8 answers
What a landlord can ask for when you apply, application fees and holding deposits, credit and income requirements, and your rights if you are turned down.
It depends on your state — federal law sets no cap on application fees, but some states limit the fee to the landlord's actual screening costs. California also sets a dollar cap that started at $30 and rises with inflation.
Usually yes, but only if you follow through — a holding deposit takes a unit off the market while you finalize your application, and it's typically applied to your first month's rent or refunded if the landlord backs out first.
A landlord can ask for income, employment, rental history, and consent to run a credit and background check, but federal fair housing law bars questions aimed at your race, religion, disability, or familial status.
Yes — credit history isn't a protected characteristic, so a landlord can deny you for it, but federal law requires them to tell you if a credit report was the reason and how to get a free copy of it.
Yes — income requirements like 3x the rent are a landlord's own underwriting standard, not something federal law regulates, though it still has to be applied the same way to every applicant.
In most cases yes — a criminal record isn't a federally protected characteristic, but a blanket policy that screens out applicants can still violate fair housing law if it has an unjustified discriminatory effect.
In most places, yes — federal law doesn't require private landlords to accept housing vouchers, though a growing number of states and cities have passed their own laws that do require it.
A guarantor typically owes the same rent, fees, and damage costs the tenant does if the tenant doesn't pay — the exact scope depends entirely on the wording of the guaranty they sign, not on a standard legal default.
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