Background Checking Tool Reccs

[Kamran Rahman]

I am getting ready to rent out some rooms. Can BP share reccs of a comprehensive service I can use for running background checks for applicants?

[Mitch Messer]

Hi @Kamran Rahman. We've had success using SmartMove by credit bureau TransUnion for many years.

Applicants go to their website to apply and you as landlord can obtain credit, rental, and criminal reports. You also get to decide whether you or the applicant will cover the fees, and then those fees are collected directly by the service.

My favorite part is that, while SmartMove requires the applicant to provide a SSN, that information is not passed on to you as the landlord. That's one less piece of critical personal data that your operation has to responsibly handle, particularly if you have employees who will be processing these applicant reports.

[Mitch Messer]

Hi @Kamran Rahman. We've had success using SmartMove by credit bureau TransUnion for many years.

Applicants go to their website to apply and you as landlord can obtain credit, rental, and criminal reports. You also get to decide whether you or the applicant will cover the fees, and then those fees are collected directly by the service.

My favorite part is that, while SmartMove requires the applicant to provide a SSN, that information is not passed on to you as the landlord. That's one less piece of critical personal data that your operation has to responsibly handle, particularly if you have employees who will be processing these applicant reports.

[Kyle J.]

Originally posted by @Mitch Messer:

My favorite part is that, while SmartMove requires the applicant to provide a SSN, that information is not passed on to you as the landlord.

I don't understand why some landlords want to collect LESS information on their applicants/tenants, especially information as important as a SSN.  If things ever go bad, it just makes it harder to report any debt to a collection company or have the debt appear on the debtor's credit report, and ultimately collect on a judgment, if you don't have their SSN or other pertinent information.

@Kamran Rahman  There are a lot of screening sites out there, and many of them provide the same/similar results.  Regardless of which one you choose, my recommendation is that you collect the information on your applicant up front so that you have it if you ever need it.  Because if you do ever need it, it's not going to help you if some third party company (like SmartMove or another company like them) is the only one who has it. 

Just my two cents.

[Mitch Messer]

@Kyle J. The problem with getting someone's actual SSN on a paper form or online in a PDF file is that now you've got to safeguard that data like it's a dang nuclear launch code.

What if you have employees? What if you use VAs, particularly non-U.S. ones? Just how rock-solid are your data access, encryption, and disposal policies?

What happens to your business if just one bad employee "borrows" someone's SSN for illegal purposes? I, for one, do not want to find out.

Now let's talk about scale.

What if you've got a pretty effective marketing engine and so you average 20 applications per house? That's about 40 SSNs you've now got to safeguard. Now imagine having 5-6 homes on the market at once.

Just to be clear, it's not that we don't want a SSN for every lease signatory. We do, and we get one, along with a copy of their Social Security Card, at the lease signing ceremony.

But that's just one signing ceremony per house. It's presided over by our attorney, and afterward they can redact and scan all signed documents so that sensitive data isn't exposed to everyone in the company.

In my experience, anything else gets really messy, really quickly.

[Kamran Rahman]

Originally posted by @Mitch Messer:

Hi @Kamran Rahman. We've had success using SmartMove by credit bureau TransUnion for many years.

Applicants go to their website to apply and you as landlord can obtain credit, rental, and criminal reports. You also get to decide whether you or the applicant will cover the fees, and then those fees are collected directly by the service.

My favorite part is that, while SmartMove requires the applicant to provide a SSN, that information is not passed on to you as the landlord. That's one less piece of critical personal data that your operation has to responsibly handle, particularly if you have employees who will be processing these applicant reports.

 Appreciate it. I ended up using exactly that since it seems to be in partnership with BP. Thank you!

[Kamran Rahman]

Originally posted by @Mitch Messer:

@Kyle J. The problem with getting someone's actual SSN on a paper form or online in a PDF file is that now you've got to safeguard that data like it's a dang nuclear launch code.

What if you have employees? What if you use VAs, particularly non-U.S. ones? Just how rock-solid are your data access, encryption, and disposal policies?

What happens to your business if just one bad employee "borrows" someone's SSN for illegal purposes? I, for one, do not want to find out.

Now let's talk about scale.

What if you've got a pretty effective marketing engine and so you average 20 applications per house? That's about 40 SSNs you've now got to safeguard. Now imagine having 5-6 homes on the market at once.

Just to be clear, it's not that we don't want a SSN for every lease signatory. We do, and we get one, along with a copy of their Social Security Card, at the lease signing ceremony.

But that's just one signing ceremony per house. It's presided over by our attorney, and afterward they can redact and scan all signed documents so that sensitive data isn't exposed to everyone in the company.

In my experience, anything else gets really messy, really quickly.

 I've been pretty careful about SSNs. I basically avoid having to deal with them electronically, but I still collect and dispose of them offline. Collect them online is too risky given how easily various online services seem to get hacked.