Tenant Screening Mistakes Make Renting Impossible

It used to be that only people living in NYC understood what it was like to find an affordable, available rental against all odds. In Manhattan, eager renters, applications in hand, gather in mobs to try to snag the next listing before anyone else can. Being turned away two minutes into a showing because someone else JUST signed the lease is a dissapointment and a right of passage that means you're a true New Yorker.

Unfortunately, in today's economic climate, housing opportunities everywhere are scarce. Competition everywhere is fierce. And affordable, available rental options are the unicorn of the real estate world- mythical and desired, but impossible to find.

Anyone who has tried renting an apartment or house lately knows firsthand that every rental applicant is operating in NYC-style turmoil and hustle, even if you live in a low-key place.

In this environment, when you've found the place for you, after you've beaten the odds and had your application approved, the very last thing you need to contend with is losing out to someone else because your tenant screening report is WRONG!

What is a Tenant Screening Report?

A tenant screening report is a background check for renters. It is completed as part of the application process and is usually one of the final steps toward getting approval and landing the rental you need.

You provide identitication and consent in order for the rental background check to be run. Then the background check company runs a report looking at your credit and financial data, employment verification, criminal history, and more. It also usually includes info on whether your name is listed on any sex offender registries or criminal watchlists.

Common Tenant Screening Mistakes

Tenant screening mistakes include any inaccurate, misleading, false, or unreportable information that makes its way onto your tenant screening report. This can include any of the following:

1. Criminal history mistakes: reporting expunged or sealed records, duplicate entries, and incomplete, unclear, or inaccurate dispositions is incredibly damaging
2. False sex offender or terrorist watchlist status: for obvious reasons, either of these is an almost certain lease-killer
3. Credit report errors: including mixed credit files, being falsely reported as deceased, or reporting inaccurate loan, credit, debt, and payment data can unfairly block you
4. Employment verification fails: when you need to show that you're employed, and have been for a certain length of time, this needs to be correct
5. Personal data errors: you can't rent a place if you can't prove who you are with accuracy and certainty- names, birthdates, adddresses, SSNs
6. Rental history mistakes: Never been evicted? Always paid on time and left on good terms? Your report needs to present the truth, not a fiction

Tenant screening mistakes level-up the unfairness of the rental market to new, soul-crushing heights.

2 Ways to Fight Back!

The good news is that you have pretty powerful legal rights to fight back against tenant screening errors and win!

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to accurate information in your rental background check reports. Whether it's credit history, criminal history, or anything else- if your report is incorrect or misleading, the law is 100% on your side.

1. One Way: YOU fight to fix your mistakes

• Get a copy of your rental background check report from the company that ran it or the property manager that requested it
• Review it in its entirety, along with your credit reports
• Identify errors in your personal data, financial data, criminal history, and more
• Draft a legally solid dispute letter and mail it to the background check company via certified mail, including all supporting documentation (clearly marked up to explain how and why it supports your dispute)
• Track the timing- the background check company has 30 days to investigate and respond to your dispute
• If you don't hear back, they don't admit the information is incorrect, or they agree to correct it but don't, you have to do it all over again. You can also file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
• Monitor the progress on your disputes and complaint, and keep your fingers crossed!
• If nothing improves with the additional effort, find a lawyer who knows about consumer reporting errors and file a lawsuit

2. The Easy Way: WE fix your mistakes

Let Mistake undo tenant screening mistakes for you. Getting back to good has never been easier.

Our highly experienced consumer protection lawyers take the wheel and never look back until your tenant screening mistakes are cleared up, removed, and gone for good. We handle the dispute, the follow up, and a lawsuit if needed. And you never pay us a dime up front or out of pocket!

Hit undo on tenant screening errors with Mistake!

‍Get started now.