The tenant screening fee is $40 for a comprehensive background and credit check. This amount is paid by the prospective tenant and is non-refundable. The tenant receives a copy of their report upon completion.
Please note that the Credit Bureau and the state of New York have worked together to establish a $20 maximum fee for tenant screenings in New York. Hemlane will automatically apply the correct fee for New York applicants.
What Is Included in the Screening Report?
The TransUnion screening report built into Hemlane includes the following sections:
(1) Credit Report
A comprehensive credit report and ResidentScore, with the following benefits:
- Soft pull on credit, meaning it will not affect the tenant’s credit score
- Easy to read format
What Is ResidentScore?
ResidentScore is a scoring model designed specifically for tenant screening. Unlike a standard credit score, which is used to predict loan outcomes, ResidentScore is built from an analysis of more than 500,000 actual resident records and is weighted specifically for rental performance. It uses the same scale as FICO (350 to 850) but weighs factors differently to better reflect rental risk.
(2) Eviction Report
Please note that effective September 7, 2023, TransUnion only includes eviction cases that resulted in a final action against the applicant. Civil new filings and other initial filing types are no longer returned on the report.
The eviction report includes:
- Tenant judgment for possession and money
- Unlawful detainers
- Tenant judgments for rent
- Failure to pay rent
- Writs and warrants of eviction
Please note that New York does not return eviction records for applicants applying to a property in New York state.
(3) Criminal Report
3-Day Turnaround:
- Arkansas: Faulkner, Garland, Pulaski
- California: Sacramento, Solano
- Florida: Bradford, Gulf, Hamilton, Hendry, Holmes, Jefferson, Liberty, Madison, Martin, Okeechobee, Washington
- Georgia: Carroll, Forsyth, Fulton, Hall, Houston, Muscogee
- Illinois: (Numerous counties; refer to appendix)
- Virginia: (Numerous counties; refer to appendix)
7-Day Turnaround:
- Ohio: Harrison, Morgan
- Virginia: Fairfax, Giles
10-Day Turnaround:
- California: Monterey, Orange, Placer
Effective August 28, 2025 TransUnion is offering Criminal Report Data for the following states, and is actively working on re-adding this Criminal Report Data to their background screenings in states not included in the list below:
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Georgia
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Please note: Effective the August 28, 2025, only criminal conviction records will be returned on the criminal report.
Criminal records are not available to return in:
- Alabama
- Colorado
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Missouri
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Please note that criminal records are not available in Cook County, IL (credit and eviction records are not impacted), and eviction records are not available in Miami-Dade, FL (criminal and credit records are not impacted).
National Sex Offender Public Registry searches are not impacted and are available in all states.
(4) Income Insights
The Income Insights report helps you determine when to request proof of income from an applicant. Please note that Income Insights cannot solely be used to deny an applicant. Due to regulations, this report is not shared with applicants.
Does a Tenant Need a SSN to Pull This Report?
Yes. A U.S. Social Security Number is required to pull the screening report, including the credit and criminal record check.
Please note that many public records do not contain a SSN. In these cases, other identifiers are used to match records to the applicant, including first name, last name, middle name, known aliases, date of birth, driver’s license number, address on file, and any other available information. Hemlane is able to look back across up to 20 previous addresses.
How Does the Hemlane Income and Credit Recommendation Work?
Using data analysis and risk modeling, Hemlane provides a recommendation on whether to approve or decline an applicant. This recommendation incorporates the ResidentScore along with criteria from the application itself, including your own credit score and income requirements. The recommendation is based on your objective criteria, not Hemlane’s own standards.
Based on a sophisticated analysis of more than 500,000 actual resident records, here is a general recommendation from the scores:
ResidentScore is on the same scale as FICO (350-850), but it weighs things differently (specific for tenants). You can view an example below.
For more details on our recommendation please see our support article, How is the applicant recommendation calculated?
Below is an example of the summary within Hemlane
Below are report details when you click on the three links (Credit, Eviction, Criminal, and Income Insights):
Keywords: Background check, background report, tenant screening, renter screening, credit score, credit report