Getting accurate information about potential tenants is a mission-critical task for your property management business. We reviewed 20 tenant screening services and picked five that we like and have used personally in the past.
These are the criteria we used to evaluate the tenant screening services.
- Cost
- Renter pay option – choice of who pays for the report
- How long does it take to receive a report?
- Credit report
- Background check
- Eviction report
- Criminal report
- Rental scoring
- Income insight report
- Reference check
- Employment check
- Residence check
| Criteria | TransUnionSmart Move | Experian Connect | TenantAlert | MyRental by CoreLogic | RentPrep |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | $40 | $14.95 | $39.95 | $34.99 | $48 |
| Renter Pay Option | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| How Long Does it Take | Instant | Instant | Instant | Instant | One Hour |
| Credit Report | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Criminal Background Check | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rental Score | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Income Insights Report | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Reference Check | No | No | No | No | |
| Employer Verification | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Residence Verification | No | No | No | No |
TransUnion Smart Move
SmartMove is a tenant screening service run by TransUnion. Enrollment for landlords is free and anyone can start screening tenants immediately.
After enrolling and entering your property, you can start processing applications by clicking on the add application button.
Why we like TransUnion Smart move?
For beginner landlords and newer property managers, SmartMove offers two reports that are invaluable: rental score and income insight reports.
Because most landlords are not credit experts, they need an interpretation of the data in the credit report. SmartMove does that and makes a recommendation if the tenant should be accepted, rejected, or accepted with a higher deposit.
The Income Insight Report performs a preliminary income check on your tenant. You can use this to determine if additional verification is required.
And, finally, you can get the tenant to pay for this screening report with one click.
Experian Connect
Experian Connect offers the lowest price of all screening services but landlords only get a credit report.
There is also an option for the tenant to pay for this report.
Tenant Alert
What we like about Tenant Alert?
Tenant Alert can screen potential tenants but also it offers a Lease Guarantee at additional $299 (this price may change check with the company)
MyRental by CoreLogic
CoreLogic is the company that provides valuation reports to multiple MLS and it also provides underwriting and risk management for many lenders and investors.
What we like about MyRental?
We like the SafeRent Score which shows the level of risk you are taking with a potential applicant.
RentPrep
RentPrep is a team of FCRA Certified Screeners, who offer the TranUnion Report but they will also search liens and judgements
What we like about RentPrep?
RentPrep offers full tenant screening that’s not available in most credit reports. Some of this data like liens and judgments requires manual extraction.
Related Articles:
How to Automate Tenant Pre-Screening
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