Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

If the prospective landlord knows that the prospective tenant has no social security number, then they cannot run a credit report. If they cannot run a credit report, they cannot charge you for running a credit report. All that being said, the landlord can very easily decide not to rent to you because you have no credit history if you don't comply with their application process. This is probably a case where the prospective landlord is wrong, but if you want to rent from them, you have to play their games. And, over $25 or $35 for a credit report, it's not worth your hiring an attorney to assert your right not to pay the fee.

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Mr. Gibbs obviously has not done much collections work. Credit information can most certainly be obtained without a social security number, and the potental landlord has every right to charge the fee.