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Why Multiple Application Fees Are a Problem?
Across the U.S., renters are paying more just to apply and walking away with nothing when rejected.
DENVER, CO, UNITED STATES, June 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Applying to five apartments and getting rejected from all of them is frustrating enough. But in today’s rental market, each rejection also comes with a non-refundable fee. The cost of simply trying to find housing has become a financial barrier in its own right.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) put it plainly: “Landlords and property managers can profit immensely off charging non-refundable rental application and screening fees to prospective tenants, even knowing that only one applicant will ultimately be selected.”
Why Application Fees Exist and Why They’re Non-Refundable?
When a landlord reviews an application, they typically run four checks: credit history, criminal background, eviction records, and income verification. These are handled by third-party screening services that charge a per-report fee, a real, immediate cost that landlords pass on to applicants.
The fee is non-refundable because the screening is triggered the moment you submit. The report is generated, the cost is incurred, and your approval status doesn’t change that.
The problem is twofold. First, these fees often exceed the actual cost of the screening services they claim to cover, a point formally acknowledged in U.S. federal policy records (The American Presidency Project, UCSB, July 2023). Second, a broken system forces renters to pay repeatedly. Most application fees run $40–$75 per submission, meaning five applications alone can cost $200–$375 out of pocket, with no mechanism for reuse or refund.
So Why Do You Have to Pay… Multiple Times?
There is no universal system for sharing a tenant screening report between landlords.
Each landlord uses their own vendor and their own process. Even with a perfect credit score and clean rental history, Landlord A and Landlord B have no way to access the same verified report, so each orders a new one, at your expense.
In competitive cities, listings disappear within 24 to 48 hours. Renters are routinely advised to apply to multiple properties simultaneously just to have a fighting chance. The result is a system where the financial burden of finding housing falls almost entirely on the renter.
Is This Even Legal? What Regulators Are Saying
Rental application fees occupy a patchwork legal landscape in the United States, with rules varying dramatically by state and municipality.
What the federal government is doing:
The Biden-Harris Administration formally labeled excessive rental fees as “junk fees”, a category of charges that obscure the true cost of a transaction and disproportionately burden consumers. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has since launched a rulemaking proceeding specifically targeting unfair or deceptive practices related to rental housing fees, a significant signal that federal oversight of this area is intensifying.
What states are doing:
According to the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, a growing number of states and cities are moving to cap or restrict application fees:
– Connecticut and Virginia have capped fees at approximately $20
– Vermont has gone further, banning application fees entirely
– Colorado and Illinois limit fees to the landlord’s actual processing costs and require that screening reports remain reusable for up to 30 days
This legislative momentum reflects a broader recognition that the current system places an unfair burden on renters.
How to Stop Paying Multiple Application Fees?
Until federal or state reform catches up, renters have a few practical options:
– Ask if the landlord accepts third-party reports. Some independent landlords will accept a recent screening report you’ve already paid for. It’s worth asking before submitting a new application.
– Apply strategically, not broadly. Focus on your top two or three choices rather than applying everywhere. Fewer applications mean less cumulative fee exposure.
– Know your state’s fee cap laws. If you’re in a regulated state, landlords who charge above the legal cap may violate tenant protection law.
– Use a Portable Tenant Screening Report. This is the most direct solution available.
LeaseRunner’s Portable Tenant Screening Report lets renters pay a single fee to generate one comprehensive screening report, covering credit, criminal history, and eviction records- that can then be securely shared with multiple landlords.
This approach directly addresses the root cause of the problem: the absence of a shared, renter-controlled screening record. Instead of each landlord ordering a new report at your expense, you bring a verified report with you to every application.
Beyond the cost savings, the portable report puts you in control of your own data, and signals to landlords that you’re a serious, prepared applicant.
Learn more at leaserunner.com
Joseph Buczkowski
LeaseRunner
+1 303-325-3665
help@leaserunner.com
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