All Forum Posts by: Jason Elz

 That is fascinating and interesting to hear. I do imagine that a system like that is in the works, but I do not think it is active or widely used as of yet. Are you able to give some more information about it, as much as you are allowed to give?

I could definitely understand if you're talking about credit agencies keeping a record of any photo-id that is sent to them, but the notion of credit agencies being given access to state databases seems highly implausible. Those databases are not even currently interconnected and accessible to the federal government. The severs are only accessible by authorities of that state,at least as of right now.

I did some research and it seems that if a person doesn't have any credit history, which is typical for a lot of young people, then there won't be any information on the credit report. No past addresses, or anything like that.

Nobody here really answered the question. Is there no way to tell from a credit check or background check if the ID information is made up? Does the system give the same response for people with made up information as it does for people with no record?

@Jeff Gates

I don't see how a credit agency can run facial recognition. They definitely don't have access to state databases as neither do police from out of state. State Governments would never give private companies access to that information. 

Say a prospective tenant were to come to me with a fake ID, a made up SSN, and plenty of references and proof of income. 

When running background checks, what sort of response would come back if the ID or SSN is not valid? Does the system have anyway of knowing? Is it able to differentiate between someone with a made up SSN, and someone with no credit history?

I'm not so much bothered by someone with no credit history, but I want to be able to tell if the individual is using fake information. I've heard a lot of stories where people provide fake info with a fake ID to match and somehow it all goes through. I even remember one story where some undercover police officers used made up info with fake id's and made up SSN's and were able to pass the FBI NICS background check, which to me is bewildering. 

Can anyone offer up any advice/experience about this? When running background/credit checks through the systems available to landlords, what red flags should I look for? Can I differentiate between no credit and no criminal background of a real person, and a fake identity? Is the system response different? Or does the system have no way of telling?