Check Potential Tenant's Credit

[Alyssa Paros]

Is there a way to check a potential tenant's credit for free? The sites we're finding for tenant screening are more expensive than we're comfortable charging our potential tenants.

[Kyle J.]

@Alyssa Paros  You're not going to find a reputable credit screening service that's completely free.  There are companies that may not cost you any money, but the applicant will still have to pay. 

You don't indicate what "more expensive" is, so I'm not sure what price point you're trying to stay below.  But you could use a company like SmartMove that the tenant pays directly (or you could if you wanted to).

I use this service which allows you to obtain a full credit report (like this sample report) complete with FICO score, details of their accounts, payment history, etc (as opposed to just a credit recommendation that some companies provide) for as little as $9.95.  That's about the lowest I've seen though.