How much does tenant screening cost and what does it include?

The tenant screening charge is $30* 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 his/her report.

*Please note: The Credit Bureau and the state of New York have worked together to create a $20 maximum fee for tenant screenings in New York. Hemlane will update the fee automatically for New York applicants.

The TransUnion screening report in built into Hemlane and includes 3 sections:

(1) Credit Report

Comprehensive credit report and ResidentScore, with the following benefits:

1. Soft pull on credit - will not affect the tenant's credit score
2. Easy-to-read format

(2) Eviction Report

The report includes: 

1. Tenant judgment for possession and money
2. Unlawful detainers
3. Tenant judgments for rent
4. Failure to pay rent
5. Writs and warrants of eviction

(3) Criminal Report 

The database searches:

1. Criminal checks - 200+ million records searched, from state and national databases*
2. Most Wanted Databases
3. OFAC report
4. National Sex Offender Public Registry

*Colorado is DOC, not county records. Massachusetts, Wyoming, Delaware, and South Dakota do not have instant criminal records available. A representative from TransUnion Credit Bureau recommended PDA Investigations (takes ~3 business days) to access the non-instant criminal records.

Does a tenant need a SSN to pull this report?

A US SSN is required to use pull the screening report - credit and criminal record check.

Note: A lot of public records don’t contain a SSN, and therefore we use other identifiers to match them up the person: first name, last name, middle name, known aliases, DOB, driver’s license number, address on file, and any other available info.  We are able to look back to as many as 20 previous addresses.

What is the ResidentScore and is it the same as a credit score? 

ResidentScore is a scoring model designed specifically for tenant screening. Credit scores are used to predict the outcome of a loan, not rental performance. There are hundreds of different scoring models for different industries. If you were to apply for a mortgage, your score will most certainly be different than what you might see on a site like CreditKarma, or if you were to apply for an auto loan. 

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.

How does the Hemlane "Income and Credit Recommendation" work? 

Using big data and risk analysis, Hemlane provides a recommendation on whether management should accept or decline an applicant. This recommendation includes the ResidentScore but also factors in the criteria from the application itself.

While we are using data and reporting to understand risk, this recommendation is inevitably based on your objective criteria (not our own). We are using your credit score and income requirements directly into the recommendation. 

Below is an example of the summary within Hemlane:

Below are report details when you click on the three links (Credit, Eviction, and Criminal):

Keywords: Background check, background report, tenant screening, renter screening, credit score, credit report