RELATING TO HOUSING.

SB2959

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2959

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to housing
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

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SECTION 1.
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This Act shall be known and may be cited as
the Hawaii Tenant Screening Fairness Act.

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SECTION 2.
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The legislature finds that low-income
households and people experiencing homelessness face numerous barriers in the
rental housing market.
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Typically,
prospective tenants often apply for as many open rentals as possible due to the
significant competition for these rental units.
�

While the legislature recognizes that landlords and their agents have a
legitimate interest in screening applicants, reducing the number of
transactions in which applicants must pay a screening fee will reduce housing
costs and improve access to rental housing.

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The legislature further finds that
to help individuals and families seeking rental housing in the State, the
legislature enacted Act 200, Session Laws of Hawaii 2023, which authorizes an
application screening fee for rental applications and requires costs associated
with vetting an application to be used only for that purpose and the return to
the applicant of any remaining fees.
�

However, an applicant may still be required to submit multiple
application fees to landlords or their agents, who are using those fees to
obtain similar information.

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The legislature additionally finds
that tenant screening companies provide tenant screening reports to landlords
and their agents, and the tenant screening reports from tenant screening
companies are trusted and validated tools for screening applicants.
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In many instances, applicants pay each
landlord or their agent to whom they are applying for housing a fee for the
landlord to obtain a screening report.

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The
legislature further finds that many tenant screening companies already allow applicants
to purchase a tenant screening report.
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The applicant will have an opportunity to see what is in the screening
report and correct any errors that appear in the report.
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Once the applicant purchases a tenant screening
report, at the applicant's direction, the tenant screening company will provide
the screening report directly to as many landlords or their agents as the
applicant desires for thirty days at no additional cost.
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The legislature finds that because the
screening report is provided directly to the landlord or their agent by a
trusted third-party, the risk of tampering with screening reports is virtually
eliminated.

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The
legislature also finds that requiring landlords and their agents to accept the
tenant screening reports from a tenant screening company would reduce the cost
to the applicants.
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The tenant screening
companies that provide these services are trusted by many landlords and agents
to protect sensitive data, ensuring privacy for the applicant, and bear the
risk of failure to do so.
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Because the
tenant screening companies are trusted to faithfully carry out the service when
the landlord makes the request for a tenant screening report, they should be
trusted by landlords to faithfully carry out the service when the applicant
requests the report be provided to the landlord.

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Accordingly, the purpose of this Act
is to require residential landlords and their agents to accept comprehensive reusable
tenant screening reports from applicants.

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SECTION
2
.
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Section 521-46, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
amended to read as follows:

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"
[
[
]
�521-46[
]
]
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Application screening fee[
.
]
;
comprehensive reusable tenant screening reports.
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(a)
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When a landlord or the landlord's agent
receives a request from an applicant to rent a dwelling unit, the landlord or [
the
]
landlord's agent may charge the applicant an application screening fee at the
time the application is processed for the dwelling unit to cover the costs of
obtaining information about the applicant; provided that [
a
]
:

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(1)
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A
landlord or the landlord's agent
shall only charge an application screening fee for an applicant who is eighteen
years of age or older or an emancipated minor[
.
]
;

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(2)
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Before taking action relating to an
application screening for which a landlord or landlord's agent would expect to
collect an application screening fee, a landlord or landlord's agent shall
disclose to an applicant that the applicant has the right to provide to the
landlord or landlord's agent a comprehensive reusable tenant screening report;
provided that the disclosure shall be provided in a location and in a manner
reasonably likely to reach applicants, including:

���������
(A)
�
In advertisements and other public notices
of the dwelling unit's availability, displayed in at least twelve-point,
bold-faced type unless the size, format, or display requirements of the
advertisements or other public notice make this requirement impracticable, in
which case the font and size of the advertisement shall match the rest of the
advertisement or other public notice;

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(B)
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On the home page of a website maintained by
the landlord or landlord's agent, including a property management company,
displayed in at least twelve-point;

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(C)
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In a paper or an online rental application
for the dwelling unit, displayed in at least twelve-point, bold-faced type; or

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(D)
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Orally, directly to the applicant, with
written confirmation of receipt by the applicant of the advisement;

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(3)
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If a comprehensive reusable tenant
screening report is made available to the landlord or the landlord's agent at
the request and expense of an applicant and is received within thirty days, the
landlord or the landlord's agent shall not charge an application fee or a fee
for the landlord or landlord's agent to access the report; and

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(4)
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If a prospective landlord conducts one's
own screening of tenants using a comprehensive reusable tenant screening
report, the prospective landlord may charge the applicant for the actual costs
incurred in obtaining the report in circumstances where the comprehensive
reusable tenant screening report requires that the report be initiated by the
landlord; provided that the applicant is notified in advance of the landlord's
intent to conduct the screening or explicitly requests that the landlord obtain
the report on the applicant's behalf.

Information sought by the landlord or the landlord's
agent charging the fee may include personal reference checks, tenant reports,
criminal background checks, and credit reports produced by any consumer credit
reporting agency.

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(b)
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Upon request by the applicant, a landlord or the landlord's agent shall
provide to the applicant a:

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(1)
�
Receipt for
payment of the application screening fee; [
and
]

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(2)
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Breakdown of costs
covered by the application screening fee[
.
]
; and

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(3)
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Certified copy of the applicant's criminal
background checks and credit reports that are less than thirty days old.

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(c)
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A landlord or the landlord's agent shall return to the applicant any
amount of the application screening fee that is not used for the purposes
authorized by this section within thirty days after the landlord has submitted
screening requests.

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(d)
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For the purposes of this section:

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"Comprehensive reusable tenant
screening report" means a consumer report that meets all of the following
criteria:

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(1)
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Was prepared within the previous thirty
days by a consumer credit reporting agency;

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(2)
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Is made directly available to a landlord
for use in the rental application process or is provided through a third-party
website that regularly engages in the business of providing comprehensive reusable
tenant screening reports and complies with all state and federal laws
pertaining to the use and disclosure of consumer reports; and

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(3)
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Includes all the following information
regarding an applicant:
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name, contact
information, verification of employment, last known address, criminal
background check, and credit report.

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"Consumer credit reporting
agency" has the same meaning as in section 489P-2.

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"Credit report" has the
same meaning as in section 489P-2."

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SECTION
3
.
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Statutory
material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.
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New statutory material is underscored.

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SECTION
4
.
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This Act shall
take effect on November 1, 2026.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Residential
Landlord-Tenant Code; Application Screening; Comprehensive Reusable Tenant
Screening Report; OCP; DCCA

Description:

Beginning
11/1/2026, requires landlords to accept comprehensive reusable tenant screening
reports, if made available by an applicant, and prohibits application fees in
such case.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.