How much can a landlord charge for a rental application fee in Pennsylvania?

No statutory cap on application fees.

Does a landlord have to give a receipt for an application fee in Pennsylvania?

No statutory receipt duty for application money.

Does Pennsylvania have a reusable tenant screening report law?

No statute on reusable screening reports.

Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in Pennsylvania?

No statute on holding deposits.

What can a landlord charge for a rental application in Pennsylvania?

Verified August 26, 2026 All Pennsylvania topics →

Legislative changes ahead — not yet in force. The rules on this page reflect the law in force today. The following measures would change it:

HB 558 (2025-2026 Regular Session), Printer's No. 3170 — Would add a new section 207 to the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 barring a landlord or a landlord's agent from charging a rental application fee of more than $20 to apply for a residential dwelling unit. As amended in committee, it would also allow only a fee reasonably related to the actual administrative expenses incurred and bar using such fees as a general revenue source. It would take effect in 60 days.Status: Passed the House on third consideration and final passage by 148 to 53 on May 4, 2026; in the Senate, referred to the Urban Affairs and Housing Committee on May 7, 2026, with no Senate committee action since. (checked 2026-08-26).
SB 1216 (2025-2026 Regular Session), Printer's No. 1517 — Would add a new section 207 to the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 limiting a fee charged in connection with an application for a residential dwelling unit to the lesser of the actual cost of a background check or $50, allowing the fee to be used only for a criminal history record check and a credit check, barring a policy that excludes every applicant with a criminal history in favor of an individualized assessment, and making any waiver by an applicant or tenant unenforceable. It would take effect in 60 days.Status: Introduced and referred to the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee on March 18, 2026; no committee action reported. (checked 2026-08-26).
HB 344 (2025-2026 Regular Session), Printer's No. 3169 — Would add a new section 207 to the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 requiring a landlord to state in the lease whether parking is provided and, if the tenant must pay for it, the amount of the fee, and barring the landlord from changing or adding a parking fee during the lease except where parking availability changes or a third-party parking provider changes a pass-through charge. A tenant could complain to a lower court, which could require the landlord to pay the tenant's parking costs for the lease term.Status: Passed the House on third consideration and final passage by 201 to 0 on April 29, 2026; in the Senate, referred to the Urban Affairs and Housing Committee on May 1, 2026. (checked 2026-08-26).
SB 1270 (2025-2026 Regular Session), Printer's No. 1583 — The Senate counterpart to HB 344, without the House amendments: it would add a new section 207 to the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 requiring the lease to state whether parking is provided and the amount of any parking fee, and barring any change or addition to a parking fee during the lease, with the same complaint route to a lower court.Status: Introduced and referred to the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee on April 14, 2026; no committee action reported. (checked 2026-08-26).
HB 1492 (2025-2026 Regular Session), Printer's No. 2549 — Chiefly a bill about the use of criminal records to screen applicants, which is a separate subject, but it bears on application money: among the remedies the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission could order against a housing provider are returning the complainant's rental application fee and paying the complainant up to $1,000.Status: Reported as amended from the House Housing and Community Development Committee on September 29, 2025, amended on second consideration on October 29, 2025, re-reported from Appropriations on November 17, 2025, and laid on the table in the House under House Rule 71 on March 25, 2026; it has not reached third consideration. (checked 2026-08-26).

Pennsylvania does not regulate rental application fees at all: no statute caps the fee, ties it to what a screening actually costs, requires a receipt or a refund, requires anything to be disclosed before the money is taken, or sets a state denial-notice duty, and there is no reusable screening report law and no rule on money taken to hold a home.

Cited to Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. 250.101 to 250.602) Article II, sections 201-206 and 18 more Pennsylvania statutes · Verified August 26, 2026

The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 governs residential renting in the Commonwealth and its only money rules are the security deposit and escrow provisions. The Attorney General's consumer guide describes the application fee as one landlords commonly charge on a non-refundable basis to cover administrative costs and says it should be reasonable, which is an expectation rather than a limit. Deceptive or unconscionable fee practices can be reached under the general consumer protection law, which carries civil penalties and a private action for damages that a court may treble. Two bills that would set a cap have moved in 2026: one capping the fee at $20 passed the House in May 2026 and is in the Senate, and another would cap it at the lesser of actual background-check cost or $50.

Pennsylvania application fees at a glance

Application fee cap	No statutory cap on application fees
Fee limited to actual screening cost	No statute ties the fee to screening cost
Screening charge rules	No statute governs screening charges separately
Receipt required	No statutory receipt duty for application money
Refund required in some circumstances	No statutory refund duty
Refund rules	No statutory refund duty
Disclosure before collecting	No statutory disclosure duty
Denial-notice duties (state law)	No state statute — federal fair-credit duties still apply
Reusable screening reports	No statute on reusable screening reports
Holding deposits	No statute on holding deposits
Rental fee-transparency rules	No rental fee-transparency statute
Penalty for violation	No specific statutory penalty

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Pennsylvania Application & Screening Fee Laws (verified August 26, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/application-fees/pennsylvania/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Every figure above is cited to the Pennsylvania statute in the citations section below.

Notes and caveats

Nothing has changed since 1972 — No act of 2025 or 2026 amends the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, and the act's money provisions date from its 1972 escrow amendments. The absence of rules here is long-standing rather than a recent repeal.
Watch the two cap bills — HB 558 would cap the fee at $20 and passed the House 148 to 53 in May 2026; SB 1216 would cap it at the lesser of actual background-check cost or $50 and sits in a Senate committee. Both are in the Senate Urban Affairs and Housing Committee's hands, and neither is law.
Reasonable is guidance, not a limit — The Attorney General's consumer guide says an application fee should be reasonable. That is the agency's stated expectation for landlords, not a figure a court or agency enforces as a cap.
Denial rights come from federal law — When a landlord uses a tenant screening or credit report to turn down an application, the notice, the free copy of the report within 60 days and the right to dispute it come from the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Pennsylvania adds nothing of its own.
Where a licensed agent is involved — Two duties in the real estate licensing law touch this area at the edges: a licensee dealing with a prospective tenant must give a written statement of the capacity in which the licensee is acting when the rental application is taken, and a broker holding a deposit must keep it until the transaction closes, the parties direct otherwise in writing, or a court orders its release.
Commonwealth law only — These entries state Pennsylvania law. Several Pennsylvania cities set their own rules about renting, and no state statute either authorizes or blocks local rules on application fees.
Parking fee bills — HB 344, which passed the House 201 to 0, and its Senate counterpart SB 1270 would require a lease to state whether parking is provided and the amount of any parking fee, and would freeze that fee for the term. They are the closest thing in Pennsylvania to a rental fee-disclosure measure, and neither is law.
About the application fee rule — Pennsylvania sets no limit on what a landlord or their agent may charge someone to apply for a home, and no statute bans the charge or lists the only charges allowed. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 is the Commonwealth's residential landlord and tenant statute, and the article that creates leases, sections 201 through 206, carries no fee provision; the act's only money rules are the escrow and security deposit sections. The Attorney General's consumer guide states that many landlords charge a non-refundable application fee to cover administrative costs, that the fee should be reasonable, and that crediting it toward first month's rent or the security deposit is at the landlord's option and is not required by law. Two bills would set a cap and are listed under pending legislation.
How the cost limit works — No Pennsylvania statute ties an application or screening charge to what a credit, background or eviction report actually costs. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 contains no reference to a credit check, a credit report or screening, and no other statute supplies a cost limit. What an applicant pays is a matter of the landlord's own pricing.
Screening charges — Pennsylvania places no conditions on charging an applicant for credit, background or eviction reports. No statute says who may charge, limits the charge to one per applicant, requires that a report actually be obtained, requires written notice or an agreement first, or requires that a unit be available. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 does not mention screening. The Commonwealth's consumer report statute, the Credit Reporting Agency Act, deals with security freezes and places duties on consumer reporting agencies rather than on landlords.
What the receipt duty covers — No Pennsylvania statute requires a receipt or an itemized breakdown for money paid to apply for a home. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 imposes no receipt duty at all, for application money or for rent. Whether an applicant gets one is a matter of the landlord's own practice.
When money must come back — No Pennsylvania statute forces the return of any part of an application or screening fee. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 has one return-of-money duty, the security deposit accounting in section 512, and it does not reach application money. The Attorney General's consumer guide describes the application fee as one landlords commonly charge on a non-refundable basis. Whether money comes back depends on the agreement between the applicant and the landlord.
Refunds — Because no return duty exists, Pennsylvania sets no circumstances, deadlines or mechanics for returning application money. Nothing requires part of the fee back where the applicant was never screened, was turned down, withdrew, or where the home was let to someone else first, and nothing requires the excess over the cost of a report to be returned. The Attorney General's consumer guide notes that a landlord may choose to credit the fee toward first month's rent or the security deposit but is not required to.
What must be disclosed up front — Pennsylvania requires nothing to be told to an applicant before application money is taken: not the criteria that will be used, not what the fee pays for, not the applicant's rights. The Attorney General's consumer guide frames uniform written screening criteria as something landlords should do rather than must do. One nearby duty applies only where a licensed real estate agent is involved and concerns the agent's role rather than the fee: under the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act, a licensee dealing with a prospective tenant for rental only must give a written statement of the capacity in which the licensee is acting, and where the licensee requires a rental application that statement is given when the application is taken.
Denial notices — Pennsylvania imposes no state denial-notice duty on landlords. No statute requires written reasons for turning down an application, sets a deadline for a notice, or requires a copy of the report relied on. The Commonwealth's own consumer report statute, the Credit Reporting Agency Act, is about security freezes and says nothing about landlords, tenants or denials. The rights an applicant does have when a tenant screening or credit report is used come from the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which the Attorney General's consumer guide describes as the source of the notice, the free copy of the report within 60 days, and the right to dispute what it says.
Reusable screening reports — Pennsylvania has no reusable or portable tenant screening report law. A landlord is not required to accept a report an applicant already paid for elsewhere, nothing bars charging a fee when such a report is used, and no validity window is set. The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, the statute that would carry such a rule, does not mention screening reports.
Money to hold a unit — No Pennsylvania statute caps money taken to hold a home while a lease is prepared, requires a written statement about it, or says what happens to it if the tenancy does or does not go ahead. Section 511.1 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951, the section that would carry such a limit, reaches only sums held in escrow for damage to the premises or unpaid rent, and section 511.2 reaches funds over $100 held under a lease that has been executed or re-executed. One narrow rule applies where a licensed real estate broker holds the money: the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act requires a broker to keep all deposits and escrows until the transaction closes, until the parties agree or instruct otherwise in writing, or until a court directs. It sets no cap and no disposition rule for a landlord.
Advertising and fee transparency — Pennsylvania has no rental pricing-transparency law. No statute requires an advertised rent to include mandatory fees, requires those fees to be itemized, or bans hidden rental fees, and the Bureau of Consumer Protection's chapters in the Pennsylvania Code cover automotive trade practices, loan brokers, plain language consumer contracts and dog purchases, none of which reaches homes offered for rent. What governs instead is the general Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, which the Attorney General states applies to the leasing of residential property and whose own text covers the advertising of real property and gives a private action to a person who leases for personal, family or household purposes. That law bars deceptive and unconscionable conduct in general terms but sets no pricing-disclosure rule for rentals. Bills that would require parking fees to be stated in the lease are listed under pending legislation.
Penalties — No penalty attaches to application or screening fees, because Pennsylvania sets no duty about them to break. The general consumer protection route remains open where a fee practice is deceptive or unconscionable: the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law allows a civil penalty of up to $5,000 for each violation of an injunction or an assurance of voluntary compliance, a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for each wilful use of an unlawful practice in an action brought by the Attorney General or a district attorney, and a private action for actual damages or $100, whichever is greater, which a court may treble and may accompany with costs and reasonable attorney fees.

Common questions: Pennsylvania application fees

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a rental application fee in Pennsylvania?: No statutory cap on application fees.
Does an application fee have to be refunded in Pennsylvania?: No statutory refund duty.
Does a landlord have to give a receipt for an application fee in Pennsylvania?: No statutory receipt duty for application money.
Does Pennsylvania have a reusable tenant screening report law?: No statute on reusable screening reports.
Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in Pennsylvania?: No statute on holding deposits.

Statute citations

Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. 250.101 to 250.602) Article II, sections 201-206 (verified 2026) Official source
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Version 1.1 (June 13, 2022) Part III.C (verified 2026) Official source
Credit Reporting Agency Act (Act 163 of 2006) sections 1-2 (verified 2026) Official source
Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. 250.101 to 250.602) Article II, sections 201-206; Article V, sections 511.1-512 (verified 2026) Official source
Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. 250.101 to 250.602) section 512; Article II, sections 201-206 (verified 2026) Official source
Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (Act 9 of 1980) section 608(b)(2) (verified 2026) Official source
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Version 1.1 (June 13, 2022) Part III.D (verified 2026) Official source
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Version 1.1 (June 13, 2022) Part III.B (verified 2026) Official source
Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. 250.101 to 250.602) sections 511.1, 511.2 (verified 2026) Official source
Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (Act 9 of 1980) section 608.5(a) (verified 2026) Official source
37 Pa. Code, Part V (Bureau of Consumer Protection) chapters 301, 303, 305, 307, 309 (verified 2026) Official source
Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (73 P.S. 201-1 to 201-9.2) sections 2(3), 2(4)(xxi), 9.2(a) (verified 2026) Official source
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Version 1.1 (June 13, 2022) Part I, relevant laws (verified 2026) Official source
Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (73 P.S. 201-1 to 201-9.2) sections 8(a), 8(b), 9.2(a) (verified 2026) Official source
Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. 250.101 to 250.602) (verified 2026) Official source
Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (73 P.S. 201-1 to 201-9.2) (verified 2026) Official source
Credit Reporting Agency Act (Act 163 of 2006) (verified 2026) Official source
37 Pa. Code, Part V (Bureau of Consumer Protection) (verified 2026) Official source
Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Version 1.1 (June 13, 2022) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of the whole Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (Act of Apr. 6, 1951, P.L. 69, No. 20; 68 P.S. sections 250.101 to 250.602), all six articles including sections 201 to 206 and the escrow sections 511.1, 511.2, 511.3 and 512, on the Pennsylvania General Assembly's statutes site; the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (Act 387 of 1968) sections 1, 2, 3, 3.1, 4, 8 and 9.2; the Credit Reporting Agency Act (Act 163 of 2006); the Real Estate Licensing and Registration Act (Act 9 of 1980) sections 201, 301, 561, 601, 608 and 608.5; the official Pennsylvania Code Title 37 table of contents including Part V, Bureau of Consumer Protection; the Attorney General's Consumer Guide to Tenant and Landlord Rights, Version 1.1, last updated June 13, 2022; a title review of all 60 acts on general legislation approved in 2025 and all 51 approved in 2026 in the General Assembly's enacted-act index; and bill-text searches of the 2025-2026 Regular Session for rental application fee, application fee, tenant screening, screening fee, fee transparency, consumer report, junk fee and portable screening.