Apartment Application Fees: What's Normal and Can You Get One Back?
Application fees run $30-75 per person and are usually nonrefundable. A few states cap or ban them. Here's what's normal, when you can get one back, and how to avoid wasting money.
Apartment application fees usually run $30 to $75 per person, with $40 to $60 the most common range, and they cover the landlord's cost to run your credit and background check. In most states they're nonrefundable, whether you get approved or not. A handful of states are the exception: New York caps the fee at $20, Massachusetts and Vermont don't allow application fees at all, and California requires landlords to refund any unused portion if they never actually run your screening.
So the honest answer to "can I get it back?" is usually no, unless you're in one of the states that regulates the fee or the landlord never ran your report. That's different from a holding fee or a deposit, which often can come back to you. Knowing which is which before you hand over a card is how you avoid losing money you didn't have to.
Key Takeaways
- The typical application fee is $40 to $60 per person, though it ranges from $30 to $75 depending on the market.
- It pays for the landlord's tenant screening: a credit pull and a background/eviction check. That's the whole legitimate purpose.
- Most states don't cap it and don't require a refund. It's a sunk cost the moment you apply.
- Real exceptions exist. New York caps it at $20, Wisconsin at $25, D.C. and Philadelphia at $50, and Massachusetts and Vermont ban it outright.
- An application fee is not a holding fee or a deposit. Those two often are refundable or credited to your rent. Don't let a landlord blur the three together.
What an Application Fee Actually Pays For
The fee exists to cover one thing: screening you. When you apply, the landlord runs a credit check and a background/eviction check, and those reports cost them money per applicant. The application fee passes that cost to you. A legitimate fee roughly matches what the screening actually costs, which is why $40 to $60 is the honest zone.
Anything wildly above that should make you pause. A $150 "application fee" isn't paying for a $40 background check; it's padding. This is where reading the fine print matters, because a landlord charging four applicants $150 each on one unit is running a small side business on application fees alone.
What's a Normal Amount, State by State
Nationally the average lands around $40 to $60 per adult applicant, per data compiled across all 50 states. But your state might override that. Several places have written caps or bans into law, and they're worth knowing before you apply.
New York limits it to $20. Wisconsin caps it at $25. Washington D.C. and Philadelphia both cap it at $50, and Philadelphia goes further by requiring the fee to reflect the actual screening cost. Massachusetts and Vermont don't permit application fees at all, so if you're renting in Boston or Burlington and someone asks for one, that's a red flag worth questioning. According to resources like Texas Law Help, most other states leave the amount unregulated, which is why a Texas or Georgia fee can legally run higher than a New York one.
If you're applying with roommates, remember the fee is usually per adult. Four roommates applying to the same house means four fees, so a $60 fee is really $240 across the group.
Can You Get an Application Fee Back?
Usually no. In most states the application fee is nonrefundable by default, approved or denied, because the screening already happened and the cost was already spent. That's the part students get burned on: you apply, you don't get the unit, and the $50 is just gone.
The exceptions come down to state law and timing. California requires the landlord to refund the unused portion if they never started or finished your screening. Minnesota requires refunding anything charged beyond the real screening cost. And anywhere, if a landlord collected a fee and then never ran a report, you have grounds to ask for it back. Get a receipt every time, because a receipt is what turns "they owe me" into something you can actually pursue.
Application Fee vs. Holding Fee vs. Admin Fee
These three get blurred constantly, and the blurring usually costs you money. An application fee screens you and is typically nonrefundable. A holding fee (sometimes called a holding deposit) takes the unit off the market while your application processes, and it's usually credited toward your first month's rent or deposit if you move in, or refundable if the landlord rejects you. An admin fee is a catch-all charge for processing your lease paperwork, and it's often nonrefundable but also often negotiable. Before you pay anything, ask which of the three you're being charged, whether it's refundable, and get the answer in writing. A landlord who won't tell you is telling you something.
How to Avoid Wasting Money on Application Fees
Apply strategically instead of blasting applications everywhere. Every application is another nonrefundable fee, so treat them like they cost real money, because they do.
The move is to pre-qualify yourself before you apply: confirm your income clears the landlord's threshold, know your credit situation, and have your cosigner or guarantor lined up first. Ask the landlord what their approval criteria are before you pay, and if you're clearly short on income or credit, fix that or bring a cosigner before spending $50 on a rejection. If a cosigner isn't an option, our guide to renting without a cosigner covers the alternatives. Tour the place, confirm it's real, and read reviews on the property manager before you pay a cent.
That last point is the FMP angle. Every listing on Find My Place shows the fees a property charges and carries verified reviews from real tenants, so you can see whether a building nickel-and-dimes applicants before you're out an application fee. Spending five minutes reading reviews beats losing $60 to a place you'd have walked away from anyway.
Frequently Asked Questions About Apartment Application Fees
Are apartment application fees refundable?
Usually not. In most states the fee is nonrefundable once you apply, whether you're approved or denied, because it covers screening the landlord already paid for. The exceptions are states like California and Minnesota that require refunding unused amounts, and any situation where the landlord charged you but never ran a report.
How much should an apartment application fee be?
Somewhere between $30 and $75 per adult, with $40 to $60 being typical. A fee much higher than that isn't matching the real cost of a background check, so treat an unusually large fee as a reason to ask questions. Several states cap it lower, including New York at $20 and Wisconsin at $25.
Do I have to pay an application fee for each roommate?
Usually yes. Application fees are typically charged per adult applicant, so a four-person house means four separate fees. Budget for that as a group, because a $60 fee quietly becomes $240 across four roommates applying together.
Can a landlord charge an application fee and a holding fee?
Yes, they're different charges. The application fee covers screening and is usually nonrefundable; the holding fee takes the unit off the market and is often credited to your rent or refunded if you're denied. Ask which one you're paying and whether it comes back, and get the answer in writing before you hand over money.
What states don't allow application fees?
Massachusetts and Vermont don't permit rental application fees at all. Several others cap them: New York at $20, Wisconsin at $25, and Washington D.C. and Philadelphia at $50. If you're renting in a no-fee state and a landlord asks for one, that's worth pushing back on.
Find My Place — By Students, For Students
We're students and recent grads who've been through the housing grind. We built Find My Place because apartment hunting near a university is harder than it needs to be. Every guide we write is based on real experience — not a landlord's marketing copy.
