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Senate panel votes to print bill limiting rental application fees to two households at a time
Summary
The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee voted to send RS31865C2 to print. Sponsor told the committee the draft bill would bar landlords from charging application fees to more than two prospective households at once and require fees be tied to actual screening costs, with narrow exceptions for waiting lists and student housing.
The Senate Judiciary and Rules Committee voted to send RS31865C2—draft legislation that would limit rental application fees—to print for a public hearing.
“Right now currently if a landlord has an opening for a unit they can accept all of the applications and charge everyone an application fee. This will change things so that...you can only charge 2 households at a time,” said Senator Ali Rabie, the bill sponsor, describing the draft as a consumer-protection measure in a tight rental market.
Rabie told the committee the bill would require landlords to run applications for up to two households at a time; if both are denied a landlord could then charge the next applicant. The sponsor said fees must be “related to actual cost of running a background check and accepting an application fee,” and the draft includes exceptions for housing with waiting lists and student housing where units are to become available within 60 days. The draft also requires landlords to disclose screening criteria in advertising to reduce unnecessary applications.
Senators debated whether constituent emails opposing the RS reflected widespread opposition or were a small, organized mailing. Several committee members said they received emails urging them not to print the RS; others noted stakeholder support. Senator Wintrow moved to send the RS to print; Senator Ricks seconded, and the motion carried on a voice vote.
Sponsor Rabie said she had negotiated language with industry stakeholders including the Idaho Apartment Association and property managers and that the draft contains exemptions for smaller landlords and for listings processed through third‑party platforms where fees are not retained by an individual landlord.
The motion to send RS31865C2 to print passed; a merits hearing will allow public testimony and a committee vote on the bill’s substantive merits.
