Florida tenant screening laws

Part II sets no limit on rental application or screening fees. The state has taken over this field: local governments may not regulate the screening process or application fees (Fla. Stat. § 83.425).

• If an applicant is a servicemember, you must finish processing the application within 7 days and tell the applicant in writing whether it is approved or denied, with the reason for a denial. Without a timely denial you must lease the unit if the other terms are met (Fla. Stat. § 83.683(1)).
• If you offer a fee in lieu of a deposit, you may not use an applicant's choice to pay it when deciding the application (Fla. Stat. § 83.491(7)).
• Check whether a reported arrest is covered by a sealing or expunction order before treating an omitted answer as dishonesty. Sections 943.059(6) and 943.0585(6) allow a person to deny or not acknowledge covered arrests, subject to listed exceptions for specified proceedings, employment and licensing. Ordinary rental applications are not among those listed exceptions. Resolve a disputed record through the reporting company and the relevant legal process before relying on it (Fla. Stat. 943.059(6); Fla. Stat. 943.0585(6)).
• Do not assume every juvenile record disappears at age 21. Section 943.0515 generally retains records for two years after age 19, but serious or habitual juvenile offenders and those committed to a maximum-risk residential facility have a different period ending five years after age 21. Adult forcible-felony charges or adjudications and specified registration-related records can require retention and merger with an adult record. Verify the actual record status; this age rule alone does not decide whether a screening report is lawful or an applicant qualifies (Fla. Stat. 943.0515).

If your building is licensed as a nontransient or transient apartment under s. 509.242(1)(d) or (e), you must require each employee to pass a background screening as a condition of employment (Fla. Stat. § 83.515(1)).

• The screening must be done by a consumer reporting agency under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and cover criminal history records and the sexual predator and sexual offender registries of all 50 states and the District of Columbia (Fla. Stat. § 83.515(2)).

The Florida Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse to rent, set different terms, or advertise a preference because of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status or religion (Fla. Stat. § 760.23).

• A private owner of no more than three single-family houses who rents without a real estate licensee and without discriminatory advertising is exempt from these sections, with conditions (Fla. Stat. § 760.29(1)(a)).
• A complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Relations must be filed within 1 year after the practice (Fla. Stat. § 760.34(2)).
• You may not discriminate against a servicemember in offering a unit or in lease terms (Fla. Stat. § 83.67(3)).