Florida Law: Different App Fees For Non Citizens

[Matthew Harper]

I own two properties with an HOA which has an application fee of $50 paid for by the tenant specifically designated in the signed app as an application fee (not background check fee). Can they charge non citizens $200 for the reason that it costs more to do an international background check? Our HOA makes money on the $50 application fees (which I believe is why our HOA can't legally call it a background check fee), so can they then charge a different fee on the same application form to non citizens of $200 and call it an application fee? Isn't that a violation of fair housing since it is a different fee amount due to their non citizen status and directly paid for by the prospective tenant as an application fee? I have 3 international students who are being charged $600 instead of $150 exclusively due to their non citizen (but legal residency) status. 

It seems to me that our HOA could legally charge a $25 app fee and then advertise a $25-$175 background check fee (since it would simply be "at cost") but adjusting the current structure of the fees as written in the contract ("applicant agrees to pay a $50 application fee") appears to be illegal to me as I read fair housing laws about modifying fees based on citizen status. Wouldn't our HOA have to change the application contract altogether to make this legal?