Rental Application and Tenant-Screening Fee Requirements in Wisconsin

At a glance

Application charges are either earnest money or report costs

Wisconsin separates payments for considering an application from charges for obtaining reports. Under Wis. Admin. Code ATCP § 134.02(3), any payment to a landlord for the option of a future rental agreement or for having an application considered is an earnest money deposit, “however denominated or described.” Calling it an application, administrative, or processing fee does not turn it into a separate nonrefundable charge.

Wis. Stat. § 704.085 separately authorizes actual-cost charges for specified credit and background reports. Those charges have their own $25 ceilings and do not become earnest money.

Earnest-money rules for a general processing charge

Before taking earnest money, ATCP § 134.05(1) requires the landlord to identify the dwelling unit or units for which the applicant is being considered. Under ATCP § 134.03(2)(a), the landlord generally must give an immediate written receipt stating the deposit's nature and amount. A check bearing a notation of its purpose substitutes for a receipt unless the applicant requests one.

The landlord must send or deliver the full earnest-money refund by the end of the next business day after:

• rejecting the application or refusing to enter a rental agreement;
• the applicant withdraws before the landlord accepts the application; or
• the landlord does not approve the application within three business days after taking the deposit, unless the applicant agrees in writing to a later date no more than 21 calendar days after collection.

If the parties enter a rental agreement, the landlord must apply the earnest money as rent or a security deposit, or return it. If an approved applicant instead fails to enter the agreement, ATCP § 134.05(3) permits withholding only for actual resulting costs and damages; lost rent requires reasonable mitigation.

Credit and background report charges

For a consumer credit report from a nationwide consumer reporting agency, Wis. Stat. § 704.085(1) permits the landlord to charge actual cost up to $25. The landlord must disclose the charge before requesting the report and give the applicant a copy.

The applicant can avoid that charge by supplying a nationwide-agency consumer credit report less than 30 days old before the landlord requests one. The landlord may obtain a newer report, but the administrative-code note states that it must then be at the landlord's expense.

The background-check rule is narrower. Under Wis. Stat. § 704.085(2), only an applicant who is not a Wisconsin resident may be charged. The amount is actual cost up to $25, and the same advance charge notice and report-copy duties apply. The statute states no parallel applicant-supplied background-report or reusable full-screening-report procedure.

Coverage and local limits

Wis. Admin. Code ATCP § 134.01 generally covers dwelling rentals in Wisconsin, but excludes seven categories, including listed institutional housing, fraternal or social-organization housing, contract-of-sale occupancy, tourist/transient housing, free or employment-provided housing, commercial agricultural occupancy, and government-owned and operated housing. Wis. Stat. § 704.085 states no parallel list of exclusions for its credit and background report charges.

ATCP § 134.10 preserves local ordinances that do not directly conflict with the chapter. But Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2) independently bars cities, villages, towns, and counties from adding requirements concerning earnest money and from requiring landlord-to-tenant communications beyond federal or state law. It also preempts listed local limits on obtaining and using screening information and on how far back specified credit, conviction, and housing information may be considered.

Remedy for an administrative-code violation

The chapter is an order issued under Wis. Stat. § 100.20. Under § 100.20(5), a person who suffers pecuniary loss because of an ATCP ch. 134 violation may sue and recover twice the loss, plus costs and a reasonable attorney fee. Section 704.085 itself states no separate damages formula for its background-check subsection.

Common questions

May a landlord keep a $25 “application fee” after rejecting me? Not merely because of the label or amount. A landlord payment for considering the application is earnest money, and rejection generally triggers a full refund by the end of the next business day.

Can a Wisconsin resident be charged for a criminal-background check? Wis. Stat. § 704.085(2) authorizes that charge only for a prospective tenant who is not a Wisconsin resident.

Can the landlord reject my 45-day-old credit report and charge for a new one? The no-charge rule applies only when the applicant supplies a qualifying nationwide-agency report that is less than 30 days old before the landlord requests one.

Does Wisconsin require first-come, first-qualified processing? No special state order rule appears in these provisions. The earnest-money rule instead sets approval and refund deadlines after the landlord takes that deposit.

Statutes and sources

• Wis. Stat. § 704.085 — credit and nonresident background checks.

  A landlord may require a prospective tenant to pay the landlord's actual cost, up to $25, to obtain a consumer credit report ...

Official source: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/704/085?view=section (accessed 2026-07-21) - Wis. Admin. Code ATCP §§ 134.01-.05 — coverage, earnest-money definition, receipts, acceptance, refunds, withholding, and credit-check fees.

“Earnest money deposit” means the total of any payments or deposits, however denominated or described ... for having a rental agreement considered by a landlord.

Official source: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/atcp/090/134.pdf (accessed 2026-07-21) - Wis. Stat. § 100.20(5) — double-loss remedy, costs, and attorney fee.

Any person suffering pecuniary loss because of a violation ... shall recover twice the amount of such pecuniary loss ...

Official source: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/100/20/5?view=section (accessed 2026-07-21) - Wis. Admin. Code ATCP § 134.10; Wis. Stat. § 66.0104(2) — local-law preservation and statutory preemption limits.

This chapter does not prohibit or nullify any local government ordinance with which it is not in direct conflict ...

Official sources: https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/atcp/090/134.pdf and https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/statutes/66.0104 (accessed 2026-07-21)