A background check for renters in California can include your credit report, criminal history, eviction records, income verification, and references, but state law limits what a landlord can charge to run it, what they can consider, and how they must tell you if it costs you the unit. The rules come from the California Civil Code, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the state Code of Regulations, and the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Knowing where those limits sit is what separates a lawful screening from one you can push back on.
What a Landlord Can Charge to Screen You
California Civil Code Section 1950.6 caps the application screening fee. The fee can only cover the landlord’s actual out-of-pocket costs, such as the credit report itself and the reasonable value of time spent checking your references. No profit is built in.
The statute sets a base cap of $30 per applicant and adjusts it each year with the Consumer Price Index. As of 2025, the ceiling had risen to roughly $64.50. Confirm the current figure before paying, because it moves every January.
After you pay, the landlord owes you an itemized receipt showing how the money was spent. If they never pull a credit report or call your references, the unused portion has to come back to you.1California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 1950.6 – Hiring of Real Property A landlord also cannot collect a screening fee when no unit is available or will be available within a reasonable time.2California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1950.6 – Application Screening Fee
Consent and Notice Before the Check
Before a landlord pulls a consumer report on you, federal law requires them to have a permissible purpose and to certify that purpose to the reporting agency.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports In practice, that means the application form asks you to authorize the check in writing.
California adds a second layer when the landlord orders an investigative consumer report, meaning one that involves interviews with people who know you rather than pure database records. Under the state’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, the landlord must notify you in writing within three days of requesting the report, name the reporting agency, and summarize your rights under the statute. Consumer reporting agencies in California must also follow procedures that are fair to consumers on accuracy, confidentiality, and proper use, including information used for renting a home.4California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 1785.1 – Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act Findings
How Credit and Income Can Be Used
Landlords can review your credit report to gauge whether you can pay rent reliably. Payment history, outstanding balances, and total debt are the usual points of focus. The controlling rule is consistency: the same financial standards have to apply to every applicant. Selective scrutiny is where discrimination claims start.
What a landlord cannot do is reject you because of where your income comes from. Source-of-income discrimination is illegal under the Fair Employment and Housing Act and its implementing regulations. Refusing to rent to you because you use a Section 8 voucher or any other form of rental assistance is a violation.5Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 12141 – Source of Income Discrimination in Rental Housing Posting “No Section 8” in a listing is itself unlawful, even if the landlord says they would look at voucher holders case by case.6California Civil Rights Department. Fair Housing and Source of Income FAQ
A thin credit file is not the same as a bad one. Younger renters and recent immigrants often lack traditional credit history, and a landlord who treats “no credit” as automatic grounds for denial risks a fair housing challenge if the applicant otherwise meets the criteria.
Medical Debt
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule in 2024 that would have pulled medical debt off credit reports entirely. In July 2025, a federal court in Texas struck the rule down, finding it exceeded the bureau’s authority under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.7Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. CFPB Finalizes Rule to Remove Medical Bills from Credit Reports Medical debt can still appear on your report and surface in a tenant screening. What the report cannot do is identify your specific provider or the nature of your treatment.
Criminal History: What Is Off Limits
California has some of the strictest rules in the country on criminal history in housing. The Civil Rights Department enforces them, and blanket “no felons” policies are flatly illegal.
A landlord is prohibited from looking at or using any of the following:
- Arrests that did not lead to a conviction.
- Infractions, such as traffic tickets.
- Convictions that have been sealed, dismissed, or expunged.
- Juvenile adjudications, unless a court order says otherwise.
- Participation in a pre-trial or post-trial diversion program.
Automatic disqualification of anyone with any criminal record is not allowed.8California Civil Rights Department. Fair Housing and Criminal History FAQ
When a Conviction Can Be Considered
When a conviction does appear and the landlord wants to weigh it, the screening policy has to be narrowly tailored, and the conviction has to be directly related to a legitimate concern like resident safety or protection of the property. The landlord should consider the nature and severity of the offense and how much time has passed.
The order matters too. The landlord must confirm you meet the financial and other qualifications before pulling criminal records. If a conviction then raises a concern, you get written notice and a meaningful chance to provide mitigating information: evidence of rehabilitation, employer letters, treatment completion. That information must actually be weighed before the final decision.8California Civil Rights Department. Fair Housing and Criminal History FAQ
On the reporting side, California’s Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act generally bars consumer reporting agencies from including convictions older than seven years. That state protection is stronger than the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which puts no time limit on conviction records.
Eviction Records Are Not Freely Public
Eviction filings in California are shielded from public view by default. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1161.2, unlawful detainer records are restricted to the parties and to anyone who already knows both party names and the property address.
Records open to general access only if the landlord who filed wins a judgment within 60 days of filing the complaint. Dismissals, tenant wins, and cases that drag past 60 days stay restricted.9California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1161.2 – Unlawful Detainer Records The upshot is that being named in an eviction case tells a prospective landlord nothing on its own.
Pandemic-era filings get stricter treatment. For cases filed between March 4, 2020, and September 30, 2021, based on nonpayment of rent, records stay restricted unless the landlord won after a full trial, not a default.9California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1161.2 – Unlawful Detainer Records
If You Are Denied: The Adverse Action Notice
When a landlord denies your application or imposes worse terms, such as a larger deposit or a required co-signer, based on information in a consumer report, federal law requires an adverse action notice. Skipping it is one of the most common landlord violations.
The notice must include the name, address, and phone number of the reporting agency that supplied the report; a statement that the agency did not make the decision and cannot explain the denial; notice that you can get a free copy of the report from the agency within 60 days; notice of your right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information; and the numerical credit score used, along with basic information about how it was calculated.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports
A landlord who denies you based on their own research rather than a purchased consumer report is not required to send this specific notice. California fair housing law still forbids a discriminatory denial regardless of where the information came from.
Fixing Errors in a Screening Report
Errors on tenant screening reports are common. Mixed files where someone else’s records attach to yours, old convictions that should have aged off, paid debts still showing as owed. If you get an adverse action notice, use the 60-day window to pull your free copy of the report and read it closely.
Both the credit bureau and the company that supplied the information are legally required to correct errors. Send the reporting agency a written explanation of what is wrong with copies of supporting documents, such as court records showing a dismissal or bank statements showing payment.11Consumer Advice (Federal Trade Commission). Disputing Errors on Your Credit Reports The agency generally has 30 days to investigate and respond. Keep copies of everything. If the dispute stalls, you can add a brief statement to the file, complain to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or talk to an attorney about a claim under the FCRA.
What You Can Recover if a Landlord Breaks the Rules
A landlord who willfully violates the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act is liable for actual damages or statutory damages between $100 and $1,000 per violation, plus any punitive damages a court awards, plus your attorney fees and costs.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681n – Civil Liability for Willful Noncompliance Pulling a consumer report under false pretenses or with no permissible purpose carries a separate floor of $1,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater.
On the state side, if you believe a landlord used criminal history, source of income, or another protected characteristic against you, you can file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. Administrative proceedings can result in civil penalties, and private lawsuits can recover compensatory and punitive damages. For screening fee overcharges or unreturned unused fees under Civil Code 1950.6, small claims court is the usual venue.