HB 43 creates a new section of Florida law governing reusable tenant screening reports in rental applications. The bill defines what qualifies as a reusable tenant screening report, including that it must be a consumer report prepared within the prior 30 days at the applicant’s expense, made available directly to a landlord or through a compliant third-party website, and accessible to the landlord at no cost. It also allows landlords to accept these reports and to require an applicant to certify that there has been no material change in the report’s information.
The bill specifies the minimum contents of a reusable tenant screening report: the applicant’s full name, contact information, employment verification, last known address, eviction history check results, and the date the information is current through. If a landlord accepts such a report, the landlord may not charge the applicant a fee to access the report or an application screening fee. The bill does not require landlords to accept reusable reports, and it preserves other laws relating to criminal history information in housing. The act takes effect July 1, 2025.
Impact
The bill would add s. 83.471 to the Florida Statutes and create a new optional framework for tenant screening in the rental market. It affects landlords, rental applicants, consumer reporting agencies, and third-party screening websites by establishing standards for report content, freshness, and access, while limiting duplicate screening charges when a reusable report is accepted. It does not mandate acceptance by landlords and does not alter existing law on criminal history considerations in housing.
Sentiment
The available voting history shows strong, unanimous support in committee, with the House Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee voting 18-0 and the House Housing, Agriculture & Tourism Subcommittee voting 12-0. No committee transcripts were provided, but the unanimous votes suggest the bill was viewed favorably and as a practical consumer- and housing-related measure rather than a controversial policy change.
Contention
There is little evidence of significant opposition in the available record. The main policy choice reflected in the bill is that landlords may accept reusable tenant screening reports but are not required to do so, which balances applicant cost savings against landlord discretion. Another potential point of concern is the bill’s interaction with existing housing-screening rules, especially around eviction and criminal history information, but the text expressly states that it does not affect other applicable criminal history laws.