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I'm genuinely surprised at how expensive the fees are for applying to an apartment. I sense the background checks are not that expensive to perform, nor are the

I'm genuinely surprised at how expensive the fees are for applying to an apartment. I sense the background checks are not that expensive to perform, nor are the credit score lookups. I can't help but think the complexes are just being greedy and using the application fees as 1) a filter to keep out lower income residents in a totally legal way, and 2) a means of collecting even more money. Edit: I have only ever applied at apartment complexes owned by regional/national real estate management companies. I do not know what the experience is like for independent properties or small landlords. The fees I encountered were typically $100 to $250, non refundable.

hardtke 4y ago
Credit checks are actually somewhat costly for a small landlord. We had a rental house, and you can't just order a one off credit check. We needed to join a rental housing organization (or contract with a rental agency) to get access to credit checks. That being said, there is room in the market for a tenant friendly app that caches your credit check if you are applying to multiple apartments -- no need to run your credit multiple times within a few weeks.
- enragedcacti 4y ago
  This is exactly what Zillow provides, but with the obvious caveat that the tenant doesn't decide which apartments use Zillow's application/tenant screening features. $29 gives you a 30-day window to apply to however many apartments you would like. https://www.zillow.com/z/rental-manager/rental-applications-faq/ https://www.zillow.com/z/rental-manager/rental-applications-...
  - techsupporter 4y ago
    Washington State tried to do this with reusable tenant screening reports but when the state landlord association heard about requiring them to actually be "reusable" (as in, landlords have to accept the report), they screamed so loudly that the requirement got yanked. All the law wound up accomplishing was to cause landlords to put "we do not accept reusable tenant screening reports" on the footers of all of their web sites. Gotta get that fee income.
mikeodds 4y ago
Saw several places with $250 per person application fees in Austin.
tyingq 4y ago
California caps it at $35: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-law-tenant-application-screening-fees-credit-reports.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-law-tenan...
- jseliger 4y ago
  That has sure helped California be affordable and friendly to renters.
jackson1442 4y ago
Had to put down over $300 to apply to an apartment this year. Comprised of an "application fee," "admin fee," and "holding deposit" (only the last one goes as a credit to my rent) for a 1 bedroom apartment. The holding deposit was the largest fee of them all (at $300) and would have been refunded if I was rejected but it's a ridiculous amount of capital required to _apply to_ an apartment.

hardtke 4y ago

Credit checks are actually somewhat costly for a small landlord. We had a rental house, and you can't just order a one off credit check. We needed to join a rental housing organization (or contract with a rental agency) to get access to credit checks. That being said, there is room in the market for a tenant friendly app that caches your credit check if you are applying to multiple apartments -- no need to run your credit multiple times within a few weeks.

enragedcacti 4y ago
This is exactly what Zillow provides, but with the obvious caveat that the tenant doesn't decide which apartments use Zillow's application/tenant screening features. $29 gives you a 30-day window to apply to however many apartments you would like. https://www.zillow.com/z/rental-manager/rental-applications-faq/ https://www.zillow.com/z/rental-manager/rental-applications-...
- techsupporter 4y ago
  Washington State tried to do this with reusable tenant screening reports but when the state landlord association heard about requiring them to actually be "reusable" (as in, landlords have to accept the report), they screamed so loudly that the requirement got yanked. All the law wound up accomplishing was to cause landlords to put "we do not accept reusable tenant screening reports" on the footers of all of their web sites. Gotta get that fee income.

mikeodds 4y ago

Saw several places with $250 per person application fees in Austin.

tyingq 4y ago

California caps it at $35: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-law-tenant-application-screening-fees-credit-reports.html https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-law-tenan...

jseliger 4y ago
That has sure helped California be affordable and friendly to renters.

jackson1442 4y ago

Had to put down over $300 to apply to an apartment this year. Comprised of an "application fee," "admin fee," and "holding deposit" (only the last one goes as a credit to my rent) for a 1 bedroom apartment. The holding deposit was the largest fee of them all (at $300) and would have been refunded if I was rejected but it's a ridiculous amount of capital required to _apply to_ an apartment.