Best Tenant Screening Services in 2025

Do you know who’s moving in? Without using one of the best tenant screening services for 2025, you leave yourself open to financial harm.

Of course, screening reports aren’t the end-all solution for predicting the future. Sometimes, tenants fall on hard times. But, a detailed summary (where permitted) of creditworthiness, eviction records, criminal histories, and income provides meaningful data to help you make sound decisions.

By combining them into one comprehensive report, you can effortlessly select the tenants who are most likely to uphold their end of the bargain. To make your life easier, TurboTenant has examined the best tenant background checks for landlords.

But first, let’s break down their key components.

Critical Components of a Rental Screening Report

Like humans have multiple facets to their lives and personalities, tenant screening services do, too. The best reports analyze several factors of a renter’s life to create a general overview of that individual.

Here are the most important components:

Identity Verification

The first step is to know who you’re talking to. If there are discrepancies between the information a renter provides and what the report states, you’ll want to steer clear.

Credit Check

Knowing potential tenants’ credit scores and whether or not they pay their bills on time will give you a great idea of whether you can expect rent promptly every month. If they carry a lot of debt, that may indicate they’re not financially fit to afford your place.

Be sure that the tenant screening service you choose puts this information front and center.

Background Check

Tenant background checks differ depending on the service you choose and the state you live in. The best solutions (where allowed) review a person’s criminal history, eviction history, and sometimes employment history.

Knowing this information helps you evaluate an applicant’s trustworthiness and any potential risk factors.

Direct-Source Income Verification

Some potential tenants may fudge the numbers. Choose a service that enables tenants to input their banking information into the service to get a holistic view of their finances.

Tenant Screening Services

There are three primary tenant screening agencies, and you’re likely familiar with them: Rent Butter®, Equifax®, and Experian®.

Each reporting agency has its own processes for conducting tenant screenings, but they generally cover the same key aspects, including identity verification, credit checks, background checks, and other relevant factors.

Rent Butter

Rent Butter is the tenant screening service used by TurboTenant.

We think it’s one of the best options available for tenant screening because it offers several features that help landlords make sound decisions, including:

• Tradeline analysis provides landlords with insight into financial behavior
• Real-time face verification, which matches faces to IDs to fight off fraud
• Comprehensive personal identifying information checks, which account for SSNs and contact details
• Predictive credit behavior tools
• Direct income verification via bank statement and payroll record examination looks beyond credit scores
• Housing history analysis evaluates past housing and eviction records to reduce eviction risks

For landlords seeking the most accurate tenant screening service, TurboTenant’s partnership with Rent Butter unlocks access to more precise and comprehensive screening reports, enabling landlords to select the best possible tenants.

Equifax

Landlords can’t directly go to Equifax to obtain a tenant screening report. Instead, they’ll use a tenant screening company to compile the renter’s information, and Equifax will search its TotalVerify™ data hub to provide a report on a potential tenant. Included in the data, you’ll find:

• Bankruptcies
• Evictions
• Address history
• National criminal records
• Recent criminal convictions
• Sex offender status

Tenant screening companies combine this data with a credit score to create an overall picture of a tenant. This process can make it difficult for even large landlords to use their products, so you may want to find a more straightforward solution.

And again, you won’t get any additional property management features with an Equifax screening report unless you find a property management software company that uses it.

Experian

Like Equifax, using Experian without a third party isn’t the easiest task. In fact, Experian teamed with Zillow to provide tenant screening reports that include:

• An Experian credit report
• Zillow’s residence history
• A Zillow background check (national criminal search, sex offender search, housing court records history)
• Income and employment verification

Zillow also offers a property management solution called Zillow Rental Manager. With it, landlords get more property management features than they would with just a simple tenant screening. But, it isn’t the most cost-effective option compared to tools like TurboTenant, especially as it relates to property listing costs.

Top Tenant Screening Services in 2025

Choosing a reliable partner to provide your reports while assisting with other critical tasks is the best way to maximize your time and resources.

That’s where property management software comes in. It makes screening tenants much more accessible. Rather than tenant screening occupying a silo in the overall landscape of your landlording, you can tie them all together in easy-to-use solutions that integrate all the most critical aspects of management under a single roof.

TurboTenant

TurboTenant is one such solution. You or your tenant will pay for a screening report regardless, so why not utilize a service that can also manage the following aspects of your business while using Rent Butter’s excellent tenant screening reports?

• Property marketing
• Rental applications
• Lease agreements
• Rent collections
• Showing scheduling
• Accounting
• Maintenance management

Rather than running tenant screening reports individually, combine all your management tasks for the most time savings. Move interested parties from the applicant to the screening stage, and if they pass, generate and sign the lease from the same window.

The best part is that all the critical features you need to run an efficient and profitable rental business are free for landlords. You won’t need to sign up for a free trial or enter a credit card. Just take a couple of minutes to create a free account and try it out.

AppFolio

Unlike TurboTenant, AppFolio uses Experian to run its tenant screening reports. But like TurboTenant, it offers many property management features that do more than just provide screening reports.

You’ll find features like rent collection, accounting, and maintenance, but the big difference between the two is price. AppFolio includes a 50-unit minimum and a $298 minimum monthly spend, which comes out to more than $3,500 per year. For some landlords, this price may be prohibitive.

On the other hand, if you find yourself with that many doors, their tenant screening options are inexpensive. For $20, the tenant screening report will show you:

• Credit
• Rental payment history
• Nationwide eviction history
• Rental history verification
• Criminal history

Landlords also get an income verification screening for $12 as an add-on. The total, per report, is $13 less than TurboTenant. However, when you factor in the $298 minimum monthly spend compared to TurboTenant’s $149 per year Premium option, you’ll save significantly by going with TurboTenant.

RentPrep

Unlike the previous two solutions, RentPrep is primarily a tenant screening service, though it’s a Roofstock company like Stessa.

RentPrep lists three pricing tiers for their reports. In their full report, priced at $40 each, landlords have access to the following:

• A full credit report
• TransUnion’s ResidentScore
• Rental background check
• SSN verification
• Nationwide criminal and sex offender search
• Nationwide evictions
• Bankruptcies

Then, you can add on checks like judgment and liens or income verification for an added cost.

The lower tier does not include the full credit report, ResidentScore, or criminal/eviction histories. In short, RentPrep can be a good option if you need a tenant screening solution, but unless you also choose to use Stessa, you’ll miss out on a number of key features.

The Importance of Background Check Software for Landlords

Background check software contributes to the tenant screening process by helping landlords assess the risk associated with potential tenants. Its automated system ensures legal compliance with fair housing laws, streamlines the screening process, and reduces the potential for human errors.

Leveraging this technology allows landlords to identify applicants who align with their specific rental criteria, creating a more reliable tenant base. Plus, it instills a sense of security by helping maintain a safe living environment for all residents through thorough vetting.

Ultimately, background check software enhances the overall success and risk management of property management and rental endeavors, contributing to a secure, compliant, and financially sustainable rental enterprise.

TurboTenant: A One-Stop Solution for Tenant Screening

Of the best tenant screening services available, TurboTenant stands out. It facilitates an in-depth evaluation of prospective tenants to safeguard your property and financial future, saving you headaches down the road. Plus, it’s an all-in-one solution that can help you self-manage your properties and save time.

The rental screening report equips landlords with vital information, including credit history, eviction records, criminal background checks, fraud indicators, and direct income verification, to gain a detailed financial and criminal view of potential tenants before they move a single piece of furniture in.

It’s a fantastic way to mitigate the risk of unreliable renters while supporting legal compliance with fair housing laws.