Updated April 2026

The amount of California residential application fees are governed by California Civil Code

§1950.6(b). It reads,

(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.

Maximum application screening fees are the landlord’s costs (out of pocket and other costs), not to exceed the specified maximum dollar amount. When Civil Code §1950.6 was first enacted, owners and managers could not charge more than $30.00 per applicant for an application fee but that amount has increased over the years. In 2026, the maximum amount is $65.86. A landlord is not permitted to charge an application fee if there is no rental unit available at the time or will not be available within a reasonable period of time. The landlord or their agent shall provide, either personally or by mail, the applicant with a receipt for the fee paid by the applicant; the receipt shall itemize the out-of-pocket expenses and time spent by the landlord or their agent to obtain and process the information about the applicant. The landlord and applicant may agree to have the receipt sent to an email account provided by the applicant.

Beginning January 1, 2025, landlords need to make sure their application screening policy meets one of two options in order to charge the application screening fee. Option 1: First, a landlord can only charge an application fee when the landlord processes applications on a first come, first qualified, first granted process, and when applicants are provided with written rental criteria together with the application form. Option 2: The alternative option is that a landlord may charge a fee to applicants so long as the landlord returns the fee to any applicant who is not selected for the tenancy, regardless of the reason, within the lesser of seven (7) days after tenant selection or thirty (30) days. Landlords are also required to provide a copy of the consumer credit report from the applicant within seven (7) days of the landlord receiving the report.