When looking at apartments, is it normal to be charged $25-30 or more for a credit check?

Question

Is this just money you have to throw away at each apartment your interested in, whether they accept you or not? It seems like a bit of a scam, or possible scammola.

Answer 1

Sometimes if you rent through a company instead of a "person" they can.  I have been charged once or twice before.

Answer 2

Yes, it is normal.  It is called an application fee and you don't have to pay it until you actually make lease application.

Answer 3

When I take an application I get $20 per person that I have to check.  Thats what it costs me.  You'd be surprised at the number of people who have terrible credit or evictions.  They must figure that I'm just going to pocket the $ and not run a check.

Here in CA it is so difficult to evict a bad tenant, that you have to do your very best not to let them in in the first place.

Answer 4

In ohio it is normal to charge a $20 - $30 dollar application fee.  Most landlords have to pay to have a credit check done on an applicant.  This simply covers their cost for the credit check to make sure you meet their requirements.  

Answer 5

No way! I've never had to pay a fee like that and I assume all landlords check your credit before renting to you.

Answer 6

.  There was a law passe by Congress that says the landlord can not make a profit on "services" that she hires. If the credit check costs $15, the landlord can not charge $25.  The landlords argued that their time is worth money.  Congress disagreed.  

Title companies and mortgage companies were doing the same thing.

Answer 7

I have never heard of that before, nor have I ever had to pay for that for any apartment I looked at or rented.

Answer 8

Yes, and I sure wouldn't be paying it unless I was certain I wouldl take it.

Answer 9

i agree. it does seem like a scam.  

Answer 10

That seems to be the going rate from what I've read here on Yahoo. I think it's very high. The applications that prospective tenant's fill out for me are just $5.  That's all it cost me to run a credit check. The fee's are non-refundable and I don't think landlords should get away with padding their wallet this way

Answer 11

I've had to pay up to $75 per application to all the rental communities I've been interested in.  It sucks, but I can understand it.  Then again, I've only been interested in Luxery apartments, so I'm sure just your run of the mill charge less..