California tenant screening & landlord laws

In California, that process runs through a specific set of state and local rules: what you can charge for it, what you can ask about a person's criminal record, and what you owe an applicant if you turn them down.

Follow the state, city, and county requirements below, and screening stays quick and straightforward for both you and the applicant. Some cities sit inside counties with their own separate rules, so check both levels of government before assuming you've covered everything.

This guide walks through how to screen a tenant in California step by step, the compliance rules that typically apply specifically to screening, and how those rules might shift across eight major metros.

Most California landlords move through the same six steps, usually in the same order, for every applicant. Doing it out of order can create fair housing risk, since some of these steps (like weighing credit history or income) need to happen with the source-of-income and disability protections below already in mind, not as an afterthought.

Application screening fees are capped under Civil Code Section 1950.6 at a base of $30, which a landlord may adjust in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index. Because those adjustments have accumulated since the statute set the mechanism running, the current dollar ceiling is higher than $30, so check the current figure before setting your fee rather than relying on a number that may already be out of date. Checkr's guide to California's screening fee law walks through the current rules and links the statute directly. The cap is a ceiling, not a default: the fee must reflect your actual out-of-pocket cost of screening the applicant, and it can be lower than the cap.

Assembly Bill 2493, effective January 1, 2025, layered more obligations on top of that cap. You generally can't charge a fee unless a unit is currently or soon available. Beyond that, the law gives you a choice between two compliance paths, not a single mandate: either process applications in the order qualified applicants apply and don't charge a fee to anyone you don't consider, or charge a fee to multiple applicants but refund it in full to anyone not selected (typically within 7 days of choosing a tenant or 30 days of the application, whichever comes first). Accepting an applicant's reusable, portable screening report is optional, but if you do accept one, you can't charge that applicant a separate screening fee. The statute also entitles applicants to an itemized receipt on request and a copy of any credit report you pull, automatically, within 7 days.

Cities can add disclosure obligations on top of the state cap, and Berkeley is worth knowing about specifically: its ordinance requires owners to provide a tenant screening fee rights statement, and the Berkeley Rent Board separately publishes its own CPI-adjusted maximum figure, which won't always match the statewide number since it uses a different index. That local figure is a disclosure reference point, not license to charge above what Civil Code Section 1950.6 otherwise permits. Verify the current local figure before setting your fee. If you're not sure what applies to your address, Checkr's fee calculator looks it up by ZIP code, and the full 50-state guide covers screening fee rules outside California too.

California has a statewide rule specifically about criminal history in housing decisions, not just the employment-side Fair Chance Act. Regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, in effect since January 1, 2020, prohibit blanket bans on renting to people with criminal records and require an individualized assessment instead, codified at California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Sections 12264 through 12271. In practice, that means you can consider a conviction, but you generally need to weigh factors like the nature of the offense, how long ago it happened, and whether it's actually relevant to tenancy, rather than rejecting every applicant with a record. A stated policy of "no felonies" is not compliant on its own. That regulation also spells out categories you can't consider at all: arrests that didn't lead to a conviction, infractions, sealed, dismissed, or expunged convictions, and juvenile-justice matters (unless the applicant offers any of these as mitigating information). Any conviction you do weigh has to be directly related to the applicant's ability to be a good tenant, and you're required to give the applicant notice of the opportunity to present mitigating information, such as time passed or rehabilitation, before you finalize a denial based on criminal history. Separately, ICRAA limits how far back a conviction can be reported at all: Civil Code Section 1786.18(a)(7) bars reporting convictions more than seven years old, with no income-based exception, and arrests that didn't lead to conviction are barred from investigative consumer reports outright.

The California rules above stay in effect regardless of federal developments. Federally, disparate-impact theory under the Fair Housing Act — the idea that a criminal-history policy which disproportionately screens out a protected group can create liability even without discriminatory intent — can still apply to criminal-history screening. California's statewide rule serves as the durable baseline. Several California cities go further still with their own ordinances, covered in the city rundown below.

Source of income has been a protected class under California's Fair Employment and Housing Act (Government Code Section 12955) for years, but landlords had argued that Section 8 and other vouchers weren't "income" since the subsidy is paid to the landlord, not the tenant. Senate Bill 329, effective January 1, 2020, closed that loophole by amending the statutory definition of "source of income" to explicitly include housing vouchers and other public assistance. In practice, you can't refuse an applicant for using a Housing Choice Voucher or similar subsidy. The same FEHA statute also protects sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status, on top of the federal Fair Housing Act's protected classes. Immigration or citizenship status is protected separately, under California's Immigrant Tenant Protection Act (Civil Code Sections 1940.05 and 1940.2, plus Code of Civil Procedure Section 1161.4), which generally bars landlords from asking about, disclosing, or threatening to disclose a tenant's immigration status. Senate Bill 267, effective January 1, 2024, added a further protection specifically for voucher holders: you can't reject an applicant with a government rent subsidy based on credit history alone. If the applicant offers alternative proof of ability to pay, such as pay stubs, bank statements, or benefit records, you're required to reasonably consider it.

The disclosure and authorization rules described above come from California's CCRAA and ICRAA, not federal law. A tenant screening report is a consumer report, and using one to make a decision means you're subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which the FTC enforces. Per the FTC's guidance for landlords, an adverse action includes denying an application, requiring a co-signer, or charging a higher deposit than you'd charge another applicant, and it requires notifying the applicant even if the report was only a minor factor in your decision. The notice can be oral, written, or electronic, though the FTC recommends written notice since it doubles as proof of compliance. It must identify the consumer reporting agency that supplied the report, state that the agency didn't make the decision and can't explain it, and tell the applicant they can get a free copy of the report and dispute anything in it.

These rules don't govern how you screen an applicant, but they shape the tenancy that follows, and they're easy to run into during the same turnover that triggers a screening decision.

Since July 1, 2024, Assembly Bill 12 caps security deposits at one month's rent for most landlords, regardless of whether the unit is furnished, by amending Civil Code Section 1950.5. Landlords who are natural persons (or an LLC made up entirely of natural persons) and who own two or fewer rental properties totaling four or fewer units can still collect up to two months' rent. Active-duty service members are the one exception to that carve-out: they're capped at one month's rent no matter who owns the property. Since January 1, 2026, Assembly Bill 414 (amending Civil Code Section 1950.5) has generally required an electronic deposit return in some circumstances if rent or the deposit was paid electronically. Multiple sources describe this as requiring electronic refunds unless both parties agree in writing to another method, but not every secondary source reads the trigger and any tenant-designated-account element the same way — confirm the current, operative requirements before relying on a specific process.

The Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (AB 1482) sets a statewide floor, codified at Civil Code Section 1946.2 (just cause) and Section 1947.12 (rent caps): annual rent increases are generally capped at whichever is lower — 5% plus local CPI, or 10% total — and the exact percentage is recalculated each year and can vary somewhat by region's CPI, so check the current figure before quoting one. Landlords need a valid, stated reason to end a tenancy once a tenant has lived in the unit for 12 months or more. Most single-family homes and condos owned by individuals are exempt, but only if the landlord gives the tenant written notice of that exemption. Properties in cities with stricter local ordinances follow local law instead, noted in the city rundown below. That 12-month threshold extends to 24 months if an additional adult tenant is added to the lease before the original tenant hits 24 months. Unless extended, AB 1482 sunsets on January 1, 2030.

State law is the floor. Several California cities add their own layer on top, most often around criminal history, rent increases, and eviction notice requirements. This isn't a complete list of every local rule, but it's a starting point for what to check before you finalize a screening policy or a lease decision in these metros.

What California laws control tenant screening — fees, background checks, criminal history, and adverse action?

Tenant screening in California runs through several layers at once: the CCRAA and ICRAA govern disclosure, authorization, and reporting limits for credit and background reports; Civil Code §1950.6 and AB 2493 govern screening fees; FEHA's criminal-history regulations require an individualized assessment; and the federal FCRA governs adverse action notices. City ordinances can add further requirements on top of all of these.

What is AB 2493 and how does it change tenant screening fees and portable reports in California?

Effective January 1, 2025, AB 2493 gives landlords a choice between two compliance paths for handling multiple applicants: process applications in order and don't charge fees to applicants you don't consider, or charge a fee but refund it in full to anyone not selected. It also makes accepting a reusable, portable screening report optional, and entitles applicants to an itemized receipt and a copy of their credit report.

How must California landlords evaluate a rental applicant's criminal history under FEHA's individualized-assessment rule?

Landlords generally can't apply a blanket ban on renters with criminal records. Instead, FEHA regulations require weighing the nature of the offense, how long ago it occurred, and its relevance to tenancy, while excluding certain categories entirely (arrests without conviction, infractions, sealed or expunged records, and most juvenile matters) and giving the applicant a chance to present mitigating information before a final denial.

What is the maximum security deposit a California landlord can charge under AB 12?

Because landlord-tenant rules are periodically amended, confirm the current statutory text at the official source.

Since July 1, 2024, most landlords are capped at one month's rent. Landlords who are natural persons (or an LLC of natural persons) owning two or fewer properties totaling four or fewer units can still collect up to two months' rent, except when renting to an active-duty service member, who is capped at one month's rent regardless of the landlord's size.

How much can a California landlord legally charge for a tenant screening fee, and what does it cover?

The fee is capped under Civil Code §1950.6 at a base amount of $30, which a landlord may adjust in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index, so the current dollar ceiling is higher than the original $30 base — check the current figure before setting your fee. The fee is meant to cover your actual out-of-pocket cost of screening, so it can be lower than the cap but not more than your real cost.

Screening a California applicant well means running the process in the right order and applying the right rules at each step, from the individualized assessment on criminal history to the FCRA notice you send if you turn someone down. That's a lot to hold in your head for an event that might happen once a year.

Checkr's tenant screening reports cover credit, criminal history, and eviction records in one report, with optional identity and income verification, and built-in support for generating an adverse action notice when you need one. Sign up with Checkr to screen your next applicant confidently.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.