Required by California Civil Code § 1950.6 (AB 2493)
California law limits the screening fee that may be charged to applicants for rental housing. The screening fee must not exceed the landlord's actual out-of-pocket costs for obtaining information about you.
$65.86 per application (2026 cap)
This amount is the statutory ceiling adjusted annually by the California Apartment Association based on the Consumer Price Index. A-du updates this figure once the following year's CPI-adjusted cap is published. The fee actually charged may be lower and may never exceed the landlord's actual out-of-pocket costs for obtaining information about you.
| Service | Typical Cost |
|---|---|
| Credit Report (TransUnion/Experian/Equifax) | $20 - $30 |
| Criminal Background Check (National) | $15 - $25 |
| Eviction History Search | $10 - $20 |
| Processing & Compliance | $5 - $10 |
| TOTAL TYPICAL FEE | $50 - $67 |
⚠️ IMPORTANT: This screening fee is NON-REFUNDABLE. Even if your application is denied, the fee covers actual costs incurred to obtain reports about you specifically and will not be refunded.
AB 2493 permits landlords to choose one of two application processing methods. A-du's platform enforces the First-Come-First-Served method exclusively for every listing. Landlords using A-du may not elect the alternative full-refund model — the A-du reservation flow is ordered by applicant timestamp and does not support parallel paid screening of competing applicants.
Your Queue Position: If there are competing applications, you will be notified of your position in the queue (e.g., "You are #2 in line").
A-du offers a Portable Screening Profile that a Tenant may reuse across multiple landlords on the A-du Platform.
After you pay the screening fee, you will receive an itemized receipt showing the actual out-of-pocket costs incurred, as required by AB 2493. The receipt will include:
The receipt will be sent to your email and stored in your A-du account for your records.
Under California Civil Code § 1950.6 as amended by AB 2493, you have the following rights when you apply for residential housing:
If the landlord does not actually obtain a consumer report or other information about you — for example, because the unit was rented before your screening was processed, because processing was abandoned, or because the landlord declined to proceed — the screening fee (to the extent it exceeds actual out-of-pocket costs already incurred on your application) must be refunded to you.
You are entitled to an itemized receipt showing the actual out-of-pocket costs the landlord incurred to obtain your screening report. A-du provides this receipt automatically through your account.
If your application is denied based in whole or in part on information in a consumer report, you are entitled to an adverse action notice under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681m) identifying the consumer reporting agency and informing you of your right to a free copy of the report and your right to dispute its accuracy.
You may request a copy of any consumer report obtained about you from the consumer reporting agency directly at no additional cost, following an adverse action.
Landlords may not charge a screening fee that exceeds either (i) the statutory CPI-adjusted cap shown above or (ii) the landlord's actual out-of-pocket costs for obtaining the report, whichever is lower.
Screening practices on A-du must comply with the federal Fair Housing Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, the California Fair Chance Act (where applicable), and A-du's own Fair Housing Policy. If you believe a screening decision reflects unlawful discrimination, you may contact fairhousing@a-du.homes and file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department and HUD.
Questions about screening fees? Contact A-du Support: support@a-du.homes