Tenant screening — what it means and how it varies by state

Tenant screening is the application + background-check process landlords use before signing a lease. Federal and state law constrain what landlords can ask, what they can charge, and how they must handle adverse decisions.

§ I — What "tenant screening" means

Tenant screening typically includes a written application, credit check, criminal background check, and prior-landlord references. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) governs all credit-based decisions and requires adverse-action notices when a landlord rejects an applicant based on a consumer report. State law layers on top: maximum application-fee limits, prohibitions on certain criminal-history inquiries, source-of-income protections (Section 8 vouchers, etc.), and limits on what a landlord can ask about prior evictions.

§ II — How tenant screening varies by state

• Massachusetts

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Massachusetts notably restricts upfront fees to first month, last month, security deposit, and a key fee equal to actual cost (M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(b)) — landlords cannot charge a separate application fee. M.G.L. c. 151B is the state Fair Housing Law.

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• Florida

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Florida adds Miya's Law (Fla. Stat. § 83.515, eff. 2022) which requires multi-family landlords to run a national criminal background check on every employee with master-key access. Florida has no state-level source-of-income protection — federal FHA (42 U.S.C. § 3601) is the baseline.

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• California

  California prohibits landlords from rejecting applicants solely because they hold a Section 8 voucher (source-of-income protection, AB 329).

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• New York

  New York caps application fees at $20 and prohibits screening for prior eviction filings that did not result in a judgment (HSTPA 2019).

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• Texas

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side, and the federal Fair Housing Act applies to the protected-class side. Texas has no state-level source-of-income protection (Tex. Prop. Code § 301.025 mirrors federal FHA classes). Texas Property Code § 92.3515 requires landlords to disclose tenant-selection criteria upon written request.

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• North Carolina

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. North Carolina's State Fair Housing Act (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-4) mirrors the federal protected-class list. The state has no source-of-income protection statewide; some local jurisdictions (Greensboro, Durham) extend additional protections.

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• Georgia

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. The Georgia Fair Housing Act (O.C.G.A. § 8-3-202) mirrors the federal protected-class list. Georgia has no statewide cap on application fees and no statewide source-of-income protection.

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• Pennsylvania

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P.S. § 951 et seq.) mirrors the federal protected-class list. Philadelphia adds the Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards Ordinance (Phila. Code § 9-3502, eff. 2021), which restricts how far back a Philadelphia landlord can consider criminal history.

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• Illinois

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Illinois adds 735 ILCS 5/9-121 (sealed-eviction-records rule, HB 4209 eff. 2023) — landlords may not deny a tenant solely on the basis of a sealed eviction filing. Cook County Human Rights Ordinance (Cook County Code ch. 42 art II) extends source-of-income protection to all rentals in Cook County.

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• Ohio

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Ohio Fair Housing (Ohio Rev. Code § 4112.02) mirrors the federal protected-class list. Ohio has no statewide source-of-income protection — federal FHA is the baseline. A handful of cities (Columbus, Cincinnati) have local source-of-income ordinances.

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• Michigan

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (MCL 37.2502) mirrors the federal protected-class list and was amended in 2023 (PA 14 of 2023) to add sexual orientation and gender identity. Michigan has no statewide source-of-income protection; some cities (Ann Arbor, East Lansing) extend it locally.

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• Washington

  Washington imposes specific tenant-screening criteria disclosure and limits adverse-decision recoupments. RCW 59.18.257.

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• Arizona

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. The Arizona Civil Rights Act (A.R.S. § 41-1491.14 et seq.) mirrors the federal protected-class list. Arizona has no statewide source-of-income protection; Phoenix and Tempe have local ordinances that extend protections beyond state law.

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• Virginia

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Virginia Fair Housing Law (Va. Code § 36-96.3, amended 2020) prohibits discrimination based on source of funds, including Section 8 vouchers. Va. Code § 55.1-1203 requires landlords who run their own background check to disclose the credit-reporting agency they use upon written request from the applicant.

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• New Jersey

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12.5, eff. 2021) prohibits source-of-income discrimination including Section 8 vouchers. The Fair Chance in Housing Act (N.J.S.A. 46:8-52, eff. 2022) restricts when and how landlords may consider a prospective tenant's criminal history.

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• Colorado

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Colorado adds the application-screening transparency rules under C.R.S. § 38-12-902 (HB19-1106) — landlords must disclose denial criteria, return application fees that exceed actual screening cost, and permit applicants to provide their own portable screening report. Colorado's Anti-Discrimination Act (C.R.S. § 24-34-502) added source-of-income protection in 2020.

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• Tennessee

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. The Tennessee Human Rights Act (Tenn. Code § 4-21-601) mirrors the federal protected-class list. Tennessee preempts local source-of-income ordinances under Tenn. Code § 4-21-1101 — federal FHA is the baseline statewide.

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• Minnesota

  Federal FCRA (15 U.S.C. § 1681) governs the credit-and-criminal-records side. Minnesota requires landlords to disclose application-fee criteria and refund any fee not used to actually screen the applicant under Minn. Stat. § 504B.173. Minneapolis and St. Paul (Minneapolis Code § 244.2030; St. Paul Code § 193A) add source-of-income protection at the city level.

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• Maryland

  Maryland recognizes reusable tenant screening reports under Md. Code, Real Prop. § 8-218: landlords must disclose whether they accept them. Maryland also prohibits source-of-income discrimination in screening under § 8-208.2.

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• Indiana

  Indiana imposes a separate IC 32-31-11 obligation for landlords to disclose certain residential-eviction information when screening prospective tenants. Federal Fair Housing rules apply as the principal substantive overlay.

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