Tenant Screening Reports

Tenant screening reports can include information about eviction court cases, prior addresses, social security number verification, bankruptcy cases, criminal record searches, as well as information from other sources, such as credit reports which might include credit scores. 

If you have ever had an eviction case brought against you or you brought a case against a former landlord to get repairs made, you might discover that one of these agencies has a file about you in its computer. A landlord may not want to rent to you because they think you will not pay your rent or are a troublemaker (even if your previous landlord violated the law or your case was dismissed).

a. How to Get a Copy of a Tenant Screening Report

There is no centralized source for a tenant to obtain free tenant screening reports. Tenants must make requests directly to each tenant screening agency.

Because these reports are often only put together when a landlord pays for one, they may not have a report for you unless you recently applied for an apartment. If you were denied the landlord must tell you why are were denied and tell you how to get a copy of the tenant screening report. It has to be provided to you for free but may only be available for a few months after you applied and were denied.

To obtain a free copy of your report, you must follow the directions in the denial letter or look on the company’s website. You may be able to call to request your report. Your report should include a list of any person who has requested that company’s report on you.

When making a request, you may be asked to provide your name, social security number, current and previous address, driver’s license, and current employer. For a list of some specialty consumer reporting companies and their contact information see the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's List of consumer reporting companies.

Credit reports are one of the main items that landlords may look at when screening tenants and they are included in tenant screening reports.

Credit reports show how you have borrowed money and repaid it and what money you currently owe. Most adults have a credit file from which a report can be generated.

There are three national credit reporting companies: 

• Experian
• Equifax
• TransUnion.

Your credit file has basic information about you, such as your social security number, birth date, current and former addresses, and employers. It shows payments you made on time and which ones were late or not paid. It also lists any amounts that you owe and any accounts that have been turned over to a collection company or settled for less than the full amount claimed. It also contains public information about court judgments, tax liens, and bankruptcies.⁵

Your credit report should not include information about your race, religious preference, medical history, personal lifestyle, or political preference. Income and driving records are rarely included.⁶

In addition, while a credit report is supposed to help evaluate whether an applicant is likely to pay their rent going forward, a report may not account for a tenant having a voucher and a landlord may screen out an applicant because they have poor credit, even though with a voucher they can pay the rent. This can act to disproportionately exclude applicants with vouchers and tenants have challenged this as discriminatory.⁷

a. How to Get a Copy of a Credit Report

Before you start looking for housing, it is a good idea to get a copy of your credit report to make sure there are no mistakes or old information that will hurt you as your search for housing. Your report should also include a list of any person who has requested a report on you.

While you are only entitled to one free report every 12 months, currently, the big three reporting agencies are providing free access once a week, you are also entitled to a free report so long as you request it within 60 days of a denial as a result of what’s in a report.⁸

To order yours go to:

• Online at Annual Credit Report
• Call 877-322-8228

Using AnnualCreditReport.com ensures that you will get free reports and not risk buying other services that you may not need.

Once you get a copy of your credit or tenant screening report, take a careful look at it. Check to see if there are any mistakes. 

For Example

Are there accounts you don’t recognize? Are there accounts that have balances that you think you paid in full? Is there information from another person’s account on your report? Have you been a victim of identity theft? 

Also check for outdated information. Negative information can only be reported for 7 years, except for information about bankruptcies, which can remain on your report for 10 years.⁹ Criminal convictions can stay on forever.

a. Your Right to Challenge the Accuracy of a Consumer Report

If you believe that your consumer report contains incorrect or old information, you have a right to challenge the accuracy of the report.¹⁰ If your challenge is unsuccessful, you also have the right to add to the file your own statement about what happened, so that whenever a new landlord checks your file, they will see your explanation. For example, if an eviction case was brought against you but was later sealed, the agency must remove the record within 30 days being sealed. If they don’t remove it within 30 days of sealing, contact the Attorney General’s Office who is charged within enforcing this.¹¹

If you have been denied housing, you have a right to see and obtain a copy of this report. To get this report, you must ask for the information within 60 days of receiving notice that you were denied housing.¹²

To challenge the accuracy or completeness of a report, write a letter to each reporting agency that has reported incorrect information. Tell the reporting agency what you believe is incomplete or inaccurate, why, and request that they correct the item. Include with the letter copies of any documents that show that the information is wrong or misleading.¹³ Keep a copy of your letter and the originals of any supporting documents.

By law, the reporting agency must reinvestigate and correct erroneous information.¹⁴ In most circumstances, the company is required to get back to you with the results of the investigation within 30 days.¹⁵

If the company determines that information in the report is inaccurate or that it can no longer be verified, the company must delete this information within 3 business days.¹⁶ The creditor or other information provider that supplied the information has a duty to correct and update the information.¹⁷ If the reporting agency does not resolve the dispute to your satisfaction, you have a right to include a statement explaining your side of the story.¹⁸ This statement must be attached to your report and provided to anyone who accesses your report in the future.¹⁹

If the reporting agency modifies or removes bad information from your file, you have a right to request that they send the new report to any person who has received your report within the past 6 months.²⁰ The agency must send a corrected report to you within 10 business days of your request and must send it to anyone who has requested it for any purpose other than employment screening within 6 months of your request. The company cannot charge a fee for this service.²¹

While all of this is a lot of work, it may be necessary as you search for housing and, if possible, should be done before applying for an apartment.

b. Are You a Victim of Identity Fraud

If you have negative information on your credit report because someone has stolen your personal or financial information, you may be the victim of identity fraud. For more information, see Mass.gov's Identity Theft website and the Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft website.

a. Can You Repair Credit Yourself?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) offers free guidance on how to file disputes and repair your credit. For more, see Consumer Finance's Credit Report Answers.

Many companies market themselves as “credit repair” services, and even though some are “nonprofits” or have a “.org” at the end of their internet address, they often do not offer any benefit to low-income consumers with credit card debt. They often charge excessive fees to negotiate a lower payment on debts when this may not improve your credit score or profile.²² You are more likely to benefit from a local non-profit such as Urban Edge or Boston Builds Credit that provide free credit counseling.²³

If you have bad credit, a credit repair company may refuse to remove accurate and timely information from a credit report. If there is inaccurate information on your report, you can challenge the inaccurate information yourself. It is not worth paying someone to do it for you. For more information about the dangers of credit repair companies, see Consumer Finance's page on how to tell a credit repair scam from a reputable credit counselor.

b. Beware of Scams

Credit repair companies, debt settlement companies, and debit consolidated lenders, which offer to repair, remove or consolidate your debt for a fee, are typically for-profit companies. They promise to fix your credit and debts and charge you money for taking actions you can do yourself for free.²⁴

There is a difference between a credit counselor, like Urban Edge and Boston Builds Credit, which can help you, and a debt settlement company which will often not advise you of all of your options or educate you on bankruptcy.²⁵ Beware of debt relief or debt consolidation” companies that promise to reduce your credit card balances for a fee.²⁶ They often charge excessive fees and tell you to stop paying your credit cards. In their sales pitch they promise that they can resolve your credit issues, but hidden in the fine print they often say that they don’t guarantee results. Avoid doing business with any company that promises to settle your debt if the company:

• Charges any fees before it settles your debts;
• Represents that it can settle all of your debt for a promised percentage reduction;
• Touts a "new government program" to bail out personal credit card debt;
• Guarantees it can make your debt go away;
• Tells you to stop communicating with your creditors;
• Tells you it can stop all debt collection calls and lawsuits; or
• Guarantees that your unsecured debts can be paid off for pennies on the dollar.²⁹
   

To improve your chances of getting housing, there are a number of steps you can take if you have bad credit:

• Landlord reference letters
  Get reference letters from your current and former landlords before you leave your apartment so that you can give them to prospective landlords.
• Documents that show you pay your bills
  Gather rent receipts or bank statements (with information you want to keep private redacted) that show you paid your rent on time. Gather documentation of accounts which are in good standing, like medical copays or premiums, car insurance bills, child support payments, phone bills, cell phone bills, rent, utilities, program fees at shelters, storage facilities, or furniture rentals. Credit reporting agencies do not usually include this information in their reports, although they are beginning to include some types of rental payments.
• Explain damaging information
  When you are applying for housing and you know the landlord will do a credit check, include a letter and documentation to the landlord explaining your negative credit history. For example, you can show that a period in which you fell behind on bills was due to illness, unemployment, interruption of public benefits, or divorce or you now have a housing subsidy that make the rent affordable.
• Demonstrate positive income changes 
  Point out any increases in income, stabilized income (for example, getting approved for SSI or other benefits), or increased earning power due to education or job training. Point out why paying rent will not be a problem if the rent is now subsidized. Or, if you had a disabling illness that resulted in falling behind on your bills, that you are no longer ill.
• Seek a reasonable accommodation
  If your poor credit is due to a disability, you should request that a housing authority or landlord make a reasonable accommodation of your disability. Accommodations can include requests to ignore credit history from a time when you were untreated, if you are currently receiving treatment, or to approve your application on the condition that you get a representative payee who will pay your rent.
• Offer to have someone else pay the rent
  Consider offering to arrange for a representative payee (if you are on SSI, SSDI) or vendor payments if you receive cash benefits from the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA). Or you could have a co-signer on a lease. Be aware that, once you get a representative payee, the payee will have control over how all your money is spent. This is not true if you are getting DTA cash benefits and voluntarily ask that your landlord be paid directly from DTA with vendor payments. 
• Apply to different types of landlords 
  Landlords who have larger multifamily developments are most likely to check your credit records but may be more open to considering your individual circumstances. If you apply to many different types of landlords and housing programs, you may find some landlords who will not look into your credit report. For example, multifamily owners often use credit reports to screen out applications because they cannot afford to hire sufficient staff to screen applicants, while larger housing authorities rely more on CORI reports and extensive review of prior housing history. Note, some small landlords are very cautious and may be less likely to considering your circumstances and may use a credit or tenant screening report to screen applicants or even say that they won’t consider a tenant with a credit score below a certain number. But, as noted above this may be illegal discrimination especially if the landlord is not willing to considerate your circumstances and uses a cut-off number or standard.