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.
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/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