Who do you use for Maine eviction screening?

[Amy A.]

This post applies to Maine landlords, but may be useful for others as well.  For 10 years I used padzilla, also known as tenant-net, for eviction and credit report screening.  They did an inspection of my office so they could send me the full credit report.  They recently changed their policy so that I can no longer see the report and I just get a summary.  I need the actual report because it shows prior addresses, mortgages, etc. that confirms info. on the tenant's application.  Also, they only do eviction and Bankruptcy searches for Maine, not for the other states.

Because of this, I signed up with Rentec Direct, which allows me to see the actual credit report.  I have to pay a monthly fee even if I don't do any tenant screening, but the platform also allows me to collect rent online and I don't believe they actually hold the money, unlike some other companies that have held, (and lost!) payments.  The problem is that they claim to do a nationwide eviction search, but I have found out that it doesn't include Maine!  I tested it by inputting the name of a person who had multiple hits on Padzilla and they came back clean on Rentec Direct!   I also tested their social security number verification by using a number that I know does not match the name, and it came back as "validated"!  This makes me doubt all the criminal background screening that comes back as clean as well.

I believe that the issue with Maine is that our court data isn't readily accessible online.  Padzilla sends people to the courts to gather the eviction lists.  I don't know of any other companies that do this.  So, my question for the BP community is this: does anybody have a verified, dependable screening company that covers evictions nation-wide - even Maine, and that will allow me to see the full credit report (after an office inspection, of course)?  Thank you!

[Ryan Murdock]

I'm curious what you get for answers here. I've yet to find a "one stop shop" for credit, criminal, or other screening elements here in ME. You are right in that we are always on the outskirts of whatever is advertised as "nationwide coverage". 

I'm currently using AmRent for credit and criminal checks and they claim to have a manual eviction search capability but I haven't used that component yet. I'm fortunate that at least in Penobscot County the local landlord association posts eviction data on their website. Outside of Penobscot County I'm lost.