In the near future, we plan to reintroduce legislation that will provide for rental application fee caps. This was previously introduced last session as Senate Bill 860 and was cosponsored by Senators Costa, Saval, Vogel, Tartaglione, Haywood, A. Williams, Kearney, Dillon, Comitta, Street, Brewster, Cappelletti, Collett, Muth, and Kane.

Excessive rental application fees can rapidly become an inadvertent obstacle to renters. In a competitive housing market, renters often have to act fast. This sometimes even includes submitting an application prior to touring a unit just to have a decent chance of finding a place to call home, and these fees can add up.

Housing is a basic right, and Pennsylvanians should not be deterred from seeking a rental property or apartment due to superfluous application fees. While these fees are designed to aid the landlord in conducting background and credit checks on the applicant, they are often set far higher than the cost of these screenings. The typical rental application fee ranges from $25 to $75 per applicant, but some fees go as high as $100 in high demand areas.

Last year, Philadelphia City Council recognized this when they made law a rental application fee cap at the cost a property owner incurs for a background check or credit check – or $50, whichever amount is less. At a time when many are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of living, all of Pennsylvania’s renters deserve a fair deal.

Landlords should not be permitted to utilize the application process as an opportunity for additional revenue. That is why we plan to introduce legislation that will cap rental application fees similar to the terms set in Philadelphia.

We hope you will join us in co-sponsoring this initiative to ensure no renter is deterred by excessive fees associated with an application and to help make a more equitable housing market for all Pennsylvanian renters.