Sponsors (2)
The bill strengthens tenant protections and transparency—reducing upfront fees, protecting renters' credit, and increasing disclosure—at the cost of added compliance burdens for owners, potential shifting of costs into rents or stricter tenant screening, and some regulatory ambiguity during implementation.
Renters (especially low-income tenants) face lower up-front costs and are protected from credit harm because application/tenant‑screening fees are banned and unpaid 'junk fees' cannot be reported to credit bureaus.
Renters get better information to make housing decisions because leases must disclose the total monthly amount due and landlords must provide unit condition, maintenance/pest disclosures, past litigation history, and 10 years of rent‑increase history.
Renters pay lower penalty costs when payments are late because statute caps late fees (under 3% and only after 15 days), reducing excessive financial penalties.
Renters (especially lower-income tenants) could face higher rents or stricter tenant selection if landlords shift screening and collection costs into rent or tighten admission standards in response to fee bans and limits on credit reporting.
Owners, small landlords, public housing agencies, and some government entities will face increased compliance, administrative and reporting costs (and potential new staffing burdens) from expanded definitions and extensive disclosure requirements.
Properties with mixed financing and stakeholders across jurisdictions could experience regulatory confusion, uneven enforcement, and delayed protections while agencies sort out responsibilities and issue implementing rules.
Based on analysis of 4 sections of legislative text.
Bans certain rental junk fees, caps late fees, requires pre‑lease cost and condition disclosures for federally connected units, and makes reporting unpaid junk fees to credit bureaus an FDCPA violation after rulemaking.
Prohibits common rental “junk” fees, limits and requires disclosure of late fees, and forces landlords to disclose key cost and condition information before lease signing for units tied to federal programs or federally backed mortgages. It also directs the CFPB and FTC to jointly define “junk fee” for rental housing and to make reporting unpaid junk fees to consumer reporting agencies an unfair debt-collection practice under the FDCPA once their rule is issued.
Official title: Prohibit owners of covered dwelling units from assessing or collecting certain fees from tenants, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 24, 2025 by Jeff Merkley · Last progress June 24, 2025