back to your dashboard, typically within two hours.

When you collect application fees yourself, you have to track who paid, deposit the money, match it to the right applicant, and keep records for each transaction. When the applicant pays through the screening platform instead, you skip that paperwork entirely. Since fee cap rules vary by state and city, check your local requirements before deciding how to handle the cost. 

What to look for in a screening provider

Three questions are worth asking before you choose a platform.

Does income verification go beyond document uploads? If the platform only accepts uploaded pay stubs or bank statements, you're relying on documents that can be fabricated. Bank-verified income verification connects directly to the applicant's financial institution, giving you confirmed deposit history instead of a document you have to take at face value. RentSpree offers bank-verified income verification through Finicity (a Mastercard company) as a $10 add-on, typically paid by the applicant. 

Are compliance tools included? Sending the required denial notice where you do not accept an applicant is a legal obligation, and doing it manually means drafting the right language, including the right disclosures, and documenting delivery. If any step is missed, you're open to legal risk. Some platforms, like RentSpree, handle this automatically. Others hand you a template.

Do you need a subscription to access screening? If you're filling one vacancy a year, a monthly subscription adds cost in the months you aren't using it. A platform with no subscription requirement lets you pay per screen when you need to and skip the overhead when you don't. 

RentSpree covers all three: full screening with automated denial notices on a free plan, no subscription required, plus bank-verified income verification available as a $10 applicant-paid add-on. 

Frequently asked questions