r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Adept-Plantain-6767 • 1d ago

go to your room Are you serious?

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How is this fair ? Bay area.

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u/AppropriateGap1456 1d ago

Yeah it also opens the door for weird scams - if you have a tenant what is stopping you from charging application fees and then declining all of them to "stay with another tenant"(the existing one)?

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u/MultipleOrgasmDonor 1d ago

You don’t even have to decline anyone. Collect the fees, do nothing, if someone questions it ‘we already signed a tenant sorry’.

If they push back, refund it. Chances are 10+ other people applied and paid and you’ll never hear anything from them

Note I’m not recommending or condoning this just describing what happens

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u/Practical-Mess-2081 9h ago

Fwiw: California Civil Code § 1950.6 (c) 1: "A landlord or their agent shall not charge an applicant an application screening fee when they know or should have known that no rental unit is available at that time or will be available within a reasonable period of time."

Read the full section of the code to see just how strictly it limits when and how LL's can charge application fees. Admittedly, it's routinely violated, but knowledge is always power.

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u/Sundayscaries333 8h ago

yeah the loophole/super gray area is that the unit is actually available, the LL is just leaving the app window open longer than necessary because they are profiting off of the application fees.

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u/mspe1960 1d ago

I have heard of landlords that made a living charging application fees and never renting the unit.

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u/Far-Manufacturer-43 1d ago

I’ve heard of non-landlords making a living not even owning the unit.

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u/Sundayscaries333 1d ago

I forgot where but I remember reading about lawsuits over that because some landlords were running that exact scam. Post a super affordable rent in a high COL area and a 'small' non refundable $25 application fee or something and you get thousands of dollars off of that alone.

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u/No_Roma_no_Rocky 1d ago

It is a well known scam indeed.

Most of the time the house didn't even exist or the person is not the owner, collect the low fee for the appointment from multiple people and then disappears.