Tenant Screening Laws in Virginia: What Self-Managing Landlords Need to Know

Virginia landlords who pull consumer reports on applicants must follow federal FCRA rules on consent and adverse action notices, cap application fees at $50 (plus actual third-party costs), and apply written screening criteria consistently. Getting any of these wrong can expose a self-managing landlord to real financial and legal liability.

What will Virginia require before you screen an applicant?

Starting July 1, 2027, an amendment to Virginia Code § 55.1-1203 will require you to notify applicants in writing — before collecting any fee or personal information — of several things:

• The amount of any application fee or deposit and whether it is refundable
• The tenant selection criteria that apply to the unit
• Any criteria that will result in automatic denial
• Other criteria that could lead to denial
• The name and address of any consumer reporting agency (CRA) you use
• The applicant's right to a free copy of the consumer report and the right to dispute inaccurate information if you take adverse action

Until that takes effect, most of this list is simply smart practice — and some of it, like the CRA's identity and the applicant's dispute rights, is already required at denial time under the FCRA's adverse-action rules covered below. Publishing your criteria up front also gives you a clean paper trail if a denied applicant later disputes your decision.

What counts as permissible purpose under the FCRA?

The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires a permissible purpose before you pull a credit report, criminal background check, or eviction history from a CRA — and evaluating a rental application qualifies. The applicant's written authorization, obtained through a signed application or screening consent form, is how you document that permissible purpose, and virtually every screening provider requires it before releasing a report. Pulling a report without a permissible purpose, or using it for something the applicant never applied for, is a separate violation from anything related to the decision you eventually make.

What must an FCRA adverse action notice for rental applicants include?

This is the piece that trips up the most self-managing landlords. If you deny an application, or approve it with less favorable terms such as a larger deposit or a required co-signer, based even partly on a consumer report, the FCRA requires an adverse action notice. The statute technically allows the notice to be oral, written, or electronic — but written is the only form that leaves you proof you complied, so treat written as the standard. The notice must include:

• A statement that adverse action was taken based on information in a consumer report
• The name, address, and phone number of the CRA that supplied the report
• A statement that the CRA did not make the decision and cannot explain the specific reasons for it
• Notice of the applicant's right to a free copy of the report from the CRA within 60 days of the request
• Notice of the applicant's right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the report with the CRA

Skipping this notice, even when the denial itself was entirely legal, is a standalone federal violation that can lead to a complaint or lawsuit independent of the underlying decision.

How much can you charge for a rental application in Virginia?

Virginia caps the application fee at $50, exclusive of actual out-of-pocket costs paid to a third party for background, credit, or other pre-occupancy checks. For housing regulated by HUD, the cap drops to $32. These application fee rules exist specifically so screening does not become a profit center, and charging beyond the cap without documenting real third-party costs can require you to refund what was collected if an applicant challenges it.

Can an applicant use their own screening report instead of paying for a new one?

Virginia law allows an applicant to submit an existing screening report from a recent search, rather than paying for a new one from your preferred vendor. Landlords are not required to accept a report they cannot verify or that does not meet their standards, and many choose to run their own screening regardless. If you do accept a qualifying reusable report, though, you cannot also charge the applicant a separate fee for a report you did not commission.

What can landlords consider, and what crosses the line?

You can generally screen for income relative to rent, verifiable rental history, and credit and eviction records tied to a written, consistently applied standard. Where landlords get into trouble is with criminal history. HUD's 2016 guidance on the Fair Housing Act warns that blanket bans on any applicant with a criminal record, regardless of the offense, how long ago it occurred, or its relevance to tenancy, can produce an unlawful disparate impact because of documented racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Two practices HUD singled out as especially risky are denying based on arrests that never led to a conviction, and denying automatically based on any conviction without an individualized look at the offense and how much time has passed.

The safer approach is a written policy that looks at the nature and severity of the offense, how long ago it happened, and evidence of rehabilitation, applied the same way to every applicant.

How does consistency protect you legally?

Whatever criteria you choose, minimum income multiple, credit floor, criminal history look-back period, the protection comes from applying them identically to every applicant, not from any single number you pick. Written criteria applied the same way for everyone is the practical safety net behind the fair housing rules: it is much harder to argue discrimination when your process treats a Section 8 voucher holder, a young couple, and a large family exactly the same way on paper and in practice.

At Century 21 Accent Homes, this has been standard operating procedure since we started managing homes in Northern Virginia in 1972: consent-based screening under one flat $350 monthly fee, a $50 application fee that covers a full background check, and compliant adverse-action notices sent automatically whenever an application does not clear.

Screening compliance at a glance

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to send an adverse action notice if I deny an applicant for a reason unrelated to their credit report?

If the denial was based solely on something outside the consumer report, such as insufficient income you verified independently, the FCRA notice technically is not required. In practice, most denials involve at least some report data, so sending the notice whenever any report was pulled is the safer habit.

Can I charge an applicant more than $50 if my screening vendor charges more than that?

Yes, but only for the documented, actual out-of-pocket cost you pay the third party. The $50 cap applies to your own fee; anything above it must match a real, verifiable vendor cost rather than an estimate.

Is a criminal background check ever completely off-limits in Virginia?

No, but a blanket policy that denies anyone with any criminal record is legally risky under fair housing law. An individualized review tied to the specific offense, its severity, and how much time has passed is the more defensible standard.

This article is for general information and is not legal advice. Consult a Virginia attorney about your specific situation.