Idaho Senate calls for limits to rental application fees
Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, works on the Senate floor at the State Capitol building on January 8, 2024. (Otto Kitsinger for Idaho Capital Sun)
The Idaho Senate passed a bill Wednesday that limits the application fees that landlords may charge to prospective tenants.
Sen. Ali Rabe, D-Boise, co-sponsored Senate Bill 1042aa, which Rabe said is designed to address affordability and availability of rental properties and take on dishonest landlords seeking to profit off of charging application fees to tenants who have no realistic shot of being considered for rental housing.
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If passed into law, the bill would limit landlords to charging rental application fees to two applying households at a time. Rabe said the point of the bill is to ensure applying tenants are only charged application fees for a unit that they have a likelihood of being considered.
Additionally, landlords can only charge application fees for units that are available or expected to be available within 60 days. Finally, in order to charge a fee for a background check, landlords must actually follow through and complete the background check.
'What this bill does is simply it makes a change where it only allows landlords to charge rental applicants two fees at a time, rather than charging everyone who applies, which is the case happening in a lot of situations,' Rabe said. 'The unit must also be available with some exceptions, and landlords have to be transparent about any criteria they require of tenants when considering them for the rental.'
Rabe works professionally as the executive director of the Boise-based nonprofit organization Jesse Tree, which provides financial assistance to families in danger of being evicted.
Since pandemic, Montana, Idaho have surpassed California as most unaffordable states for homebuyers
'Idaho is now considered one of the least affordable housing markets in the United States,' Rabe said. 'That means that getting into a rental is highly competitive and very challenging. In speaking with nonprofits from across the state of Idaho, abuse of rental application fees has been cited as one of the biggest challenges with their clients. Veterans, seniors, young people, single moms are dealing with (this). It's one of the top recognized issues with exploitation and consumer protection by nonprofits in Idaho.'
Sens. Dan Foreman, R-Moscow, and Todd Lakey, R-Nampa, were among the 12 Republican senators who voted against the bill. Both debated against the bill Wednesday, arguing it inserts government interference into the private sector. 'This bill, although well intended, in my opinion, represents overreach by government,' Foreman said. 'It's the government stepping into the private sector and telling private business owners who have invested their own time, their own labor, their own effort, their own money into running a business, how to run that business.'
'Things like fees should be set by the free market, not by the government, not by Idaho Code,' Foreman added.
After a short debate, the Idaho Senate voted 23-12 to pass the bill.
Senate Bill 1042aa heads next to the Idaho House of Representatives for consideration.
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