Existing law authorizes a landlord, or the landlord's agent, who receives a request to rent a residential property from an applicant to charge that applicant an application screening fee to cover the costs of obtaining information about the applicant.
This bill would define the term "reusable tenant screening report" to mean a consumer report, as defined, that was prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer reporting agency at the request and expense of an applicant, is made directly available to the landlord for use in the rental application process or is provided through a third-party website that regularly engages in the business of providing reusable tenant screening reports that are available to landlords and complies with all state and federal laws pertaining to use and disclosure of information contained in a consumer report by a consumer reporting agency, and is available to the landlord at no cost to access or use. The bill would require a reusable tenant screening report to include specified information, including the results of an eviction history check, as prescribed. The bill would prohibit a landlord from charging the applicant a fee for the landlord to access the report or an application screening fee.