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Tenant screening services are a must for any company. They help identify potential dangers in your business and to ensure you’re only doing work with effective people. Here are the top 6 best tenant screening solutions for 2022.
For landlords, renters, and property managers, the top tenant screening services include criminal background checks, job, and income verification, and eviction history—all at a reasonable price. Landlords may charge renters’ application and tenant background check fees, depending on state legislation.
The Top 6 Tenant Screening Companies
MyRental: Best Tenant Screening Service Overall
MyRental is the greatest option for landlords on a tight budget. This is the only tenant screening solution that automatically creates Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)-compliant adverse action letters if the rental application is refused. MyRental, which starts at $19.99, offers more detailed reporting than RentPrep or LeaseRunner.
Pricing
Basic Plan
The company’s Basic package includes a rental background check for $19.99 that includes past locations, eviction records, and multistate criminal history histories, as well as sex offender registries and federal terrorism watch lists. Credit reporting and income verification are not included in the pricing. The program will also look for notifications of nonpayment of rent, judgments for unpaid rent, and evictions in court records.
Premium Plan
Credit reports, income and employment verification, and the ability to have candidates pay for their own screening are all included in the Premium plan, which costs $29.99. TransUnion, one of the three main credit reporting agencies, provides credit reports to MyRental. Because it’s a mild draw, it won’t affect applicants’ credit scores. To assist you to determine the applicant’s potential, you’ll obtain raw credit data in the form of a reader-friendly risk score.
Premium Plus
The Premium Plus plan costs $34.99 per month and contains all of the Basic and Premium plan’s features. In addition to the tenant background check services included in those plans, the Premium Plus plan analyzes application scores to area averages, enabling the user to discover how other landlords accept renters with comparable ratings.
Features
One unique aspect of MyRental tenant screening services is that if applications are limited, landlords may get automated adverse action letters, which eliminates the need for landlords to produce rejection letters and ensures that the applicant is FCRA-compliant. This service is not offered by any of the other suppliers.
RentPrep: The Most Comprehensive Tenant Background Check
RentPrep distinguishes out because it provides free assistance from qualified agents in deciphering the tenant background check. Its rate, which ranges from $18.95 to $38, is similar to the others, even with live screeners. Landlords who require assistance deciphering screening results can use this service.
Background Check Plan
RentPrep provides the cheapest thorough background check of any company, at $18.95. It contains information on judgments, liens, and bankruptcies, as well as Social Security number verification, address history, national eviction statistics, and information on judgments, liens, and bankruptcies. This package does not include employment verification or criminal background checks. You’ll have to pay an extra $9.95 for credit reporting. For an additional $4, landlords may add a national sex offender and criminal search.
Smart Move Plan
RentPrep Smart Move is $38 per month and comes with complete credit reporting. The search for judgments and liens costs $4.95. A free national sex offender search is offered. RentPrep, like MyRental, employs TransUnion for credit reporting. In addition to fundamental information, you’ll get FICO scores. If the screening is requested by the landlord, it is a hard pull, but if the applicant pays for it, it is a soft pull.
Features
One of RentPrep’s standout features is its live screeners, which include someone personally validating application information. Its no-nonsense attitude to Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance is another distinguishing trait. RentPrep makes it a point to understand the regulations and to be proactive in following them, preventing landlords and property managers from breaching the law or discriminating against an application by mistake.
LeaseRunner: Best A La Carte Menu Flexibility
Packages are not available via LeaseRunner. Instead, it provides an a la carte menu from which landlords may choose the specific reports they want. Tenant background checks performed by LeaseRunner are more thorough than those conducted by other tenant screening firms. It’s worth noting that if each report were picked individually, the total cost per application would be $57, making LeaseRunner the most costly. Landlords that want individual rental background checks should use LeaseRunner.
Methods of Credit Reporting
Experian credit reporting is used by LeaseRunner. Because the applicant consents to the screening, it’s referred to as a soft pull. VantageScore 3.0, a rival to the FICO rating system that aims to deliver more valuable data than basic credit file information, is used in LeaseRunner’s reports. Although LeaseRunner does not create adverse action letters automatically, it does provide customers with FCRA-compliant templates to utilize.
Criminal Background Checks
Criminal records from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. are included in the LeaseRunner criminal background check. Its criminal history data is among the most comprehensive of all suppliers, including prison records, watch lists, sex offender information, parole and probation records, and terror watch list reports.
Landlord, Prior Residence, and Eviction Checks
LeaseRunner’s eviction report tool allows you to do a countrywide search for up to 10 previous residences and up to seven years of data. Court actions, judgments, and claims for property damage are all kept track of. Auxiliary information, such as Social Security number verification or bank account data, is only accessible with the purchase of additional LeaseRunner reports since they are requested separately.
Verifications of income and employment
The Financial Profile report from LeaseRunner covers the applicants’ bank balances, deposits, and withdrawals to aid in the development of a financial profile. Credit reports also include information about income and employment, such as current and prior jobs, as well as other sources of revenue.
Features
LeaseRunner is different from other tenant screening services in that there are no monthly fees or memberships. Rather, landlords choose the specific sort of rental background check they need, pay for it, and move on. They may not demand a credit check but require a criminal background check or vice versa. It also has free rental application templates available online.
Avail: The best online property management tool
Avail provides three tenant background screening programs to landlords. Each package, like those offered by our other suppliers, includes an increasing number of verifications and checks. Avail, unlike many of the other organizations on our list, also provides full-service property management. The basic tenant screening service provided by Avail is completely free.
Request a Rental Profile
Landlords may use Avail’s Rental Profile tool to screen renters’ basic information. The service checks the rent history, job history, and income of the applicants. Landlords may use this basic service for free.
Credit Plus
The Credit Plus option adds a TransUnion credit score, credit history, and unfavorable records history to the landlord’s verification process. This is a wonderful option for landlords who wish to include credit checks in their tenant screening process.
Complete screening
Avail’s Full Screening report contains all of the tenant background checks and verifications included in the company’s basic and mid-level reports, plus a countrywide criminal, terror list, and sex offender registry check, as well as past eviction records.
Features
Landlords may join up for a monthly subscription that enables them to manage one rental unit for free, as well as many more property management options such as online rent payment.
TransUnion SmartMove: Credit Bureau’s Best Direct Tenant Screening
TransUnion SmartMove provides three tiers of service, ranging in price from $25 to $40 per application. TransUnion SmartMove also includes a Credit-based Resident Score with all of its products, which provides an overall tenant score produced by TransUnion. TransUnion SmartMove is perfect for landlords and property managers that seek an alternative to MyRental and trust TransUnion’s association.
Basic Plan
The SmartCheck Basic package costs $25 per application and includes a credit-based resident score from TransUnion as well as a recommendation on whether or not to rent to the applicant. This plan also includes a countrywide criminal background check, but it does not include the complete credit report that the more advanced plans provide.
Basic Plus Plan
The Basic Plus package for SmartCheck costs $38 per application. The Basic Plus package includes data from TransUnion as well as comprehensive credit reports on each application, in addition to the capabilities of the Basic plan. Because applicants must approve the credit report, it is considered a mild draw on their credit. This strategy also includes checks on prior landlords, addresses, and evictions, as well as a nationwide eviction record.
Premium Plan
The SmartCheck Premium package, which costs $40 per application, is the most expensive. It also has something called “Income Insights” in addition to the other two plans’ features. TransUnion SmartMove does further checks to ascertain whether the applicant honestly declared his or her income. It examines internet data, financial habits, and all sources of income to determine if landlords should need extra evidence of tenant income.
Features
The application score function is a unique element of TransUnion SmartMove for tenant background screening. It’s a TransUnion score for each application based on a review of over 500,000 resident data. It offers the property management or landlord a suggestion to accept or decline the applicants, similar to the National Tenant Network.
TurboTenant: Best for Marketing Vacancies
TurboTenant is a tenant screening business that also has a platform where you may advertise your available rents. Packages are not available in TurboTenant. Instead, a $35 to $45 fee per renter application is charged. It’s ideal for landlords, real estate brokers, and property managers who need to evaluate candidates as well as market and advertise unoccupied properties.
Credit Reporting Methods
TurboTenant does a soft credit check, which has no effect on the applicants’ FICO score. The report includes the applicants’ FICO score as well as the elements used to calculate it, such as the number of open and closed credit accounts, outstanding loans, and payment history. TransUnion is used by the firm.
Criminal Background Checks
Other tenant screening services do not do a countrywide rental background check as thoroughly as TurboTenant does. This advanced tenant background check is included in the application screening price by default. The check analyzes more than 200 million criminal records, so landlords will almost certainly be able to locate information on a renter who has just moved from another state.
Landlord, Prior Residence, and Eviction Checks
With the $45 tenant screening option, TurboTenant simply provides an eviction report. A tenant background check for eviction is not covered. The $35 option covers the renters’ previous address as well as public data to indicate whether there are any ongoing landlord-tenant lawsuits.
Income & Employment Verifications
TurboTenant falls short in this area. It does not offer any kind of proof of income. It is suggested that landlords check the applicants’ income and current job with their existing employer. It does not provide live screeners, so landlords must either have the applicant sign a records release form or contact the applicant’s employers to get pay stubs.
Features
TurboTenant’s tenant screening service is unique in that it is more than simply a tenant screening service. It may also be used to advertise available rental apartments and make rental fliers. Landlords may have applicants fill out the application immediately on the website for potential tenants.
Conclusion
Landlords, real estate agents, and property management companies may use tenant screening services to conduct background checks, credit checks, and eviction checks, as well as verify employment and income. This assists landlords in determining whether or not an applicant is eligible to rent a home or apartment.
