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

No statutory cap on application fees.

Does an application fee have to be refunded in West Virginia?

Yes — in West Virginia at least one circumstance requires application-stage money to be returned. An application fee is nonrefundable only where the parties expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable. Money not covered by such a written agreement stays within the security deposit rules and must be delivered to the tenant, less any deductions for damages or other charges and with a written itemization of them, within the shorter of 60 days after the tenancy ends or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the premises.

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

No statutory receipt duty for application money.

Does West Virginia have a reusable tenant screening report law?

No statute on reusable screening reports.

Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in West Virginia?

No statute on holding deposits.

What can a landlord charge for a rental application in West Virginia?

Verified August 26, 2026 All West Virginia topics →

What did not become law. None of the following is law; failed bills are sometimes still described as if enacted:

HB 4739 (2026 Regular Session) — Would have created a Junk Fee Prevention Act making it unlawful to advertise a price without showing the total price inclusive of all mandatory fees, to add mandatory fees late in a purchase, or to present fee components less prominently than the total. Its definitions reach goods and services and it does not name dwellings offered for rent. Status: Introduced January 22, 2026 and referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, where it saw no further action before the session ended. (checked August 26, 2026).

West Virginia sets no dollar limit on rental application or tenant-screening fees, but it is one of the few states whose landlord-tenant statutes name the application fee at all: an application fee counts as nonrefundable only where the landlord and the applicant have expressly agreed in writing that it is.

Cited to W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 (2) and 14 more cited sources · Verified August 26, 2026

Without that written agreement the money is not carved out of the security deposit rules, so it must be returned, less any deductions for damages or other charges and with a written itemization of them, within the shorter of 60 days after the tenancy ends or 45 days after a new tenant moves in. Nothing in West Virginia law requires a receipt for application money, ties the fee to the cost of a credit or background report, says what a landlord must tell an applicant before taking payment, adds a state denial-notice duty beyond federal law, addresses reusable screening reports or money taken to hold a unit, or regulates how rental fees are advertised. A landlord whose failure to comply with the security deposit article is willful or not in good faith owes the unreturned amount plus one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld.

West Virginia application & screening 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	Yes
Refund rules	An application fee is nonrefundable only where the parties expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable. Money not covered by such a written agreement stays within the security deposit rules and must be delivered to the tenant, less any deductions for damages or other charges and with a written itemization of them, within the shorter of 60 days after the tenancy ends or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the premises. Delivery is by personal delivery or by mail to the last known or forwarding address the tenant gave. If mail comes back undeliverable, the landlord holds the money for six months and must hand it over at the place of business within 72 hours of a written request. Where damages exceed the deposit and a third-party contractor is needed, the landlord who gives written notice within the same period gets 15 more days to itemize. Nothing in these statutes governs money kept from an applicant who is turned down.
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	Where a landlord's failure to comply with the Residential Rental Security Deposits article is willful or not in good faith, the tenant is entitled to judgment for the amount of any unreturned security deposit plus damages for annoyance or inconvenience equal to one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld. If the tenant owes rent, the court credits that award against the rent due. Separately, where a landlord sues to enforce a lease term by which the tenant gave up rights under the article, the tenant may recover actual damages and reasonable attorney's fees. The one-and-a-half-times award attaches to the return and written-itemization duties of the security deposit statute, which is the duty that reaches application money not covered by a written nonrefundability agreement, and to the landlord's record-keeping duty. The attorney-fee award attaches to the ban on lease terms waiving rights under the article. Suit lies in magistrate or circuit court in the county where the premises are, and these remedies do not displace others available under other law.

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

Notes and caveats

The written agreement is the whole rule — The single West Virginia requirement at the application stage is that a fee be expressly agreed in writing to be nonrefundable. There is no prescribed form of words, no separate document, and no limit on the amount so agreed.
Rejected applicants are not addressed — The statutes speak of an application fee paid by a tenant and tie the return duty to the end of a tenancy. They do not say what happens to money taken from someone who applies and is not accepted.
Silence is not permission — Where these statutes say nothing, they neither allow nor forbid a practice. Screening charges, holding money, and pre-payment disclosures are matters of contract in West Virginia, and other law may still apply.
Manufactured-home lot tenancies are separate — Rented sites for factory-built homes are governed by their own article of the West Virginia Code and are not covered here.
General consumer law is not a rental fee law — The West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act reaches unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce in general terms. Its own definitions speak of goods and services, and no official state materials apply it to residential rental application fees.
Nothing changed in 2025 or 2026 — No West Virginia law enacted in the 2025 or 2026 regular sessions altered any of this. Bills on rent-payment convenience fees, tenant privacy, and advertised pricing were introduced in both sessions and none reached a vote.
Penalties run through the security deposit article — The one-and-a-half-times damages award is available only where the landlord's noncompliance was willful or not in good faith, and only for duties that article imposes.
About the application fee rule — West Virginia sets no dollar limit, formula, or cost ceiling on a residential rental application fee. The Residential Rental Security Deposits article is the only place in the West Virginia Code that names such a fee, and it does so to define the term and to say when the fee may be kept, not to limit the amount. What the fee may be is left to the lease and to market practice.
How the cost limit works — No West Virginia statute ties an application or screening fee to the actual cost of a credit, background, or eviction report. The statutory definition describes the fee by its purpose, money paid to be considered as a tenant, and says nothing about cost.
Screening charges — West Virginia has no statute conditioning tenant-screening charges. Nothing limits who may charge, how many times an applicant may be charged, whether a report must actually be obtained, or whether the unit must be available. The Residential Rental Security Deposits article applies to all residential rental premises used for dwelling purposes and contains no screening provision; the lease governs.
What the receipt duty covers — No West Virginia statute requires a landlord to give a receipt for application or screening money. The only record duty in the Residential Rental Security Deposits article runs to deductions from security deposits, which a landlord must itemize and keep for one year after the tenancy ends and show the tenant on written request.
When money must come back — An application fee counts as nonrefundable only where the landlord and the applicant have expressly agreed in writing that it is. Without that written agreement the money is not excluded from the definition of a security deposit, and security deposits must be returned when the tenancy ends. The statutes do not say what becomes of money taken from someone who applies and is turned down.
What must be disclosed up front — West Virginia requires nothing to be told an applicant before application money changes hands. There is no duty to publish screening criteria, to break down what the fee pays for, or to state applicant rights. The one writing the statutes attach to an application fee is the express written agreement that makes it nonrefundable, which is a term of the parties' agreement rather than something owed before payment.
Denial notices — West Virginia places no state denial-notice duty on a landlord who turns down an applicant. Nothing in the landlord-tenant statutes requires a reason, a deadline, or a copy of any report. Federal fair-credit-reporting duties apply of their own force and are not a West Virginia rule.
Reusable screening reports — West Virginia has no portable or reusable tenant-screening report statute. No landlord is obliged to accept a report an applicant already paid for, and nothing sets a validity window or bars a second charge. Whether to accept one is left to the landlord.
Money to hold a unit — No West Virginia statute governs money taken to hold a unit between approval and a signed lease. The landlord-tenant statutes name the money categories they reach, which are rent, prepaid rent, a security deposit, a pet fee, and an application fee, and a holding deposit is not among them. Terms are set by agreement.
Advertising and fee transparency — West Virginia has no statute or adopted state regulation requiring an all-in advertised rent, itemization of mandatory rental fees, or a ban on hidden rental fees. The West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act declares unfair or deceptive acts in trade or commerce unlawful in general terms, but defines a sale in terms of goods and services rather than dwellings offered for rent, and no official West Virginia materials apply it to rental application fees. The Attorney General's adopted rules reach home improvement, damaged goods, health spas, preneed burial contracts, and rent-to-own goods, not residential rental advertising.

Common questions: West Virginia application & screening 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 West Virginia?: No statutory cap on application fees.
Does an application fee have to be refunded in West Virginia?: Yes — in West Virginia at least one circumstance requires application-stage money to be returned. An application fee is nonrefundable only where the parties expressly agree in writing that it is nonrefundable. Money not covered by such a written agreement stays within the security deposit rules and must be delivered to the tenant, less any deductions for damages or other charges and with a written itemization of them, within the shorter of 60 days after the tenancy ends or 45 days after a new tenant occupies the premises.
Does a landlord have to give a receipt for an application fee in West Virginia?: No statutory receipt duty for application money.
Does West Virginia have a reusable tenant screening report law?: No statute on reusable screening reports.
Can a landlord charge a holding deposit in West Virginia?: No statute on holding deposits.

Citations

W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 · (2) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-6 · (a) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-3 · (1) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 · (14) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-2 · (a) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 · (7) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-2 · (a), (c), (g) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 · (11), (14) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §46A-6-104 (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §46A-6-102 · (2), (5) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-5 · (a), (b), (c) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-4 (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-1 · (2), (7), (11), (14) (verified 2026) Official source
W. Va. Code §37-6A-5 · (a) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of the West Virginia Code, chapter 37, article 6 (Landlord and Tenant) and article 6A (Residential Rental Security Deposits) in full, as published by the West Virginia Legislature, together with the general consumer protection sections of chapter 46A, article 6, the Attorney General's adopted rule series in the West Virginia Code of State Rules, and the enacted legislation of the 2025 and 2026 regular sessions of the West Virginia Legislature.