Tenant Screening, Credit Check, Background Check, Employment Verification, People Search, Address Verification

Are landlords or property managers allowed to pull a prospective tenant's credit report?

Yes, you are allowed to obtain a credit report on a prospective tenant. If you turn down an applicant because of negative information on a credit report, you must send the applicant an "adverse action" letter, which informs the applicant of three things:

the reason you rejected the applicant
the name and address of the agency that reported the negative information, and
the applicant's right to obtain a free copy of the report by requesting it from that agency within 60 days

What's the best way for landlords to screen tenants?

Savvy landlords should ask all prospective tenants to fill out a written rental application that includes the following information:

employment, income, and credit history
Social Security and driver's license numbers
past evictions or bankruptcies, and
references.

Before choosing tenants, landlords should check with previous landlords and other references; verify income, employment, and bank account information; and obtain a credit report. The credit report is especially important because it will indicate whether a particular person has a history of paying rent or bills late, has gone through bankruptcy, or has ever been evicted. To avoid trouble with fair housing laws, be sure to be consistent and fair in your screening. For instance, make it your policy to require credit reports from all applicants.

Are landlords required to use written rental applications?

Asking prospective tenants to fill out written applications can protect you from lawsuits filed by irate applicants that you rejected as tenants. For example, suppose you talk to six applicants before renting one of your units. You pick Applicant #3 because you feel he is most likely to reliably pay the rent. Two weeks later, you get a call from a lawyer representing Applicant #5, who claims she was discriminated against because she is African-American and a single mother. If you aren't willing to pay $10,000 to settle the matter, you'll promptly be sued in federal court for $50,000.

Because you have no written documentation explaining how you picked Applicant #3, your insurance carrier proposes to pay the rejected applicant $10,000. After all, the insurance company points out, it looks bad that you picked a white male with no children, especially since it turns out that the African-American single mother has a higher-paying job.

Had you been able to produce all the candidates' comprehensive written applications, their credit reports, and references from previous landlords, the result would likely have been different. You would have had good written documentation supporting why you picked Applicant #3 -- his credit history and job stability were far better than that of Applicant #5, who (despite her current good job) had recently declared bankruptcy and had poor references from previous landlords.

What types of discrimination are illegal when choosing a tenant?

Fair housing laws specify illegal reasons to refuse to rent to a tenant, such as rejecting an applicant because of race, religion, ethnic background, sex, or because the applicant has children or a disability. In addition, some state and local laws prohibit discrimination based on a person's marital status, sexual orientation, or age.

Landlords are legally free to choose among prospective tenants as long as their decisions comply with these laws and are based on legitimate business criteria. For example, a landlord is entitled to reject someone with a poor credit history, insufficient income to pay the rent, or past behavior -- such as damaging property -- that makes the person a bad risk. A valid occupancy policy limiting the number of people per rental unit -- one that is clearly tied to health and safety -- can also be a legal basis for refusing tenants.

Landlords must apply selection standards, such as requiring a minimum income and a good credit report, equally to all tenants.

What kinds of subtle actions might be illegal discrimination by the landlord?

The Fair Housing Acts prohibit landlords from taking any of the following actions based on race, religion, or any other protected category:

falsely denying that a rental unit is available to some applicants
advertising that indicates a preference based on group characteristic, such as skin color
setting more restrictive standards, such as higher income, for certain tenants
refusing to reasonably accommodate the needs of disabled tenants, such as allowing a guide dog, hearing dog, or other service animal
setting different terms for some tenants, such as adopting an inconsistent policy of responding to late rent payments, or
terminating a tenancy for a discriminatory reason.

What does Credit Investigators provide?

Credit Investigators provides a complete applicant screening solution for management companies and individual property owners, both large and small. From tenant screening reports, to criminal and eviction searches, Credit Investigators provides everything that is needed to make a qualified decision on a prospective tenant. The company also offers employment-screening services that prospective employers can use to research a potential employee. All these services are provided to you, the Credit Investigators customer, in real time, at some of the lowest prices on-line.

Who needs Credit Investigator's services?

Credit Investigators is a must for all property management companies and individual property owners who need to check credit on potential tenants. Companies also need the employment screening services that Credit Investigators offers, to evaluate potential employees prior to being hired.

Who can run reports at Credit Investigators?

Property management companies and individual property owners, as well as companies will have access to run reports on the Credit Investigators system. When a new account is set up, certain industry documentation will be requested by Credit Investigators from you the customer to satisfy the credit and other information bureaus. We value our relationship with these bureaus and keep strict internal records in accordance with their policies and procedures.

How do Credit Investigator's prices compare to other on-line reporting companies?

Credit Investigators is, on average, 25% cheaper for the reports we offer versus other on-line screening companies. These are the same reports you can get elsewhere, we just offer them for less. How do we do this? We automate the screening system as much as possible to reduce the amount of employees it takes to run the company. The lower the overhead, the cheaper price to you the customer.

Do I need special software or a computer to access reports?

No, The only thing you will need to run reports at Credit Investigators is Internet access. Any Internet access will do. There is no software to download and no special hardware to buy. You can even access the information from different computers once your account is set up.

How do I pay for the reports I run?

You will be asked to provide a credit card when setting up your account at Credit Investigators that will be run each month to cover the balance you incur during that month. You will only be charged for the reports you run and never charged a sign-up fee or a monthly fee at Credit Investigators. For large accounts with more than 100 units or that plan to run a large number of reports, billing can be set up and can be mailed to you at the end of the month. Please speak with one of our sales representatives if you are interested in setting up a billing relationship with Credit Investigators.

How does Credit Investigators ensure the privacy on the reports run?

Credit Investigators has implemented the most secure features available on-line today. The bureaus require it and we are committed to providing it to our customers and the applicants they are screening. To learn more about our privacy policy, click the privacy policy link at the bottom of the page.

Is help provided when I begin using the Credit Investigators system?

Yes! Credit Investigators offers full phone support during normal business hours (Eastern Standard Time) as well as 24-hour email support. We pride ourselves on the relationship with our customers and will do everything to provide you the highest level of customer service available in the industry.

Does Credit Investigators offer quantity discounts on reports?

Credit Investigators offers volume discounts on all reports to customers with high volume. Please speak with one of our sales representatives to see of you qualify for a volume discount.

Why should I use Credit Investigators as my online reporting company?

Credit Investigators will provide a simple, yet affordable screening solution to fulfill your entire tenant screening needs. This, coupled with our superior customer service and our instant on-line access, will make your relationship with Credit Investigators a successful one.