Portable Tenant Screening Report Amendment Act of 2025

COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
OFFICE OF COUNCILMEMBER BROOKE PINTO
THE JOHN A. WILSON BUILDING
1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W., SUITE 106
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004

November 14, 2025
Nyasha Howard, Secretary
Council of the District of Columbia
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Secretary Howard,
Today, along with Councilmember Allen and Janeese Lewis George , I am introducing the
“Portable Tenant Screening Report Amendment Act of 2025.” This legislation serves as an
important step in improving how prospective tenants access housing by creating a fairer, more
transparent, and more cost-effective screening process. The current process for screening
prospective tenants creates unnecessary financial burdens for renters, forcing them to pay repeated
fees each time they apply for a new home.1 This bill seeks to restore fairness and affordability by
allowing prospective tenants to purchase or obtain a single tenant screening report—either through
their first rental application or a certified consumer reporting agency —and reuse that report for a
period of 30 days when applying for housing across the District.
Under current industry standards , prospective tenants applying with multiple housing providers
must pay repeated screening fees for successive reports containing essentially the same
information. A review by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) found that out of
17 tenant screening companies analyzed by the CFPB, only five provide for manual verification
processes.2 In most cases, these reports are generated from third-party data brokers3 that aggregate
and periodically refresh bulk data .4 As a result, renters are denied housing, forced to pay for
multiple screening reports, or steered toward less desirable housing options. 5 The lack of
portability in the screening process not only limits tenant choice in housing but also perpetuates
inequities that disproportionately affect low- and moderate-income residents.
The Portable Tenant Screening Report Amendment Act will:
• Require housing providers in the District to accept a reusable tenant screening report in
place of charging a new application screening fee, provided the report was completed
within 30 days by a certified credit or consumer reporting agency;

1 D.C. Code § 42–3505.10(b)(1).
2 U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Tenant Background Checks Market, (November 2022), available
here.
3 Id.
4 Id.
5 National Consumer Law Center, Digital Denials: How Abuse, Bias, and Lack of Transparency in Tenant Screening
Harm Renters, (September 2023), available here.

• Require reusable tenant screening reports to include, at minimum, the prospective tenant’s
name and contact information, a credit report, current address and rental history, and
eviction-history results, subject to existing legal protections;
• Bar housing providers from charging an additional fee to access or use a valid reusable
tenant screening report and prohibit them from collecting an application fee when such a
report is provided; and
• Allow housing providers to deny an application or collect a new screening fee if a tenant
knowingly provides falsified or materially altered information on a reusable report.
By reducing redundant fees and increasing transparency in the tenant screening process, this bill
empowers renters to pursu e housing opportunities without facing unnecessary financial barriers.
The Portable Tenant Screening Report Amendmen t Act represents an important step toward
strengthening equity, accountability, and consumer protections within the rental housing market
and ensuring that every resident has a fair opportunity to find a place to call home.
Should you have any questions about this legislation, please contact my Legislative Counsel, Isaiah
Boyd, at iboyd@dccouncil.gov.
Sincerely,

Brooke Pinto
Councilmember, Ward 2
Chairwoman, Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety
Council of the District of Columbia

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Councilmember Charles Allen Councilmember Brooke Pinto 4
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Councilmember Janeese Lewis George 10
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A BILL 13
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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 17
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To amend the District of Columbia Rental Housing Act of 1985 to require housing 22
providers to accept a reusable tenant screening report from prospective tenants in lieu of 23
conducting a new tenant screening, to prohibit a housing provider from charging an 24
application fee for the purpose of conducting a new tenant screening when reusable 25
tenant screening information is provider, and to require a housing provider to furnish a 26
prospective tenant with a dated copy of their tenant screening report. 27
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this 29
act may be cited as the “Portable Tenant Screening Report Amendment Act of 2025”. 30
Sec. 2. Section 510 of the District of Columbia Rental Housing Act of 1985, effective 28 31
July 17, 1985, (D.C. Law 6-10; D.C. Official Code §42-3505.10), is amended to read as follows: 32
(a) A new subsection (b-5) is added to read as follows: 33
“(b-5) Reusable Tenant Screening Reports. 34
“(1) A housing provider shall accept a reusable tenant screening report from a 35
prospective tenant in lieu of requiring a tenant pay an application fee to conduct a new tenant 36

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screening, provided that: 37
“(A) The reusable tenant screening report was completed within the 38
previous 30 days by a credit or consumer reporting agency; 39
“(B) The reusable tenant screening report includes, at a minimum: 40
“(i) The prospective tenant’s name and contact information; 41
“(ii) A credit report; 42
“(iii) Current address and rental history; and 43
“(iv) Results of an eviction-history check for all jurisdictions in 44
which the prospective tenant has resided, subject to the limitations set forth in subsection (d) of 45
this section. 46
“(C) The reusable tenant screening report is made available to the housing 47
provider at no cost to access or use; and 48
“(D) The prospective tenant certifies that there has been no material 49
change to the information contained in the reusable tenant screening report since its preparation, 50
including names, addresses, credit reporting, or eviction history. 51
“(2) A housing provider that receives a reusable tenant screening report pursuant 52
to this subsection shall not: 53
“(A) Charge a prospective tenant any fee to access or use the reusable 54
tenant screening report; or 55
“(B) Charge a prospective tenant an application fee under subsection 56
(b)(1) of this section for the purpose of conducting a new tenant screening. 57
“(3) Before collecting any application fee or conducting a tenant screening, a 58
housing provider shall notify a prospective tenant in writing of: 59

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“(A) The tenant’s right to provide a reusable tenant screening report under 60
this subsection; 61
“(B) The housing provider’s obligation not to charge the application fee 62
describe in subsection (b)(1) if the tenant provides a reusable tenant screening report; and 63
“(C) The housing provider’s obligation, upon completion of any tenant 64
screening, to provide the prospective tenant with a copy of the screening report used, including 65
the date it was furnished, so that the prospective tenant may use the report as a reusable tenant 66
screening report for other housing applications. 67
“(4) A housing provider may deny a tenancy application or require a prospective 68
tenant to pay an application fee for a new screening if the prospective tenant knowingly provides 69
materially altered or falsified information on their reusable tenant screening report.”. 70
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement. 71
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal 72
impact statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, 73
approved October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a). 74
Sec. 4. Effective date. 75
This act shall take effect after approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the 76
Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto), a 30-day period of congressional review as 77
provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 78
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)), and publication in the District of 79
Columbia Register. 80