Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in Alaska
At a glance
| Governing law and coverage | Alaska URLTA, AS 34.03.010-.360; no general ordinary-applicant fee process, but AS 34.03.040(c)(3)-(4) covers vendor/transfer and entry fees involving mobile-home-park tenants and prospective tenants, subject to § 34.03.330 exclusions |
|---|---|
| Fees allowed or prohibited | Ordinary residential application/screening fee not specifically regulated; mobile-home park may not require entry fee, but may charge reasonable fee for services actually performed with advance written amount notice (§ 34.03.040(c)(4)) |
| Maximum charge and adjustment | Mobile-home service fee must be reasonable and for services actually performed; no numeric or indexed ceiling; no general ordinary-applicant statewide cap (§ 34.03.040(c)(3)-(4)) |
| Permitted costs and charge timing | Mobile-home park: actual performed services only, with written amount notice before prospective tenant agrees to move; normal park standards may be applied before granting or denying tenancy (§ 34.03.040(c)(3)-(4)) |
| Before-screening disclosures | Mobile-home service-charge amount must be disclosed in writing before agreement to move into park; no general unit-availability, screening-criteria, report-source, dispute-right, reusable-report, or application-order disclosure (§ 34.03.040(c)(3)-(4)) |
| Receipt, report copy, and refund | No special statewide application-fee receipt, screening-report copy, unused-fee refund, or unconsidered-application refund rule; mobile-home rule requires advance written amount notice, not a receipt |
| Applicant-supplied or reusable reports | No statewide applicant-supplied or reusable screening-report acceptance or no-fee procedure |
| Application order and adverse action | No general first-in-order, first-qualified, single-application, or state denial notice; in mobile-home sale context, operator may apply normal standards and has 30 days after seller's written notice to refuse for listed grounds (§ 34.03.040(c)(1), (3)) |
| Remedies and stronger local rules | Prohibited rental-agreement term unenforceable; wilful use of known prohibited term permits actual damages; no application-fee local-preemption clause (§ 34.03.040(b)) |
No general fee process, with a mobile-home exception
Alaska's complete current Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act contains no general cap or special screening procedure for an ordinary residential rental-application fee. The real-estate licensing statutes likewise contain no tenant-facing application, credit-check, background-check, or screening-fee process.
Alaska Stat. § 34.03.040(c)(4) creates a narrow rule for a mobile home park. A rental agreement may not require a prospective tenant to pay a fee merely to enter the park. The owner or operator may instead charge a reasonable fee for services actually performed if the person is notified in writing of the amount before agreeing to move into the park.
Subsection (c)(3) uses the same performed-service, reasonableness, and advance- written-notice structure for a vendor or transfer fee involving a tenant who wants to sell a mobile home or a party who wants to purchase it as a condition of tenancy.
What the narrow rule does and does not require
For the covered mobile-home charges, the statute supplies three controls:
- the fee must be reasonable;
- it must pay for services actually performed; and
- the amount must be disclosed in writing before the person agrees to move in.
The section sets no fixed dollar amount or annual adjustment. It does not require a separate payment receipt, a copy of a credit or background report, a refund of an unused or unconsidered fee, or acceptance of an applicant-supplied or reusable screening report.
The statute permits an owner or operator to apply normal park standards to prospective tenants before granting or denying tenancy. In the separate context of a current park tenant's proposed mobile-home sale, subsection (c)(1) gives the operator 30 days after written notice of the intended sale to refuse the specified buyer for a code violation affecting the home, refusal to assume the existing rental terms, or insufficient financial responsibility.
Coverage and remedy
Alaska Stat. § 34.03.330 applies the chapter to rental agreements for dwelling units in Alaska and lists excluded arrangements, including specified institutional residence, purchaser occupancy, transient lodging, employment- conditioned occupancy, primarily agricultural premises, and qualifying transitional or supportive housing.
Under § 34.03.040(b), a rental-agreement provision prohibited by subsection (c) is unenforceable. If a landlord or tenant wilfully uses a rental agreement containing a provision the person knows is prohibited, the other party may recover actual damages. The section states no application-fee-specific local- preemption rule.
What trips people up
The statute does not authorize a bare park-entry charge. The exception is for a reasonable fee tied to services actually performed, with advance written notice of the amount.
The mobile-home rule is not a general statewide cap. It should not be converted into an actual-cost or reasonableness ceiling for every apartment or house application in Alaska.
Written notice is due before agreement to move. A later receipt does not replace the statute's timing requirement for the covered mobile-home service fee.
Common questions
Is there a statewide maximum for an ordinary apartment application fee? No general numeric or cost-based cap appears in the current audited statutes.
Can a mobile-home park charge just for entry? Not as a bare entry fee. It may charge a reasonable fee for services actually performed after giving the required advance written amount notice.
Must the landlord provide a screening report? The audited statutes create no special report-copy duty tied to an application charge.
Does Alaska require reusable screening reports? No statewide applicant- supplied or reusable-report acceptance procedure appears in the audited statutes.
Statutes and sources
- Alaska Stat. § 34.03.040 — prohibited rental terms and mobile-home-park
entry, vendor, and transfer fees.
[T]his paragraph does not prevent the owner or operator from charging a reasonable fee for services actually performed and if the tenant is notified in writing of the amount of those charges before agreeing to move into the park.
Official source: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.03.040&secEnd=34.03.040 (accessed 2026-07-21) - Alaska Stat. § 34.03.010 — chapter purpose and construction.
[T]he underlying purposes and policies of this chapter are to ... revise the law governing the rental of dwelling units and the rights and obligations of landlord and tenant.
Official source: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.03.010&secEnd=34.03.010 (accessed 2026-07-21) - Alaska Stat. § 34.03.330 — application and exclusions.
This chapter applies to and determines rights, obligations and remedies under a rental agreement, wherever made, for a dwelling unit in this state.
Official source: https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=34.03.330&secEnd=34.03.330 (accessed 2026-07-21)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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