But, if the landlord did great tenant screening and this tenant never showed signs of being a murderer, then not likely.So, it just depends on the situation and if the landlord was negligent.For those unaware, a tort is just something you can sue for in civil court, as opposed to criminal court. 

A criminal trial is different from a civil suit. 

I also was a practicing attorney for 10 years, a prosecutor and criminal defense attorney who negotiated every day for 10 years.

So I would advise that you learn a bit about better tenant screening; in PA, the state now has free internet searches for lots of important things pertaining to tenant screening, including criminal court records, landlord tenant magistrate records, and even traffic driving offense court records (useful for the tenant that drives for the first job or is Uber or Lyft driver on the side).

What I'd tell them is that I would be willing to look at it to give them an initial decision as to whether or not the credit report they give me would be a deal breaker - but, I'd also tell them that if it's not, then I'll be doing my own credit search through our company, and would still be checking all other references and running all other reports like eviction, criminal, etc.You could offer that as an alternative - but be sure to tell them in order to rent to them, you'll be running all checks through your company, which will be a hard hit.They'll probably screen themselves out at that point, anyway.If you're trying to figure out how to run someone's credit report without their knowledge, then as I understand it, that's against the law, and therefore, a really bad idea.

The extremely rare chance of a prison break would weigh less heavily on my decision to rent in an area than the actual criminals that may or may not be roaming free on streets in a particular community.

Unfortunately it's much more difficult to obtain credit and criminal backgrounds on Canadians and other foreigners.  

Then, they'd usually want a request via fax on letterhead, which I did not have, as a resident manager working for an old fashioned owner.Other than using other good sleuthing techniques and credit, criminal, eviction, employment checks - your next best defense is a month to month agreement.And remember that you can deny them for nearly anything you can think of.  

@Jennifer McPherson no offence but your attorney is not an attorney that deals with landlords and tenants.

You also probably won't be able to verify their criminal record or do any kind of background search...