A South Florida state legislator has introduced a bill ahead of this year's legislative session that could make the housing rental process cheaper for tenants. The ongoing effort comes in response to high housing costs and growing calls for both parties to make changes in the housing market.
The proposal would allow landlords to accept reusable reports, like credit and eviction history. That way, potential renters don’t have to pay separate fees for these reports when making multiple rental applications at the same time — an approach used by many as the affordability crisis increases competition for units.
Democratic State Representative Jervonte Edmonds — who represents parts of Palm Beach County such as West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach — said the purpose behind the bill is to not only "simplify" the rental application process. For many people, the first step to becoming homeowners is renting, so he also hopes the bill will “reduce barriers for people to become homeowners one day."
Edmonds told WLRN the repeated credit pulls are “redundant” because credit reports don’t change that much in such a short period of time.
“And it's also very expensive for homeowners or renters to continuously pull their credit, lower their credit, and pay an additional fee everywhere they go,” he said.
READ MORE: Need help affording rent or trying to own in South Florida? Here's a list of resources
The idea isn't uncommon. Portable tenant screening reports, or PTSRs, exist in other states, like California and New York, to varying degrees. A landlord in New York can charge a fee for background and credit checks, but the fee can't be more than $20 or the actual cost of the check. And if the tenant provides a recent report within 30 days, the fee is waived.
In Florida, there are no state laws capping or regulating rental application fees, which typically cost under $50.
Edmonds notes the success of Florida's version depends on it's enforcement mechanism, buy-in from landlords, and policies addressing the stubborn housing supply shortage.
Landlord transparency
As part of the legislation, the bill aims to promote “better transparency,” requiring landlords to disclose their evaluation metrics, such as rental history and minimum credit scores. Edmonds said it's an effort to promote fairness and reduce bias in the rental market.
“Oftentimes people are denied and have no reason why,” he said. “And there's nothing in statute that would empower landlords to give them that transparency. So that's exactly what we want to do.”
He wants the metrics to be open and standard across the board. There are some systemic kinks to work through, though.
Florida landlords, who often use tenant screening reports to conduct criminal backgrounds check, income, credit history, and other landlord references, could face several challenges when using reusable tenant screening reports: Landlords may be concerned over the outdated negative information, potential for fraud and how disputes are handled if multiple errors are discovered during the verification process.
The tenant background check industry may make matters worse. Repeated errors baked within background checks often lead to higher costs and reduce access to rental housing. A 2022 study from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reviewed 24,000 complaints that showed that renters often face outdated or inaccurate information in their reports, often with no recourse.
Enforcement may be the greatest challenge, if it passes. The bill is voluntary, Edmonds said — landlords are encouraged to opt into this system, not mandated. If landlords do opt-in, it will be “required by law that they present” those metrics.
That means finding ways to encourage landlords “companies, these agencies, or homeowner associations” to join and be transparent, which could mean incentivizing landlords with a potential tax credit.
Edmonds said he’s working to put safeguards in place to ensure that these transparency reports are used fairly by landlords. This current bill is a “mechanism to create transparency.”
“My second bill is to create enforcement,” he said.
Florida's 2025 Regular Legislative Session is scheduled to begin on March 4, 2025. If his first proposal is passed, the law would go into effect on July 1, 2025.
