Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

Rental Aplication Fee

I recently applied for an apartment with my boyfriend. We were told in the beginning that as long as we had less than $20,000 in bad debt, we would be approved. At first we were denied because of a misunderstaing with my student loan company. I cleared that up and our application was reviewed. Again we were denied even though we now had the required ''less than $20,000 bad debt''. We were told that it was because neither of us had 2 years of rental history. I want to know if we have a legal right to ask for our Non-refundable application fee to be refunded since we were not told of this condition in the beginning and the leasing agent new from the start that we had no rental history. If this condition had been made known before we started the process, we would not have waisted the $170.00 to apply.


Asked on 6/21/07, 8:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Scott R. Jay Law Offices of Scott R. Jay

Re: Rental Aplication Fee

NOTE: This communication is not intended as and should not be interpreted as legal advice. Rather, it is intended solely as a general discussion of legal principles. You should not rely on or take action based on this communication without first presenting ALL relevant details to a competent attorney in your jurisdiction and then receiving the attorney's individualized advice for you. By reading the "Response" to your question or comment, you agree that the opinion expressed is not intended to, nor does it, create any attorney-client relationship, nor does it constitute legal advice to any person reviewing such information, nor will it be considered an attorney-client privileged communication. If you do not agree, then stop right here, and do not read any further.

It does not hurt to ask but I am not hopeful that you will be successful. If they deny your request, you can file a complaint with the consumer affairs department of your local county and that might get you a favorable result. There is no law that the rental agent must disclose all of their requirements before accepting an application although further disclosure would be good business practices. Good luck.

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Answered on 6/21/07, 10:53 am


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