Rental fee regulations bill

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) - After passing a bill earlier this month to ban cities or counties from capping rental fees, the Idaho House will now take up a bill that would impose statewide rental fee regulations, with a focus on three things.

First, before charging a fee, a landlord mush have a unit available and let an applicant know what they will look at during a background check.

Second, a landlord may not collect multiple application fees, except for when the fee serves as a backup if the first application fails, Or if a landlord expects a unit to become available and an applicant agrees that the fee is to hold their spot in line for a possible opening.

And it bans a landlord from spending additional fees until the first applicant fails.

And third, a landlord can only run one background check at a time, and cannot compare renters to each other.

They can only compare the renter to the state rental criteria.

The bill does not cap how much a landlord can charge.

The bill is supported by the Idaho Apartment Association.