Best Tenant Screening Services for Landlords

The following post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga.

When you're looking for tenants, you want great ones. Learn how to screen for the best tenants on the planet so you get peace of mind and you get your rent on time. 

We'll walk you through screening services and let you know which screening services top our list.

What Are Tenant Screening Services?

A tenant screening service is a company that gives you comprehensive background information on a prospective renter. The tenant screening service may help you learn about eviction history, credit reports, criminal background checks, and more. Tenant screening services give landlords an overall idea of who they will rent to.

What Do Tenant Screening Services Offer? 

Learn more about what tenant screening services can help you learn about prospective tenants.

Item 1: Criminal Background Check 

A criminal background check does exactly what you think. It helps you answer questions about whether your potential tenant has a felony conviction, whether that person is on a sex offender registry or another prior relevant conviction. The bottom line: You want to understand the risk that a potential renter may present to you and surrounding neighbors. Getting a criminal background check can help you get a fuller picture. 

Item 2: Employment History

You want to verify current employment and history of employment of the potential tenant. 

Naturally, the most important part of selecting your new tenant is to determine if he or she can afford the rent payments. 

You can tap into the employment history of the potential renter by reviewing the full credit report.  Many times an applicant’s current job as well as past work history is contained on the report.  

According to a SmartMove survey, landlords cited renter payment problems as their number 1 pain point.  To alleviate that concern, landlords will want to be confident that the applicant can pay and has reliable and consistent income.  You don't want to see large gaps of time without a job or job loss. Bottom line, you want to get as complete of an understanding that your applicant has a stable job and earns enough income to comfortably afford the rent. 

Item 3: Credit History

One of the most important considerations before leasing to a new tenant is to review the credit history of an applicant. Results of a credit check can uncover red flags such as:
 

• Not paying bills on time
• Carrying a large amount of debt
• Dealing with credit mistakes and delinquent accounts

The credit check, to include a full credit report, can help landlords assess financial risk and determine if the applicant is likely to pay rent on time.  

Item 4: Spending and Payment Behavior

You also want to get an idea of potential renters' spending and payment behavior from their credit report. A good tenant screening service will help you determine whether a prospective tenant's credit behavior aligns with his or her income. In this situation, you may not actually be able to get direct access to an applicant's actual income, so if you want actual numbers, you may need to ask the potential tenant directly.

How to Screen Tenants 

Let's take a look at how tenant screening actually works. 

Every rental screening process involves a bit of a different process. Let's go through the quick process for how a tenant screening will work with SmartMove as an example. 

Step 1: Landlord initiates a renter screening request. 

The landlord can email a renter screening request through SmartMove to the applicant. The applicant can then accept the screening request and create a free account. If the applicant declines the request, then the screening is canceled. 

Step 2: Applicant releases information.

Next, the applicant verifies their identity and releases personal information, such as credit and criminal records, to the landlord through SmartMove. 

Step 3: Landlord analyzes materials.

Finally, the landlord receives screening reports in minutes. SmartMove will also provide a leasing recommendation to accept or decline the applicant. The leasing recommendation is based on the applicant’s credit profile and the landlord’s leasing criteria.  

Step 4: Decision time.

Through SmartMove, the renter learns the landlord's final decision.

Best Tenant Screening Services

Check out the best tenant screening services we chose below.

Our Top Pick: TransUnion SmartMove

With nearly 4 million landlords that have used SmartMove and backed with the power of TransUnion analytics, SmartMove is a great choice.  

It offers three-tiered plans, ranging from $25 to $40 per applicant. TransUnion SmartMove offers clear advantages.  

1. Credit-based ResidentScore, a proprietary credit score used just for rental screening, is proven to call eviction risk 15% better than generic credit scores
2. Income Insights report quickly analyzes renter self-reported income against their credit behavior to determine if further manual income checks should be completed. 
3. Ease of screening and 2 pay options (landlord or renter can pay) make it simple for landlords to get critical information in minutes to make better leasing decisions

SmartMove Pricing and Features

	SmartCheck  Basic Plan	SmartCheck  Plus Plan	SmartCheck Premium Plan
Pricing	$25	$38	$40
Credit-based ResidentScore	Yes	Yes	Yes
National Criminal Report	Yes	Yes	Yes
Full Credit  Report	No	Yes	Yes
National Eviction Report	No	Yes	Yes
Income Insights Report	No	No	Yes

Option 2: MyRental

Starting at $19.99, MyRental can appeal to budget-conscious landlords. The website offers certain background reports and services to help you identify prospective tenants who will likely pay rent on time each month, take care of your property and also stay put for longer periods of time.

MyRental Pricing and Features

 

	Basic  Plan	Premium  Plan	Premium  Plus Plan	A La Carte
Pricing	$19.99	$29.99	$34.99	Starts at $7.99
Credit reporting	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Criminal background check	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Landlord, prior residence and eviction checks	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Income verification	No	Yes	Yes	No

Option 3: Turbo Tenant

TurboTenant is a tenant screening service that doesn’t have packages. Instead, you pay $35 to $45 fee per tenant application. You can also post and market vacant units to speed the process along. 

TurboTenant Pricing and Features

Report Type	Price	Features
Tier 1	$35	Credit report and criminal background check
Tier 2	$45	Credit report, criminal background check, eviction report
Marketing	Free	Vacant rental listing

Get Moving on Your Rental Screening

You want to make sure your leasing decisions make the most sense for your business. Screening solutions give you the data you need to identify quality tenants who will more likely pay rent on time every month, protect your property and stay for a long time — potentially years!

We recommend SmartMove as your best choice. It gives you best-in-class reports, multiple packages that suit your needs, along with an easy process to help you identify your next great tenant.  

The preceding post was written and/or published as a collaboration between Benzinga’s in-house sponsored content team and a financial partner of Benzinga. Although the piece is not and should not be construed as editorial content, the sponsored content team works to ensure that any and all information contained within is true and accurate to the best of their knowledge and research. This content is for informational purposes only and not intended to be investing advice.