Tenant Screening in California

FCRA-compliant tenant screening for landlords in California — serving Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento and every other California market. Reports start at $24.99 with no subscription. California-specific reporting-law overlays are applied automatically before the landlord sees any record.

What landlords in California can include in a screening report

• Credit report and score — TransUnion VantageScore plus tradeline detail.
• Criminal background — nationwide criminal record search with California-specific look-back limits applied.
• Housing records — sealed, dismissed, and time-barred housing-court records filtered before they reach you.
• Income verification — optional payroll + bank-link verification via Pinwheel.
• AI landlord reference call — optional AI agent calls the applicant’s prior landlord and produces a structured summary.

Housing records reporting in California

California imposes one of the strictest housing-records reporting regimes in the country. Sealed cases, dismissed cases, and any case older than seven years are excluded from consumer reports under the CCRAA. AB 2747 (2024) further narrowed which housing records may be reported.

Statutory citation: Cal. Civ. Code § 1786.18; CA AB 2747 (2024)

How reporting limits interact with what you may lawfully consider is covered in what landlords can screen for and the investigative consumer report explainer.

Criminal-record reporting in California

California limits consumer reports to convictions within the past seven years. Arrests not resulting in conviction may not be reported. ICRAA also restricts adverse-action use of certain conviction types in employment, with parallel principles applied in tenant-screening contexts.

Fair housing in California

The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Cal. Gov. Code § 12955 applies in addition to the federal Fair Housing Act. Source of income is a protected class statewide in California — landlords may not refuse to consider an applicant solely because they intend to pay with a housing-choice voucher or similar lawful source.

Notable California considerations

Source of income is a protected class statewide (Cal. Gov. Code § 12955(p)). Local ordinances (Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles) impose additional rent-control and just-cause requirements.

What California law limits when you screen and rent

These are the statutory limits most likely to affect a California landlord at the application stage, compiled from state statutes and reviewed August 2026. Where a limit could not be tied to a specific statute it is left out rather than estimated. Statutes change and local ordinances often add limits your state does not — this is a starting point for your own check, not legal advice, and not a substitute for counsel licensed in California.

Rental application / screening fee

California caps the tenant screening fee at a $30 statutory base adjusted annually for inflation, about $66 per applicant in 2026, and never more than the landlord's actual screening cost. Citation: Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.6 (as amended by AB 2493, eff. Jan. 1, 2025)

Security deposit limit

California caps security deposits at one month's rent, furnished or not, since July 1, 2024; small landlords who are natural persons owning at most two properties and four units may collect two months'. Citation: Cal. Civ. Code § 1950.5(c) (as amended by AB 12, 2023)

Criminal history (fair-chance housing)

California's statewide fair housing regulations bar blanket criminal-record bans and require an individualized assessment before denial; cities such as Oakland and Berkeley restrict screening further. Citation: Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, §§ 12264-12271, esp. § 12269 (FEHA fair housing regulations, eff. Jan. 1, 2020)

Local ordinances frequently add limits your state statute does not — check your city and county before you set an application fee or a deposit.

How RentalApplication.ai works for California landlords

1. You start a screening at rentalapplication.ai/apply. Enter the applicant’s name and email; pick the reports you want.
2. The applicant gets an email with a secure link, completes the application, and authorizes the screening (FCRA § 1681b(b)(2)).
3. The applicant pays at the moment of submission (or you can land-lord-pay).
4. Reports are delivered to you in minutes (credit) to a few hours (housing/criminal). State-law overlays are applied before the landlord sees any record.
5. If you decline based on the report, we generate the FCRA § 1681m adverse-action notice for you.

This page is an informational summary, not legal advice. State and local landlord-tenant law changes frequently — verify against current statute and local counsel before relying on this content. RentalApplication.ai is a reseller of consumer reports under FCRA § 1681a(u) and does not make tenancy decisions. The landlord (the “end user”) is the party who decides whether to approve or deny an application.