What Can a California Landlord Check When Screening Tenants in 2026?

To make the rules concrete, take a hypothetical landlord we'll call Dana. Dana owns a fourplex in Sacramento and a duplex in Oakland, doesn't live in either, and has one vacancy in each. Dana is invented for this walkthrough; the rules she runs into are real and cited by section.

How much can a California landlord charge for a rental application fee?

The fee is capped by Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6: a $30 base per applicant, adjusted every year for changes in the Consumer Price Index. The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board, which publishes the adjusted figure, lists the 2026 cap as $68.96 per applicant. The fee can only cover the landlord's actual out-of-pocket screening costs and time, so a cheaper report means a lower lawful fee even under the cap.

Section 1950.6 also sets the conduct around the fee. Dana can't collect a fee if no unit is actually available. She has to give each applicant an itemized receipt showing the out-of-pocket costs and the time spent, refund any portion she doesn't use, and give the applicant a copy of the consumer credit report on request. If an applicant offers a reusable screening report that meets the statute's terms, Dana should work from it rather than charge for a new one.

The statute also governs the order she reviews applications in. Dana can keep fees from applicants she doesn't pick only if she reviews completed applications in the order received against written screening criteria, charging nothing to anyone she never gets to. Otherwise, she refunds the fee to every applicant she doesn't select. Berkeley adds a local step: under Berkeley Municipal Code § 13.78.010, a landlord there must give a tenant screening fee rights statement and the current cap before collecting any fee.

Can I turn down an applicant who pays with a Section 8 voucher in California?

No. Cal. Gov. Code § 12955 makes source-of-income discrimination unlawful, and according to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), that includes Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers and other federal, state and local housing subsidies. An ad or notice saying "No Section 8" is itself a violation. The CRD notes one narrow exemption: a homeowner who lives in a single-family home and rents out one room in it (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 12052).

Income requirements change when there's a subsidy. Under § 12955(o), as the CRD explains it, an income standard applies only to the portion of rent the tenant actually pays. The CRD's own example: on a $2,500 unit where the tenant's share is $500, a three-times-rent standard means the applicant needs $1,500 a month, not $7,500.

Say one of Dana's Sacramento applicants holds a voucher. Dana runs her usual income test on the tenant's share, not the full contract rent. That one adjustment is where many otherwise careful landlords trip.

Can I use credit history to screen a tenant with a rent subsidy?

Only if you also offer a way around it. Since SB 267 took effect on January 1, 2024, Cal. Gov. Code § 12955(o) bars using an applicant's credit history when the applicant has a government rent subsidy unless the landlord offers the option to submit lawful, verifiable alternative evidence of ability to pay, such as benefit records, pay records or bank statements. The landlord must give the applicant reasonable time to produce it and reasonably consider it in place of the credit history.

For Dana, that means adding a line to her application and to her written criteria: applicants with a rent subsidy may submit alternative proof of their ability to pay instead of relying on credit. If the voucher holder sends six months of bank statements and benefit letters, Dana weighs those the way she'd weigh a credit score.

Credit checks for unsubsidized applicants remain allowed statewide, subject to the fee rules above and the adverse action notice covered below.

Can I run a criminal background check on rental applicants in California?

Statewide, yes, but not as a blanket screen. The CRD's fair housing regulations, Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, §§ 12264-12271, prohibit blanket bans on renting to people with criminal histories. Any use of criminal history has to be limited to convictions with a direct and specific negative bearing on the interest the policy serves, such as resident safety or property protection, and the lookback has to be limited so the information stays relevant. The regulations don't set a fixed number of years.

Some records are off the table entirely under 2 CCR § 12269: arrests that didn't lead to conviction, participation in diversion programs, sealed, vacated or expunged convictions, and juvenile records. The regulations also weigh whether the landlord gives applicants a chance to present individualized, mitigating information in writing or in person (2 CCR § 12266). The factors listed include the person's age at the time, time since the conviction, good tenant history, evidence of rehabilitation, and whether the conduct stemmed from being a victim of domestic violence, stalking or similar offenses.

In Sacramento, Dana can screen for criminal history only if her written policy names the specific conviction types that matter and why, sets a reasonable lookback, ignores the excluded records, and lets the applicant explain. A "no felonies" box on the application doesn't meet that standard.

Which California cities have their own fair chance housing laws?

Oakland's duplex is a different story. Oakland's Fair Chance Access to Housing ordinance (Oakland Municipal Code ch. 8.25, effective February 4, 2020) bars asking about criminal history, requiring authorization to release it, refusing to rent, or charging a higher deposit or rent because of it. The only check allowed is the state lifetime sex-offender registry, and only after the requirement is stated in the application, the applicant meets every other criterion, a conditional rental agreement is given, the applicant is told in advance, and the applicant gives written consent or can withdraw. Every application must come with the City's Fair Chance notice. According to the City, penalties include administrative fines up to $1,000 per violation and civil damages of three times the greater of actual damages or one month's rent.

Berkeley's Ronald V. Dellums Fair Chance Access to Housing ordinance (Berkeley Municipal Code ch. 13.106, effective March 10, 2020) works much the same way: no criminal-history questions, no criminal checks through screening companies, and a limited registry check only after a conditional offer, advance notice, consent and a chance to respond. The Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board lists civil penalties of at least $1,000 and up to $10,000 per violation. Both cities exempt owner-occupied single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes, so if Dana lived in one unit of her Oakland duplex, the ordinance wouldn't reach it.

San Francisco's Fair Chance Ordinance (S.F. Police Code Art. 49) reaches housing only for affordable housing providers. According to the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, private-market landlords there follow the statewide rules. In Los Angeles County, the 2024 Fair Chance Ordinance covers employment; the county's page doesn't describe rental housing coverage, so statewide rules apply there unless a local housing ordinance is adopted.

What notice do I owe an applicant I turn down?

If the decision rests even partly on a consumer report, federal law requires an adverse action notice under 15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a). It must give the name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting agency, a statement that the agency didn't make the decision and can't explain it, the applicant's right to a free copy of the report from that agency within 60 days, and the right to dispute the report's accuracy or completeness. If a credit score was used, the notice must include it with the related disclosures.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, "adverse action" isn't limited to a denial. Requiring a co-signer, a deposit or a larger deposit than another applicant would face, or charging higher rent all count, and the FTC says notice is required even if the report played only a small part. Willful violations can cost actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, plus punitive damages and attorney's fees (15 U.S.C. § 1681n(a)).

The local ordinances add their own steps. Before any adverse action involving criminal history, Oakland requires written notice of the reasons, a copy of the report relied on, instructions for filing a complaint with the City, a list of local legal services, and a chance to respond. If Dana's Oakland applicant fails the registry check, she sends that Oakland notice and, because a screening report was used, the federal one too.

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