Hi Everyone,

Had a question, has anyone ever used RentPrep before?

I have a tenant that I am currently evicting. My attorney tells me " Did you not do a background check on this guy? He has 3 evictions in his past over the last 3 years."

I was sort of shocked because I had used RentPrep service and it states "no evictions". 

Im confused. Has anyone had this issues before?

@Javier Perez  It looks like the report you ordered was the Smartmove package.  That report comes directly from Transunion the credit bureau.

@Joseph Copella

But, the OP ordered Rent Prep's most expensive option which promised a comprehensive report that includes rental background check and nationwide evictions.

So, what exactly does the rental background check mean then? And, why didn't those 3 evictions show up in the nationwide evictions search?

If the Smartmove package is coming directly from Transunion, then why wouldn't a landlord cut out the middleman by just buying it directly from Transunion?

As I understand it, evictions do not show up on credit reports.  It is a different check.  The vendor I use does a separate check for evictions and credit.  I'll bet they never ran an evictions check.

Yea. I actually have a report that says " evictions 0"

thats why I found it strange and didn't understand.

@Dana R. The smartmove package is an instantly generated report completed directly through Transunion's database. The full credit report, criminal/sex offender search, eviction search and bankruptcy search all come directly from the credit bureau. The reason landlords do not cut out the middleman is most likely because judgments and liens can be added on to the product for an additional fee. As of July 2017 judgments and liens no longer show up in full credit reports. Also, landlords stick around for the customer service. FCRA certified screeners are available to interpret report results for clients and explain findings on completed reports.

@javierperez
Eviction histories have traditionally not been available except of you do a search at your closest court house.  This is because many of the evictions are either not recorded or they are not made public by the courts, which is often the case in small communities.  About 6 years ago a private group started a clearinghouse to collect eviction records because the saw the need that landlords have to be able to get access to this kind of data.  In the past 2 years Experian and Transunion have added eviction histories as a part of their tenant screening offering. But it is a separate report in both cases.  The other issue is that much of the data that is needed by these clearinghouses on evictions is still not being made available in many towns and juridictions.  One other thing that happens more often is that eviction papers are served on a tenant and it never goes to court.  So there is no record of a judgement. Eviction history data is still in its infancy as far as automated information.  But if you have questions about eviction history you can still go to the court house in the area where your applicant lived before and check for evictions.  

Got it.. makes sense. Here in my county the attorney showed me how to go to the public domain county site and get the information just by typing in the tenants information. (Name)

It was just confusing because I was under the impression that info would be listed on the reports. 

but yea you live and you learn. :)

In my area of NY (it may be statewide), the landlord/tenant cases are not recorded on the public record.  Just an FYI.

The reason landlords do not cut out the middleman is most likely becausejudgments and liens can be added on to the product for an additionalfee. As of July 2017 judgments and liens no longer show up in fullcredit reports. Also, landlords stick around for the customer service. FCRA certified screeners are available to interpret report results for clients and explain findings on completed reports.

So, if I had paid RentPrep for the judgments and liens as part of the full credit report, would RentPrep have been able to warn me about the applicant's evictions?

Originally posted by @Josh L. :

The reason landlords do not cut out the middleman is most likely becausejudgments and liens can be added on to the product for an additionalfee. As of July 2017 judgments and liens no longer show up in fullcredit reports. Also, landlords stick around for the customer service. FCRA certified screeners are available to interpret report results for clients and explain findings on completed reports.

So, if I had paid RentPrep for the judgments and liens as part of the full credit report, would RentPrep have been able to warn me about the applicant's evictions?

That's what I paid for and my tenant's Evictions did not come up. Not saying that the same would go for your report. But that's the main issue I was having.

Oh, you did pay for the judgments and liens too?

RentPrep's response made it seem like you didn't and that's why there weren't any flags on the application. Even if the county doesn't report evictions, wouldn't that still show up as judgment or lien against the tenant?

Obviously, there are privacy concerns and so you can't reveal too much information. But, I'm curious what the report said.

Was there anything in the report that was a red flag?

Or, if you had talked to RentPrep's screeners to explain the report, would that have made a difference?