Your primary goal as a landlord is to fill your units, but not with just any tenants. You need tenants who will be able to consistently afford rent—and pay it on time—and who will respect your property and their neighbors. But collecting information on potential tenants while abiding by tenant-protecting regulations enforced through the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) can be stressful.
Luckily, there are many screening services that can provide you with a holistic financial view of your applicants, all of which abide by the FCRA’s guidelines. Below, we’ll outline the pros and cons of the best tenant screening services available online in 2024.
Leaserunner
Known for its a la carte reporting style (meaning you can pick and choose between certain reports), Leaserunner is a tenant screening service that offers an in-depth Cash Flow Report. This report gives you extensive access to a prospective tenant’s history with money—including but not limited to their balance trends via their credit history, their 90-day average, their current balance, and groups of income based on their source. It’s best for smaller landlords because although it is convenient, it can become costly when screening tenants in bulk.
Pros
- A la carte reports
- $10 Cash Flow Report
- Ideal for smaller-scale landlords
SmartMove
Owned by the reputable credit reporting agency TransUnion, SmartMove offers three different levels of screening packages for landlords: SmartCheck Basic, SmartCheck Plus, and SmartCheck Premium. Their contents vary, but they can provide the basics for your screening, as well as an in-depth Income Insights Report (which calculates your prospective tenant’s rent-to-income ratio), and your tenant’s Rental Score (TransUnion’s score of the tenant’s likelihood of eviction). SmartCheck Basic costs landlords $25, while their Premium package totals to around $47. It can be great for smaller landlords as well, as they offer packages of varying affordability.
Pros
- Income Insights Report
- Tiered pricing makes it affordable for smaller landlords
Zillow
One of the most established names in the property listings game, Zillow, also offers its very own tenant screening services. They provide a criminal and eviction check, renter information and income verification, as well a credit check for landlords who are looking for historically dependable tenants.
Pros
- Free for landlords ($35 fee for prospective tenants)
- Reports are received instantly
MyRental
In addition to their a la carte reporting options, CoreLogic’s MyRental (Under SafeRent) also boasts different packages in terms of tenant screening. Their basic package costs landlords $25 per prospective tenant, and checks for criminal and eviction history. Through their $38 premium package (for which there is a renter pay option), you can additionally get access to credit reports, TransUnion’s Rental Score, and a SafeRent score. With these baseline checks and analyses, you can get a good idea of whether or not a tenant would be a good fit for you.
Pros
- Option for renters to pay
- Variety of flexible packages
Innago
One of the best tenant screening services for small landlords, Innago offers in-depth criminal, eviction, and credit checks, as well as income verification for prospective tenants. Each report (paid for by the potential renter), costs around $30-35 per applicant. For an added $10, you can add their income verification report as well. Additionally, Innago’s unique property management software allows you to tweak your requested reports so you don’t request any information that landlord-tenant laws in your state may prohibit.
Pros
- Free for landlords and property managers
- Sensitive to state laws
- Dedicated customer support
- Instant report delivery
Conclusion
You don’t have to compromise your values to fill your units with tenants. With tenant screening services, it’s easy to find people who will respect you, your property, and your other tenants. We hope that with the help of this article, you find a tenant screening service that is the right fit for you!
