Florida Senate - 2025                              CS for SB 362
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senators Osgood and Garcia
       
       
       
       
       
       590-02610-25                                           2025362c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to reusable tenant screening reports;
    3         creating s. 83.471, F.S.; defining terms; authorizing
    4         a landlord to accept reusable tenant screening reports
    5         and require a specified statement; prohibiting a
    6         landlord from charging certain fees to an applicant
    7         using a reusable tenant screening report; providing
    8         construction; providing an effective date.
    9          
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Section 83.471, Florida Statutes, is created to
   13  read:
   14         83.471Reusable tenant screening reports.—
   15         (1)As used in this section, the term:
   16         (a)1.“Consumer report” means any written, oral, or other
   17  communication of information by a consumer reporting agency
   18  bearing on a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing,
   19  credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal
   20  characteristics, or mode of living which is used or expected to
   21  be used or collected in whole or in part for the purpose of
   22  serving as a factor in establishing the consumer’s eligibility
   23  for credit or insurance to be used primarily for personal,
   24  family, or household purposes; employment purposes; or any other
   25  purpose authorized under 15 U.S.C. s. 1681b.
   26         2.Except for the restrictions provided in 15 U.S.C. s.
   27  1681a(d)(3), the term “consumer report” does not include:
   28         a.Subject to 15 U.S.C. s. 1681s-3, any report containing
   29  information solely as to transactions or experiences between the
   30  consumer and the person making the report; communication of such
   31  information among persons related by common ownership or
   32  affiliated by corporate control; or communication of other
   33  information among persons related by common ownership or
   34  affiliated by corporate control, if it is clearly and
   35  conspicuously disclosed to the consumer that the information may
   36  be communicated among such persons and the consumer is given the
   37  opportunity, before the time that the information is initially
   38  communicated, to direct that such information not be
   39  communicated among such persons;
   40         b.Any authorization or approval of a specific extension of
   41  credit directly or indirectly by the issuer of a credit card or
   42  similar device;
   43         c.Any report in which a person who has been requested by a
   44  third party to make a specific extension of credit directly or
   45  indirectly to a consumer conveys his or her decision with
   46  respect to such request if the third party advises the consumer
   47  of the name and address of the person to whom the request was
   48  made, and such person makes the disclosures to the consumer
   49  required under 15 U.S.C. s. 1681m; or
   50         d.A communication described in 15 U.S.C. s. 1681a(o) or 15
   51  U.S.C. s. 1681a(x).
   52         (b)“Consumer reporting agency” means any person who, for
   53  monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis,
   54  regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of
   55  assembling or evaluating consumer credit information or other
   56  information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing consumer
   57  reports to third parties, and who uses any means or facility of
   58  interstate commerce for the purpose of preparing or furnishing
   59  consumer reports.
   60         (c)“Reusable tenant screening report” means a report that:
   61         1. Includes all of the following:
   62         a. The applicant’s full name.
   63         b. The applicant’s contact information, including mailing
   64  address, e-mail address, and telephone number.
   65         c. Verification of the applicant’s employment.
   66         d. The applicant’s last known address.
   67         e. The results of an eviction history check in a manner and
   68  for a period of time consistent with applicable law related to
   69  the consideration of eviction history in housing.
   70         f. The date through which the information contained in the
   71  report is current.
   72         g. The applicant’s consumer report.
   73         2.a.Is prepared within the previous 30 days by a consumer
   74  reporting agency at the request and expense of an applicant.
   75         b.Is made directly available to a landlord for use in the
   76  rental application process or is provided through a third-party
   77  website that regularly engages in the business of providing a
   78  reusable tenant screening report and complies with all state and
   79  federal laws pertaining to use and disclosure of information
   80  contained in a consumer report by a consumer reporting agency.
   81         c.Is available to the landlord at no cost to access or
   82  use.
   83         (2)A landlord may accept reusable tenant screening reports
   84  and may require an applicant to state that there has not been a
   85  material change to the information in the reusable tenant
   86  screening report.
   87         (3)If an applicant provides a reusable tenant screening
   88  report to a landlord who accepts such reports, the landlord may
   89  not charge the applicant a fee to access the report or an
   90  application screening fee.
   91         (4)This section does not:
   92         (a)Affect any other applicable law related to the
   93  consideration of criminal history information in housing,
   94  including, but not limited to, local ordinances governing the
   95  information that landlords may review and consider when
   96  determining to whom they will rent; or
   97         (b)Require a landlord to accept reusable tenant screening
   98  reports.
   99         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.