All Forum Posts by: Vitaliy Merkulov

We're completely FCRA compliant, we're Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) as defined by FCRA, we abide by very similar regulations as Credit Reporting Agencies (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax). I'm not an attorney, but our attorneys did a lot of work to make sure that RenterInc reports are flawless. The only way that landlord would get sued if they provided false information, and in this case they should be sued for that. @Brooklyn A.

@Shaun Patterson Landlords who deny their applicant based on the information found on our database, landlord must notify the applicant that they got denied based on the information on our database. We provide a form that landlords can use to notify their denied applicants. This is the same law that requires landlords to notify applicant whom they denied based on their credit report.

@Daria B. "The idea and database of information as it were, would be pointed factual based questions requiring a yes/no answer. And be simple like have they been late in the term period. If so, how many times." That's exactly what kind of questions are asked on our database. Here is a sample report.

Originally posted by @Matthew Olszak:

@Vitaliy Merkulov I like what I'm reading in your post. Is RenterInc subject to FCRA? Would a tenant be able to request a copy of their report, and could they dispute its content like with the credit agencies and lexisnexis?

@Matthew Olszak, Yes, it's subject to FCRA under 15 U.S.C. section 1681d(a), (b), and we're completely compliant. Tenant is able to request a copy of their report, and could despite it's contents. We're going one step forward, by soon allowing tenant to register and see who checks their Renter Report online. Just like you can keep track of your credit score with Experian App

We are extremely committed to being legal.

Joe Splitrock you can't rely on credit reports and eviction reports anymore because since July 2017 credit bureaus have taken leans and judgements from 12 million individual reports as part of a deal that they made. So someone could be evicted, but never even show up on the search. So a database like this would help find info that can't be found on credit report, or evictions.

I just ran applicant's credit report, evictions, and background with TransUnion SmartMove, and there was no eviction reported on it.

However, BeenVerified showed an eviction under their name. The problem is I can't use BeenVerified for tenant screening purposes as the footer disclaimer says. 

Do you use non-FCRA compliant services like BeenVerified? InstantCheckmate in additon to credit report, evictons, landlord references? If so, how?

I know that I can't use non-FCRA compliant sources to make a tenant screening decision, but can you use these websites/databases as part of your screening process to see what you can find about your applicants to see if you need to dig in any deeper?

Do any of you use these? Is it useful? Legal?

I recently ran across TLOxp, do you know if I can use it for tenant screening purposes? 

Originally posted by @Kenneth E.:

TLO offers a subscription program as well. You can negotiate it with your sales rep. I got a package deal for 150 searches for $100 each month. Its a nice system and allows me to search tenant background, review references, and occasionally find a vacant house homeowner.

Can I use TLOxp for Tenant Screening or Employment Verification?

First you need the applicant to sign a landlord reference release authorization form which you will usually fax the apartment. Apartments usually do not provide a rental reference without a signed release authorization form. However, This is the old way of doing it. I would recommend that you "landlord reference check online" instead. You won't need to fax anything, just provide the applicants name, date of birth and past landlords email address. The website will do the rest for you, including verifying the past landlord identity/ownership before they can respond to your landlord reference check request.

@JD Martin we manage some properties in bad neighborhoods, so good tenants are not looking in those locations. So we have to deal with people with bad credit scores. Landlord References are very important for us in this case. I wish there was a better way to detect fake landlords.

@Kim Meredith Hampton What if the tenant didn't pay with a check but direct deposit or in cash. If I want to do this myself, there is no way to check the owner of the property without hiring someone to do it or calling the county?