TransUnion “Unable to Verify Identity” for New 18-Year-Old Applicant (DoorLoop)

[Remi Oguntoye]

Hey Team,

Quick tenant screening question for the landlords and PMs in here.

I’m an investor who has used third-party property management in the past, but I’m now managing one of my own rentals directly and tightening up my screening process.

Here’s the situation:

A prospective resident applied, and her son recently turned 18. Since I require every adult occupant (18+) to apply and be screened separately, I had him submit his own application through DoorLoop (which runs screening through TransUnion).

When I attempted to run the screening, TransUnion returned an error stating they were unable to verify his identity.

For those of you who’ve seen this:

• Is this usually caused by a thin or non-existent credit file (no credit cards, no banking history, no utilities in their name)?
• Or is it more commonly due to incorrect info (typo in SSN, DOB mismatch, address history not matching, etc.)?

Also curious what your process is when this happens:

• Do you have them re-run the application with corrected info?
• Do you request a copy of ID + SS card to confirm details?
• Do you use an alternate screening method for young adults?
• Or do you simply treat it as a red flag and move on?

Appreciate any feedback. Trying to build a clean, repeatable process for this going forward.

[Jill F.]

If he is going away to college, I'd just go off the mom. If he is just living with his mom and not being responsible for rent, I would ask them if he plans to live in the apartment and if so, will he be working or going to a local college? If he will be living in the unit,  I would have him complete an application so you get his social and ask for his school transcripts and references, especially former teachers or employer. If his records and references indicate that he is a good kid, I'd go off the mom's credit/background and add him as an "other occupant"