Idaho Bills

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

The proposed legislation intends to ensure tenants are charged fewer rental application fees when applying for a rental unit, and that they will only be charged fees for rentals when they have a likelihood of being considered. 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 within sixty (60) days, 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. They may also be charged a fee for a unit available beyond sixty (60) days if they consent to doing so in writing. To charge a fee, the property owner or manager must also actually run the criminal history or background check. 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.