Picking the wrong resident for your rental can be a nightmare. It’s estimated that the average eviction can cost $3,500 in legal fees, financial damages, lost rent, and other expenses, in addition to taking three to four weeks of your time. And even once that’s done, you’re still left with an empty apartment, missing out on rent income, left to start the application process again.
Resident Screening can help landlords avoid that headache, protecting their business through a quick and easy process that provides the transparency you need in minutes.
Resident Screening is crucial for landlords to protect their business and ensure a smooth rental experience. That additional information helps landlords assess an applicant’s financial responsibility through credit checks, identifying potential red flags like evictions and unveiling criminal history that could pose safety concerns.
By skipping out on screening tenants for risks, landlords could suffer property damage, default on rent, or disruption of other residents. Investing in thorough screening upfront reduces financial losses, tenant turnover, and legal headaches, ultimately saving time, money, and peace of mind.
But how can landlords get the information they need to protect their business without jumping through hoops or incurring headaches? We’ll walk you through Resident Screening 101 to get you up to speed, quickly setting up what you need to get transparency to make good decisions on your rental applications.
What is Resident Screening?
Picking your next renter is a big decision. Once they sign their lease and move in, their decisions can have a substantial impact on your business. But how do you get the information you need to make the best decision possible? That’s where Resident Screening can help.
Resident Screening is a process that involves verifying a potential tenant’s personal information, rental history, and criminal record. This information is gathered from various sources, such as credit reports, rental verification, and criminal databases.
The purpose of a resident screening is to assess the risk of renting to a particular individual, including the likelihood that they will be able to afford rent throughout the term of the lease. It can help landlords and property managers determine if a potential tenant is responsible, reliable, and likely to pay rent on time.
While traditionally time-consuming and intrusive, Resident Screening through CheckMy Resident, partnering with TransUnion to pull the most important and applicable reports, makes the process quick, easy, and painless.
Resident Screening Components
In partnership with TransUnion, Resident Screening through CheckMy Resident provides two reports to provide the transparency you need when making decisions on rental applications:
- ResidentScore® – A score created by TransUnion that combines payment history, credit utilization, credit history, credit availability, and credit inquiries to predict evictions 15% better.*
- Criminal Background Check**: Consolidate multiple sources, including FBI’s most wanted, Sex Offender Public Registries, and Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) findings in one report to get the peace of mind you need before approving an applicant.
Between these two screening reports, you’ll get better transparency into the risks associated with each applicant, helping you pick the best tenant to avoid headaches and protect your business.
How Does Resident Screening Work?
Thinking of accepting an applicant to start a new lease? Resident Screening makes getting a full view of their background quickly, easily and securely! Here’s how it works:
- Landlord starts the process: You send a request to their email. Your applicant will create a Resident Screening account.
- Applicant logs in: They will get an email asking if they want to participate. Creating an account is required if they haven’t Accepting unlocks a background check for the landlord. Declining cancels your application.
- Only essential information shared: No sensitive details like your Social Security number are released.
- Landlord gets the report: If you accept, the landlord sees your credit and criminal history summary, along with a recommendation to help them decide about your application.
Through our process, TransUnion shares back results instantly after your applicant completes their identity verification online. Only delays in either you or your applicant completing steps in the process will slow down results.
How to Get Started
Resident Screening can complete your background check on your applicant in just minutes, so no need to wait! Sign up today and get the transparency you need!
* According to 2016 TransUnion® research, ResidentScore® predicts evictions 15% more often in comparison to a typical credit score in the bottom 20% score range where risk is greatest. ** The Criminal Report is subject to federal, state, and local laws that may limit or restrict TransUnion’s ability to return some records or recommendations. Certain jurisdictions may limit what records are eligible for return. Criminal records coverage may vary due to (1) jurisdictions limiting what records are eligible to return and (2) TransUnion limiting records that do not meet its data quality standards. As of the Rev. Date, criminal records are available to return in: Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Rev. Date 01/10/24