A new state law will limit how much landlords are allowed to charge for rental application fees.
Under the law signed last week by Gov. Janet Mills, landlords in Maine may only charge applicants for the actual cost of a background check, a credit check, or another screening process. They'll also be required to give applicants a copy of the information they find during the screening.
An early version of the bill faced initial opposition from several landlords. But Dan Bernier, with the Central Maine Apartment Owners' Association, says his organization is mostly satisfied with the amended measure, and that it shouldn't affect many landlords' current practices.
"So, to a large extent, the bill seems to be just kind of codifying what was the actual practice of the landlords that were charging a fee," Bernier says.
Tenant advocates say that rental application fees can be a significant barrier to housing for many applicants, and the new law provides transparency as to what those fees are being spent on.
Craig Saddlemire, with Lewiston's Raise-op Housing Cooperative, says the new law will bring transparency to the rental application process, and remove any incentive for landlords to profit from rental applications.
"It doesn't solve our housing crisis. But it just removes one particular opportunity to take advantage of a desperate class of folks," Saddlemire says.
Landlord groups say that the measure shouldn't have much of an impact on their process for screening tenants.
