When I asked her about it, she said it was an identity theft issue, and that she had never lived anywhere other than her home since 2000.

If you are going to have access to the reports, you will have to have your office inspected to be sure you have the applicant/tenant info in a secure location to protect them from identity theft. 

i hope i don't offend anyone and i personally don't discriminate against anyone or anything like that but i tend to be very conservative and i always wonder where the crazy rules come from because i had no idea that prosecutors and cops can read minds... i have been called a racist simply because I'm white and they didn't know i actually witnessed him  and his brother commit a petty theft in the past and i wasn't calling them crooked thieves for no reason.....

If you don't want me to reveal your identity, I can do that too.  

And then how would I handle verifying their identity and all that prior to signing a lease?

Identity theft is a big issue 

However, I would be responsible for sending you a text/email/voicemail, depending on your preferred method, with a detailed explanation as to what happened.2)It is imperative that as an owner/investor you specify in your agreements that if the repair (non-emergency) is over X amount of $$$,  the PM is required to submit proposals that are identical in scope and that only you, as the investor, can choose the contractor.  

I mean, really, then you might as well just take every applicant's word for whatever they say and not require any documentation or credit checks, or even proof of their identity.  

And there are professional thieves who just love open houses.Plus, most applicants can't see past another person's stuff to envision their stuff in that space.  

I might also consider staggering the leases if all the units are identical.