Free New York Rental Application
New York bans the application fee and then allows one narrow exception. Under RPL § 238-a(1) a landlord may charge for background and credit checks only, and only up to actual cost or $20, whichever is LESS — and even that is waived if you supply a check carried out in the past thirty days.
N.Y. Real Property Law § 238-a(1), introduced by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, provides that no fee or charge may be demanded for processing, reviewing or accepting a rental application. The single exception is background and credit checks, and it is tightly drawn: the cumulative fee may not exceed the actual cost or twenty dollars, whichever is less; it must be waived where the applicant supplies a check conducted within the past thirty days; and it may not be collected at all unless the landlord gives the applicant a copy of the check together with the vendor’s receipt or invoice.
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Actual cost or $20 — whichever is LESS
The phrasing in RPL § 238-a(1) matters. A landlord whose background and credit check cost twelve dollars may charge twelve dollars, not twenty: the statutory figure is a ceiling on the ceiling, not an entitlement. And the fee is cumulative — background and credit together are subject to the one limit, so a landlord may not charge separately for each and arrive at forty. Two further conditions sit on top: the fee is waived entirely where the applicant supplies a check conducted within the past thirty days, and the landlord may not collect it without handing over a copy of the check and the vendor’s receipt or invoice.
Watch: Free New York Rental Application explained
New York rental application at a glance
Processing / reviewing / accepting
No fee may be demanded
Background and credit checks
Actual cost or $20, whichever is less
If you supply a recent check
The fee is waived
Before collecting
Copy of the check plus the vendor’s receipt
You are owed the report and the receipt, not just the result
RPL § 238-a(1) conditions collection of the fee on the landlord providing the applicant with a copy of the background or credit check and the vendor’s receipt or invoice. That is an unusually concrete entitlement and it does two things at once. It gives the applicant the report itself — useful whether or not the application succeeds, because errors in a consumer report follow you to the next application. And the invoice is what makes the “actual cost” half of the cap checkable, since without it there is no way to know whether the true cost was below twenty dollars.
How to use a New York rental application
Expect no processing fee
RPL § 238-a(1) bars any fee for processing, reviewing or accepting the application itself.
If a check fee is charged, ask what the check cost
The ceiling is actual cost or $20, whichever is less, so the real cost governs whenever it is lower.
Supply a recent check if you have one
A check conducted within the past thirty days waives the fee under RPL § 238-a(1).
Ask for the copy and the invoice
The landlord may not collect the fee without giving you a copy of the check and the vendor’s receipt or invoice.
Check whether a carve-out applies
The section carves out continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, adult care facilities and certain co-operatives.
About the New York rental application
A rental application creates no tenancy; it identifies an applicant and records their consent to be screened. New York’s rule is the most administratively specific in this set: it does not merely limit an amount, it conditions the right to collect anything on handing documents to the applicant. That makes the paperwork itself part of the rule. The generator above records what the charge is for, what the check actually cost, and whether the copy and invoice were provided — alongside the ordinary identity, address and employment fields.
What a New York application should record
- The property applied for and the desired move-in date
- The applicant’s full legal name, date of birth and government ID
- Current and previous addresses with the landlords’ contact details
- Employer, position, gross monthly income and a verification contact
- That no fee is charged for processing, reviewing or accepting the application
- Any background or credit check charge, and the check’s actual cost
- Whether the applicant supplied a check from the past 30 days, which waives the fee
- Whether the copy of the check and the vendor’s receipt were provided
- Written consent to obtain a consumer report, signed and dated
- An address for any adverse-action notice if the application is declined
Common New York mistakes
- Treating $20 as the price. RPL § 238-a(1) says actual cost or twenty dollars, whichever is less. A check that cost the landlord twelve dollars caps the charge at twelve.
- Charging separately for background and credit. The limit is cumulative, so the two together are subject to one ceiling.
- Collecting without handing over the paperwork. RPL § 238-a(1) conditions collection on giving the applicant a copy of the check and the vendor’s receipt or invoice.
- Overlooking the recent-check waiver. An applicant who supplies a check conducted within the past thirty days is owed a waiver of the fee.
- Assuming the ban is universal. The section carves out continuing care retirement communities, assisted living, adult care facilities and certain co-operatives.
Can a New York landlord charge an application fee?
Not for the application itself. RPL § 238-a(1) provides that no fee or charge may be demanded for processing, reviewing or accepting a rental application. Whatever it is called — administration, processing, holding — a charge for handling the application is not permitted.
One exception exists, and it is narrow: background and credit checks.
The exception, and its four conditions
Where a landlord obtains a background or credit check, RPL § 238-a(1) permits a charge subject to four constraints operating together:
- A cumulative ceiling. Background and credit together may not exceed the limit — not one limit each.
- Actual cost or twenty dollars, whichever is less. The lower figure governs, so a cheaper check produces a lower lawful charge.
- A waiver. The fee must be waived where the applicant supplies a check conducted within the past thirty days.
- A paperwork precondition. The landlord may not collect the fee without giving the applicant a copy of the check plus the vendor’s receipt or invoice.
“Whichever is less” is the part that gets dropped
It is common to see New York summarised as a twenty-dollar cap. That is half the rule. Twenty dollars is the maximum the ceiling can ever be; the actual ceiling is whatever the check really cost whenever that is lower. A landlord charging a flat twenty dollars regardless of what its provider charged has not applied RPL § 238-a(1) as written.
Bring your own check
The waiver is worth knowing about before you start applying rather than after. An applicant who has had a background or credit check carried out within the past thirty days can supply it, and the fee is waived.
For someone applying to several properties in a short period, that is the difference between paying at every one and paying at the first. It also puts the applicant in possession of their own report, which is worth having independently — an error in a consumer report will follow you from application to application until it is corrected.
The documents you are owed
RPL § 238-a(1) does not merely cap the charge; it conditions the right to collect it. The landlord must give the applicant a copy of the background or credit check and the vendor’s receipt or invoice.
Both matter. The copy of the check is the report itself — the thing an adverse decision may rest on, and the thing you would need in order to dispute an error. The invoice is what makes the “actual cost” half of the cap testable, because otherwise nobody outside the landlord’s office knows whether the true cost was below twenty dollars.
Who is carved out
§ 238-a(1) does not reach every arrangement. Carve-outs exist for continuing care retirement communities, assisted living residences, adult care facilities and certain co-operatives.
If the housing falls into one of those categories, the general position on this page should not be assumed to apply unchanged, and the section should be read directly.
What the application itself should capture
The consent to obtain a consumer report is what makes screening lawful and belongs as a distinct signed item. The adverse-action acknowledgement matters because an applicant declined wholly or partly because of a consumer report is entitled under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681m) to be told so and given the reporting agency’s details — and in New York the applicant should already hold a copy of the check itself, which makes checking the underlying information considerably easier.
Our guide to how to screen tenants covers the same process from the landlord’s side.
An application is not a lease
Signing one binds nobody to a tenancy. A tenancy begins only if the landlord accepts the application and the parties sign a rental agreement, and the terms that then govern come from that agreement and the law behind it.
Where the application sits in New York law
An application is the one moment in a tenancy when a stranger’s history is examined, so it is worth knowing what is being looked at. Eviction records are part of most screenings, and what they mean depends on how the process works locally — our guide to New York eviction notice laws sets out the notices and timelines that produce those records in the first place.
If the application succeeds, the next money question is the deposit, and it is a different question from the fee discussed here: an application fee buys screening, a deposit secures the tenancy and is generally refundable. New York security deposit laws cover what may be held and when it has to come back.
For everything the application stage does not settle — the obligations that begin once a tenancy starts, and the rules that apply to both parties throughout it — see New York landlord tenant laws.
Bottom line
RPL § 238-a(1) bans any charge for processing, reviewing or accepting an application. Background and credit checks are the sole exception, capped at actual cost or $20 whichever is LESS, cumulative across both — waived entirely if you supply a check from the past 30 days, and not collectable at all without giving you a copy of the check and the vendor’s invoice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a New York landlord charge a rental application fee?
Not for processing, reviewing or accepting the application. RPL § 238-a(1) bars that. The one exception is background and credit checks.
How much can be charged for the background and credit check?
The cumulative fee may not exceed the actual cost or twenty dollars, whichever is LESS. If the check cost the landlord twelve dollars, twelve dollars is the ceiling — RPL § 238-a(1) does not entitle anyone to round up to $20.
Can they charge $20 for credit and another $20 for background?
No. The limit in RPL § 238-a(1) is cumulative, so both together are subject to the one ceiling.
I had a credit check done last week. Do I still pay?
No. RPL § 238-a(1) requires the fee to be waived where the applicant supplies a check conducted within the past thirty days.
What must the landlord give me?
A copy of the background or credit check and the vendor’s receipt or invoice. RPL § 238-a(1) conditions collecting the fee on providing them.
Does this apply to every New York rental?
No. The section carves out continuing care retirement communities, assisted living residences, adult care facilities and certain co-operatives.
What happens if I am declined because of my credit report?
You are entitled to be told the decision rested wholly or partly on a consumer report and to be given the reporting agency’s details. In New York you should also already hold a copy of the check itself.
Does signing an application commit me to renting?
No. An application creates no tenancy. One begins only if the landlord accepts it and the parties sign a rental agreement.
Screen New York tenants thoroughly before move-in
A solid tenant relationship starts with thorough screening. Tenant Screening Background Check has been verifying renters since 2004 — credit, eviction filings, criminal background, and employment — across all 50 states and DC.
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