California Civil Code

§ 1950.6

CIV § 1950.6 Effective Jan 1, 2026Div. 3 · Title 5 · Part 4 · Ch. 2

Statute text

(a)Notwithstanding Section 1950.5, when a landlord or their agent receives a request to rent a residential property from an applicant, the landlord or their agent may charge, pursuant to subdivision (c), that applicant an application screening fee to cover the costs of obtaining information about the applicant. The information requested and obtained by the landlord or their agent may include, but is not limited to, personal reference checks and consumer credit reports produced by consumer credit reporting agencies as defined in Section 1785.3. A landlord or their agent may, but is not required to, accept and rely upon a consumer credit report presented by an applicant.

(b)The amount of the application screening fee shall not be greater than the actual out-of-pocket costs of gathering information concerning the applicant, including, but not limited to, the cost of using a tenant screening service or a consumer credit reporting service, and the reasonable value of time spent by the landlord or their agent in obtaining information on the applicant. In no case shall the amount of the application screening fee charged by the landlord or their agent be greater than thirty dollars ($30) per applicant. The thirty dollar ($30) application screening fee may be adjusted annually by the landlord or their agent commensurate with an increase in the Consumer Price Index, beginning on January 1, 1998.

(c)(1) A landlord or their agent shall not charge an applicant an application screening fee when they know or should have known that no rental unit is available at that time or will be available within a reasonable period of time.

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Legislative history

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 67, Sec. 29. (AB 1170) Effective January 1, 2026.