The first step for getting a reliable tenaxnt into a property is the rental application. The application process allows tenants to show that they’re serious about securing a lease, and it allows the landlord to make sure the prospective tenant is a good fit. However, you can’t just ask any questions you want on a rental application form.

There are several regulations in place dictating the rental application process. These laws protect both the landlord and potential tenants, preventing housing discrimination and ensuring thorough screening. Rental application laws also vary by state, so the process will look somewhat different in different areas.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the finer details of California rental applications. You’ll get an overview of the application process in general, and then we’ll take a look at how a California rental application differs from other states.

TL;DR

California rental application forms have more strict regulations than in other states. The state has a cap on application fees and doesn’t allow landlords to charge screening fees without obtaining a report.

California also has extra protections against housing discrimination beyond those provided by federal law. Landlords can’t reject an applicant based on immigration status, familial status, or arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction.

As of 2025, under Assembly Bill 2493, California landlords must either process applications in the order they receive them and accept the first qualified applicant, or refund all screening fees collected for rejected applications.

California also allows prospective tenants to submit their own reusable tenant screening report to save money on screening fees. Landlords are not required to accept these reports, but if they do, they may not charge a screening fee.

Rental Application vs Rental Agreement: What’s the Difference?

Most will be familiar with rental agreements and rental applications, but there can be some confusion on which items go on which document. So what’s the difference?

A rental application is a form the owner or manager of a rental property collects from a prospective tenant to review whether they qualify to rent. A rental agreement, on the other hand, is the contract in which the applicant agrees to the landlord’s terms for renting a property.

Many use the terms “rental agreement” and “lease agreement” interchangeably. While they are similar, there is a slight difference. Rental agreements are usually for shorter terms, like month-to-month leases.

What Should Be On a California Rental Application?

Here’s an example of the sections of a typical rental application:

  • Property information: Here, the application lists the address of the property, as well as the number of beds/baths, what type of home it is, monthly rent, and the lease term length.
  • Applicant information: The form verifies the applicant’s identity by asking for their contact information, legal name, and identification details. This section commonly includes telephone number, current address, social security number, etc.
  • Co-signer information: If the applicant is applying with a co-signer, that person may also need to fill out a separate application form.
  • Employment details: This includes gross monthly income from wages/salary and self-employment, plus employment history (company, job title, supervisor contact) and proof of income.
  • Rental history: Most applications ask for rental history going back 2-5 years.
  • Background information: Applicants disclose things like criminal history, bankruptcies, evictions, or rental debts (California has extra regulations on what background information can disqualify an applicant; more on that later).
  • Other occupants, pets, and vehicles: Anyone that will be occupying the rental property must be listed on the application, and applicants must list all pets. Some applications also ask for vehicle information due to limited parking.
  • Consent for screening: Applicants must consent to credit and background screening as required by the application, per the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The application should also include the rights of the prospective tenant, such as the right to see the results of screenings and to dispute incorrect information.
  • Application fee and holding deposit: The form should state the application fee amount, delivery method, and due date, as well as any fees required to keep a property off the market during screening.
  • Signatures: Finally, both the landlord and applicant agree to the terms set out in the application by providing their signature, either digitally or by scanning a printed and signed form.

What Should Be On a Rental Agreement?

Once an applicant is approved, they’ll send over a rental agreement. This contract includes details like:

  • Term length: This is how long the lease term lasts, usually a year.
  • Rent payment details: This includes the rent amount, due date, and acceptable methods to pay rent.
  • Fees: The agreement should list security deposits, late fees, and moveout fees.
  • Property usage: Tenants agree not to damage the property, and the landlord may prohibit modifications like painting and landscaping.

The Screening Process for Prospective Tenants

When reviewing rental applications, it’s common practice for landlords to conduct several types of background screening. The most common checks when screening tenants are:

  • Criminal history: Otherwise known as a background check, these reports include criminal convictions, usually within the last seven years.
  • Credit reports: A credit check includes financial indicators of an applicant’s ability to pay rent, like late bill payments, bankruptcies, and overall credit score.
  • Rental history: Included in the tenant screening process (and arguably most important to landlords) is the relationship between the applicant and previous landlords. This part of the screening focuses on things like the timeliness of rent payments and past evictions.

How Rental History Affects Rental Applications

One of the primary focuses when screening a tenant is their rental history. It’s useful to get the perspective of an applicant’s previous landlords. Some of this information will come from the credit report. The screening process might also involve contacting landlord references listed on the application for verification.

The main red flags landlords look for in an applicant’s rental history are:

  • Late rent payments
  • Evictions
  • Outstanding rental debts
  • Past due utility payments

As with credit and criminal history checks, it’s normal for rental history checks to go back seven years. The information provided by going further back usually isn’t of much use.

What Is Different About California Rental Application Laws?

Now that you know the information included on a rental application, let’s explore how California law regulates rental applications differently from other states:

Rental Application Fees

A rental application fee covers the cost of processing the application, and obtaining credit and background checks. In most states, landlords can charge any amount they want for rental application fees. However, California has a cap on rental application and screening fees, adjusted each year based on the consumer price index. As of 2026, the maximum rental application fee is $30, and the maximum screening fee is under $40.

In addition to capping application fees, California doesn’t allow landlords to collect fees in certain situations. For example, if an applicant pays a screening fee and the landlord doesn’t use it to obtain a report, they must refund the unused amount of the fee to the applicant.

Another situation in which a landlord may not charge an application fee is if they have no rental units available to rent out. The only exception is if applicants explicitly agree to pay the fee knowing there are no units available.

Assembly Bill 2493 (AB 2493)

Under California law, AB 2493 requires landlords to process applications on a “first come, first served” basis. Each application must receive full consideration before moving to the next, and landlords must consider applications in the order they receive them without skipping any.

Landlords may choose not to process applications in order. However, any screening fees for rejected applications must be refunded to the applicant in this situation.

Discrimination

California has some of the strictest regulations against housing discrimination. Beyond the protections provided for in the federal Fair Housing Act, landlords in California may not reject a rental application on the basis of:

  • Race/ethnicity
  • Nationality
  • Immigration/citizenship status
  • Primary spoken language
  • Religious beliefs
  • Mental or physical disabilities or medical conditions
  • Sex/gender
  • Sexual orientation
  • Gender identity/expression
  • Genetic information
  • Marital status
  • Familial status (e.g. families with children under 18 or people who are pregnant)
  • Source of income (including housing vouchers/government housing subsidies)
  • Military or veteran status
  • Age

These restrictions against discrimination also extend to the information landlords are allowed to ask for in California. For example, landlords may not discriminate based on immigration status, but it is also illegal to even inquire about the immigration status of applicants. Thus, applications must accept foreign foreign driver’s licenses and cannot require a social security number.

Reusable Tenant Screening Reports

To help potential renters save money when applying to multiple rental properties, California allows the use of reusable, or “portable” screening reports. Tenants may obtain their own report through third party tenant screening services and reuse it for multiple applications. These reports usually include legal name, contact information, employment history, and eviction records.

California doesn’t require landlords to accept reusable tenant screening reports. However, they cannot legally collect a screening fee from the applicant if they do accept the reusable report. States like Washington and Maryland require landlords to accept reusable reports.

Criminal History

In most cases, landlords should review an applicant’s criminal history. This ensures the safety of the property and surrounding residents. In most states, this includes any arrests, but in California, only certain cases may disqualify an applicant.

Landlords may not request information about any arrest that didn’t lead to a conviction. The most common example is a person being arrested on suspicion of a crime, but being found not guilty at the trial.

Other types of criminal history landlords aren’t allowed to inquire about include:

  • Juvenile convictions
  • Sealed or expunged records
  • Pretrial/post-trial diversion programs
  • Convictions that don’t pose a direct, specific risk to the property, other residents, or employees of the landlord

Finally, landlords in California may not institute sweeping bans on all applicants with a criminal history. Applicants who believe a landlord unlawfully discriminated against them on the basis of their criminal history may seek legal action.

COVID-19 Related Evictions and Debts

The COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act was a California moratorium on evictions due to non-payment resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic between Mar 1, 2020 and Sep 21, 2021. Thus, tenant screening agencies are prohibited from including evictions and rental debts from these circumstances on their reports. Landlords may also not use rental debts and evictions resulting from COVID-19 related hardships as a reason to reject a rental applicant.

How Landlords Accept Rental Applications

Like most documents in the modern age, landlords can accept rental applications in one of two forms: paper or digital. Rental applications are almost always digital, but some individual owners prefer paper applications, especially for properties that don’t have many applicants.

The main advantage of a paper application is that it provides a physical record, and doesn’t require an internet connection to fill out and submit. However, if a paper application gets lost in the mail or damaged, there isn’t a backup. It also usually takes longer to process paper applications.

Digital application forms offer a secure, fast, and convenient method for landlords to accept a large volume of rental applications. Applicants can use a digital signature to provide a binding legal agreement to the terms of the application without having to print out a form, sign it, and scan it.

What Is the California Apartment Association?

The California Apartment Association is a lobbying organization that represents owners and managers of rental properties (including houses, townhomes, etc. despite the name). The organization acts as a liaison between rental real estate professionals and the governing bodies that regulate the rental industry. They fight regulations that impose taxes and otherwise reduce the profit margin of owning rental properties.

Rent Control Laws In California

Rent control is a law that limits how much a landlord can charge for rent and/or how much they may increase rent each lease term. Most states have a statewide ban on rent control, while others allow cities to determine their own rent control laws.

California has a statewide cap on rent increases. Landlords can’t raise rent by more than 5% + Consumer Price Index (CPI). This allows landlords to keep up with inflation while maintaining a rent price that’s in line with the reasonable value of a property.

Streamline Your California Rental Applications With TenantCloud

Processing rental applications and screening tenants is one of the most crucial parts of owning a rental property. It’s also one of the most time-consuming. Between contacting references, obtaining screening reports, and maintaining full compliance with real estate regulations, the time spent on screening adds up fast. Particularly in California, improper rental applications can lead to housing discrimination cases.

TenantCloud is a full-service property management software for landlords and rental housing providers of all sizes. One of the services included in TenantCloud’s easy-to-use suite of products is rental applications tenant screening. With easy-to-use template forms and custom listing features, finding the right tenant is a breeze.

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FAQs

What is the maximum rental application fee in California?

California caps rental application fees at $30. The state adjusts the maximum fee for tenant screening for inflation each year.

What information is illegal for a landlord to ask for on a rental application?

California has strict anti-discrimination laws to protect rental applicants. Rental applications in California may not collect information regarding the following:

  • Immigration status
  • Disabilities
  • Familial/marital status
  • Race, ethnicity, or national origin
  • Gender identity and sexual orientation
  • Arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction
  • Personal information like religious or political beliefs

Do landlords have to accept the first application in California?

California law requires landlords to process applications in the order they are received. They must then accept the first qualified applicant without skipping any applications. If they don’t go in order, landlords must refund any screening fees collected from rejected applicants.

Do you have to list children on a rental application in California?

California prohibits discrimination on the basis of children in the household. However, they are allowed to reject applications based on maximum occupancy (adult or child). Thus, you usually have to list all of the occupants, but you don’t have to disclose if any of them are children.

What do landlords look for when screening tenants?

Landlords look for applicants with good rental history (no evictions or late payments), good credit (no bankruptcies or outstanding payments), and no criminal convictions that pose a safety risk.