California tenant screening laws

An application screening fee may not exceed your actual out-of-pocket cost of gathering information about the applicant, including a screening or credit report and the reasonable value of your time, and never more than $30 per applicant, a figure you may adjust each year by the Consumer Price Index from January 1, 1998 (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6(a), (b)).

• You may not charge a screening fee when you know or should know that no unit is available now or within a reasonable time (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6(c)(1)).
• You may charge the fee only if, when you collect it, you offer one of two processes: consider completed applications in the order received under written screening criteria given with the application, approve the first qualified applicant and charge only applicants actually considered; or refund the whole fee to every applicant not selected within 7 days of choosing a tenant or 30 days after the application, whichever is first (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6(c)(2)).
• Give the applicant a receipt that itemizes your out-of-pocket costs and time (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6(d)).
• If you do not check references or obtain a credit report, return any part of the fee not used for those purposes (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6(e)).
• If the applicant paid a screening fee, give the applicant a copy of their consumer credit report by personal delivery, mail or email within seven days after you receive it (Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6(f)).
• From April 1, 2027, you must have a written pet policy, even one that bans pets, link it on your website and in digital ads, give a copy with every rental application, and, on written request, refund the application fee within seven business days if failing to disclose it before charging the fee left the applicant ineligible or led them to withdraw (Cal. Civ. Code § 1942.7.5 (Stats. 2026, ch. 1025, SB 1296)).
• You may choose whether to accept reusable tenant screening reports. For an accepted qualifying report, charge neither an access fee nor an application screening fee. The statute specifies a report prepared within the prior 30 days at the applicant's request and expense, available to you at no cost, with the required identity, contact, employment, address, lawful eviction-history and currency information. Acceptance does not determine approval or remove other screening protections; a more protective local policy can apply (Cal. Civ. Code section 1950.1).
• The CCPA can cover a qualifying for-profit business that collects personal information, determines its processing purposes and operates in California, subject to revenue or personal-data volume and sale/sharing thresholds. CPPA's coverage FAQ also describes related entities and separate service-provider duties. Review the applicable business and information exemptions before deciding which privacy duties apply (California Privacy Protection Agency, coverage FAQs4 and16).
• If the CCPA covers the business and information, provide the required notice at or before collection: categories collected, purposes, sale or sharing, and the retention period or criteria, including the required sensitive-information disclosures. Keep collection, use, retention and sharing proportionate to the disclosed purposes, and retain information only as reasonably necessary for them. The section also requires appropriate reasonable security (Cal. Civ. Code section 1798.100(a), (c), (e)).
• For covered information, privacy rights can include knowing, correcting or deleting information, opting out of sale/sharing, limiting sensitive-information use and equal treatment for exercising rights. The CPPA explains verification requirements and exceptions, including legal obligations and legal claims. Evaluate the applicable request and exception rather than promising automatic deletion of every application or report (California Privacy Protection Agency, rights and exceptions FAQs7 and10).

A housing owner may not discriminate against or harass anyone because of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, veteran or military status, or genetic information. Screening policies must also follow the housing criminal-history protections described by the Civil Rights Department; a record in a report does not itself establish a lawful reason to reject an applicant (Cal. Gov. Code § 12955(a); California CRD: housing screening guidance).

• Source of income means lawful, verifiable income paid to the tenant or to the landlord for the tenant, including public assistance and housing subsidies such as Section 8 vouchers (Cal. Gov. Code § 12955(p)(1)).
• CRD's housing guidance prohibits considering arrests without convictions, sealed or expunged records, and juvenile justice records, and prohibits blanket bans on everyone with a criminal history. For a permitted conviction, assess its direct relationship to tenancy, safety and property, including the nature and severity of the conduct and time elapsed. Verify the actual record and outcome; reporting eligibility alone does not establish that a housing decision is lawful (California CRD: criminal history in housing).
• Government Code 12952 regulates employment screening by covered employers; its conditional job-offer procedure is not a statewide rental-offer rule. Check the actual housing regulations and any city or county fair-chance ordinance for the property before asking about or using criminal history. The local timing, notices and exceptions require a separate review (Cal. Gov. Code section 12952; California CRD: housing protections).
• A screening service may combine credit, rental, eviction, criminal or reference information, or supply a risk score. Confirm the lawful housing purpose and applicable authorization and disclosure requirements before ordering, and certify housing-only use to the reporting company. Review discrepancies and outcomes instead of treating a score, a court filing, frequent moves or an unverified reference as an automatic rejection rule. Limit access and securely dispose of reports when finished with them (FTC: using consumer reports for housing).
• If a consumer report influences an adverse action even partly, FTC guidance requires a notice. This includes a denial or report-based additional cosigner, deposit or rent requirement, subject to separate California limits. Identify the reporting agency with its address and telephone number, explain that it did not make the decision, and state the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information and request a free agency report within 60 days. Use a written notice for a clear record; a credit score used in the decision triggers additional written or electronic score disclosures. This duty is separate from California's seven-day consumer-credit-report copy rule (FTC: adverse-action notice requirements; Cal. Civ. Code section 1950.6(f)).
• A landlord or agent may not ask about immigration or citizenship status or require a status statement, representation or certification from a tenant, applicant, occupant or prospective occupant. Disclosing status information to harass, intimidate, retaliate, influence a move-out or recover possession is also prohibited (Cal. Civ. Code section 1940.3(b)).
• Section 1940.3 permits information or documents necessary to verify an applicant's financial qualifications or an applicant's or prospective occupant's identity. It also preserves compliance with federal legal duties, including qualifying housing programs, and court subpoenas, warrants or orders. Apply these defined exceptions to the actual verification purpose (Cal. Civ. Code section 1940.3(c)).