All Forum Posts by: Stephen White

Just thought I'd share my thoughts on a DWI or DUI based on what I've learned owning a screening company (RentPrep) for over 10 years. 

Most landlords do not put a lot of value on these types of criminal records because they're not violent crimes. And the landlord is not wrong valuing criminal offenses based on the nature of the crime - in fact, HUD requires this now since blanket policies are no longer acceptable. However, DWI's and DUI's specifically are VERY expensive and I've seen more than a few cases where the tenant ends up in financial trouble after paying out all the fees associated with these offenses.

So for the sake of screening tenants, the age of the DWI/DUI records is critical. If the charges are recent they have the potential to impact the tenancy financially due to court fees and attorney fees. For this reason a lot of landlords we work with create screening criteria that values a DWI/DUI much higher if the charges are less than a year old. These types of criminal records are reportable for 7 years from the filing date, so you could see older records that should no longer  have a financial impact on the tenant. 

Bryan, check out TenantCloud, I'm pretty sure they allow you to create a custom application. And RentPrep is built in as a screening option if that's what you're used to using.

I'm trying to not pitch my own service Jeff, just letting you know that RentPrep is the only service that performs the verifications of employment/rental history. It's possible for us becuase have a staff of Certified Screeners that compile each report by hand. And we do the verifications the old fashion way of actually calling the employers and landlords to get the info straight from the source. 

Zillow's new screening is Experian Connect, so you'll get a credit report. They use a multi share feature, as John mentioned, that allows the tenants to use that same report for other landlords if they don't get your place. It's a pretty sweet product they built I have to admit. But they do not verify employment or rental history. And from most of the landlords I've spoken to, the multi share is great in markets that are super competative (like Seattle) but in smaller markets the fear is that they're making it too easy for an applicatant to apply all over the place without making any commitments. So, from a sales perspective as a landlord, it may not be the best tool. If you're a tenant that's looking to apply to a bunch of properties, it's the perfect tool. 

Hope this helps.

@Neerav Patel it's more important that the letter includes the screening company's contact info, since this is where the applicant will be communicating if they want a copy of their report.

Hey guys full disclosure, I own RentPrep. We carry the SmartMove product, so it's the exact same data from Transunion. Since we are a screening company, you have some other product options too. But, if you are ordering SmartMove, the only difference is you're talking with our FCRA Certified Screeners if you have questions about the data you get back on a report. I'm not pitching RentPrep over BP, just pointing out it's the same product to clear up any confusion.

Kendra, your instincts are good if your gut reaction is to not immediately trust a source the tenant suggests. I couldn't tell you how many doctored credit reports I've seen that came from the tenant directly. Even pay stubs and rental ledgers! So the key is be sure you are interacting with the source of the data directly. You should be able to see the data from your own account. If you're using BP or RentPrep for the SmartMove reports, all the data comes directly from Transunion, so you're safe there.

Wesley, since you prefer "no-tenant-involvement" reports, you want to steer clear of SmartMove and Experian's Connect product. Screening companies like tenantbackgroundssearch and RentPrep can manually process background checks. We manually pre-search the SSN to be sure it's correct, and if it's wrong, we fix it and run the background check with the correct SSN we found. I'm not sure who else does this, but it would have to be a screening company.

Jehan, regardless of the service you use, you still have them fill out an application. This is where you'll get the SSN. So if you use TurboTenant for example, after you review the background check, get the completed application to continue with the application process. The background check is not the only component to screening. You'll still need to call the previous landlords, verify employment and see answers to questions that should be a part of your qualifying criteria. Like do they have pets, how many occupants will there be, etc.

The screening service you use should be based on what you want. Some offer all-in-one solutions, like rent pay and insurance, that might be overkill for what you need. Others might only focus on screening and not everything else. So relaly it comes down to what features you want, or don't want. 

Yes Lucy, just be sure to select the SmartMove option when placing your order and you'll have the option to have the applicant pay for the report. All you will need is their email address.

@Deborah R. you can order SmartMove from inside your RentPrep account to see full credit report details. Some landlords like the full credit and others don't (like @Wade Sikkink mentions), so we offer both options. 

You can also call into the office and speak with a Screener who may be able to give more information on the report you ran. A lot of times some additional insight will help you understand the report you already have. 

The reasons for a bad credit score can vary drastically. And there are certainly items that should be very concerning to you, and other things that may not be as concerning, like a lack of credit information on a younger applicant. So knowing those reasons will help give some perspective too. 

Hey Ben, happy to answer this for you. 

RentPrep is the landlord product of Fidelis Screening Solutions. So yes, same company. We use RentPrep to serve landlords and small property management companies and Fidelis for larger property management companies. 

This is because the two markets are vastly different in their approach to compliance. For example, large property management companies operate from a commercial space and landlords typically operate from home. This makes a difference in what information you have access to since a site inspection is required for business locations to obtain credit reports at-will. Landlords have a different process that does not require a site inspection.  

So if you're a landlord, RentPrep is the appropriate service. 

Hope this helps! 

Hey @Eric H. Steve Babiak gives great advice in this situation. Having written screening criteria is the key to not only keeping complaint, but to making quicker/easier decisions in the future.

For most landlords, the nature of the crime, time since offense, and offenses since then are big factors. In your case specifically, your applicant should warrant a consideration seeing that it's an older offense, and there's been nothing since. 

It's understandable to be skeptical of this applicant since he didn't mention anything about the criminal records. However, I can tell you from plenty of experience working directly with applicants that have criminal records, they absolutely find it in their best interest to not mention anything if they think it's sealed or aged off, especially if it's an old record and have no offenses since. I don't see it as malicious intent, just not worth a conversation if there doesn't have to be. They've moved on and enough time has passed the record isn't even on their radar. Unfortunately for a lot of people, they're not aware of their record status and situations like this are a total shock to them. So I wouldn't penalize the applicant too much in this particular situation.

According to the new Fair Housing Guidelines (2016) it's no longer acceptable for landlords to use "blanket polices" when dealing with criminal records. So long gone are the days of "denied due to felony record". Now you have to specify exactly what's acceptable and not acceptable - hence the written screening criteria and exactly what Steve Babiak mentions.