H07012026 Regular Session

Adds to existing law to provide for limitations on rental application fees.

HOUSING -- Adds to existing law to provide for limitations on rental application fees.

IntroducedIn CommitteeFloor VoteEnacted

Via committee: Business

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

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The proposed legislation intends to ensure that tenants are only charged rental application fees when they are actually being considered for a rental unit and that renters will follow their stated procedures when charging rental application fees. It allows only two rental applicant households to be charged application fees at a time. Each member of the household needing criminal history or background checks can be charged applicant fees. A rental must be available or expected to be available and the advertisement must disclose any criteria for the rental. Applicants may be charged a fee and placed on a waiting list if they are notified and consent to being placed on the waiting list. To charge a fee, the property owner or manager must also actually run the criminal history or background check that they state they are collecting the fee for. If an applicant is denied, the property owner or manager may then move on to an additional applicant, so long as no more than two applicant households are being processed at a time. This section of code shall not apply to situations where a property owner or manager is not charging or receiving application fees.

FISCAL NOTE

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This legislation will have no fiscal impact, since it only adds language to clarify the Idaho landlord-tenant code.

BILL TEXT

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LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 701 BY BUSINESS COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO RENTAL APPLICATIONS; PROVIDING LEGISLATIVE INTENT; AMENDING2 CHAPTER 3, TITLE 55, IDAHO CODE, BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION 55-316,3 IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE FOR CERTAIN LIMITATIONS ON RENTAL APPLICATION4 FEES; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.5

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:6

SECTION 1. LEGISLATIVE INTENT. It is the intent of the Legislature to7 provide certain limitations on the charging of rental application fees to8 reduce the number of rental applicants who are charged such fees for rental9 properties for which they are not considered.10

SECTION 2. That Chapter 3, Title 55, Idaho Code, be, and the same is11 hereby amended by the addition thereto of a NEW SECTION, to be known and des-12 ignated as Section 55-316, Idaho Code, and to read as follows:13 55-316. LIMITATION ON FEES FOR RENTAL APPLICATIONS. (1) A property14 owner or property manager shall not charge rental application fees to more15 than two (2) rental applicant households per rental unit concurrently and16 may charge such fees only if the property owner or property manager:17 (a) Has a rental unit currently available for rent, has a rental unit18 that will become available by a specified future date, or does not have19 a rental property available but the rental applicant acknowledges in20 writing that no rental property is available and consents to being21 placed on a waiting list for future available rental units;22 (b) Discloses to the prospective tenant, prior to accepting the rental23 application, any information regarding the rental applicant screening24 process that the property owner or property manager will evaluate as a25 condition of accepting the rental applicant as a tenant in the residen-26 tial unit; and27 (c) Completes the screening process as disclosed pursuant to paragraph28 (b) of this subsection.29 (2) Rental application fees may only be charged to each rental appli-30 cant within a rental applicant household who requires a criminal history and31 background check.32 (3) If the rental application of the first of the two (2) rental ap-33 plicant households pursuant to subsection (1) of this section is denied, a34 property owner or property manager may charge a rental application fee to the35 next rental applicant household and may charge a rental application fee to36 each individual rental applicant of such household who requires a criminal37 history and background check, as long as no more than two (2) rental appli-38 cant households are being charged concurrently at any given time.39

2 (4) All rental application fees shall be related to the average costs of1 the screening as disclosed pursuant to subsection (1)(b) of this section and2 any other costs incurred from processing the rental application.3 (5) This section shall not apply where a property owner or property man-4 ager does not charge or receive rental application fees.5

SECTION 3. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby6 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after7 July 1, 2026.8