Do you know who’s moving in? Without a thorough tenant screening report, you leave yourself open to financial harm. But when you use one of the best tenant screening services in 2024, you’ll get a clear, transparent, and unbiased picture of your interested parties.
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.
When you combine 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, we examined the best background screening services for landlords.
But first, let’s break down the key components of exhaustive rental screening reports.
Marketing. Applications. Leases. Payments.
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 who a renter says they are compared to what the report says, 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 large amounts 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
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.
Income Verification
Some potential tenants may fudge the numbers. By including income verification in your screening reports, you can ensure that the renters staying in your property have the financial means to pay rent on time.
Tenant Screening Backends
There are three primary tenant screening agencies, and you’re likely familiar with them: TransUnion®, Equifax®, and Experian®. These bureaus power tenant screening companies.
Each reporting agency has its own processes for conducting tenant screenings, but they generally cover the same aspects, including identity verification, credit checks, background checks, and more.
TransUnion
TransUnion is the most widely used tenant screening reporting agency in property management software solutions. In fact, it’s the tenant screening choice of TurboTenant and a large number of its competitors. Under the TransUnion umbrella is SmartMove®.
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.
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
Top Tenant Screening Services in 2024
As you can see, the best tenant screening services use agencies to obtain their data. You’ll get great reports no matter which service you use. But, for the most part, you’ll access data from these services via an intermediary. Choosing a great partner to get your reports from while helping you with other critical tasks is the best way to maximize your time and money.
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 tasks, 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 TransUnion’s excellent tenant screening reports?
- Property Marketing
- Rental Applications
- Lease Agreements
- Rent Collections
- Showing Scheduling
- Accounting
- Maintenance Management
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.
RentPrep
RentPrep is primarily a tenant screening service, though it’s a Roofstock company like Stessa.
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. Through its automated system, it 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.
TurboTenant: A One-Stop Solution for Tenant Screening
Of the tenant screening services available, TurboTenant is the best. It facilitates an in-depth evaluation of prospective tenants to safeguard your property and financial future saving you headaches down the road.
The rental screening report equips landlords with vital information, including credit history, eviction records, criminal background checks, fraud indicators, and even Income Insights (if you choose Premium) to get 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.