Can realtors share someone else's credit report with a homeowner

Question

Can realtors/agents/managers share or show a tenant's credit report with the homeowner or landlord who has his/her house for sale?

Bruce Lynn · Answer

Check with the company you got the credit report from....but generally you cannot share.

I was on a training call yesterday where the broker providing the training suggest this when selling a rental property.

However many of the credit reporting companies have very very strict rules about sharing the information.

Ricardo R. · Answer

@Fili Aguirre... no. Most of the time no, and to be honest with you most that say otherwise may just not know themselves (including RE pros). Before I explain I’m assuming you are asking in the context of Tenant selection. The few times this is okay, is when the report is shared with you (as the owner) AFTER the licensed RE professional has either approved or declined the applicant or the RE pro has disclosed to the credit verification agency that they are sharing it with you as the owner.

The reasons it is not shared are many some are because of the credit agency itself, others are due to liability:

1) All agencies do not allow it to be shared with any other parties which do not have access to the system; owners will typically argue that they can pull the credit themselves via trans union, etc. and that is true but a few things here; as an owner you are also NOT allowed to share the credit report even with these types of systems - the only exception is if a Tenant delivered to you or your agent their own credit report

2) Some (depending on) verification agencies require a secure method to store, send and/or destroy the credit report — Do you have a secure method to receive the report electronically? Or a secure method to store it or destroy it? — most offices are inspected for this.

3) Fair Housing and Liability - if the report is shared with you before the approval/decline you are opening up your agent and you into a world of liabilities - which quite honestly defeats one of the benefits of hiring a licensed RE pro to begin with.

Your RE professional is a LICENSED professional (in most states) and because of this is more experienced than you, that is why you hired them and that is how a court will see it too. So any involvement you have DURING the selection process can open them up to liability and fair housing violations. When is the last time most private landlords attended a fair housing seminar or checked up on latest fair housing requirements? — Most don’t and the court would not look to you for this; they would look to the RE pro to ensure this. Where one owner just wants to decline an applicant because of type of income and experienced RE pro will see a potential Fair Housing Liability which ultimately they will be the ones responsible for.

Now don’t get me wrong of the agent or PM offers you the report before decision; go for it ; they don’t know any better yet. But if you find that they are hesitant to do so; the above are a few reasons why. The thing to do is to have a clear set of guidelines on the Tenant selection criteria with your PM or Agent BEFORE any applicant even enters the picture. A good PM will share their selection guidelines with you and some may even allow you to determine them yourself beforehand. Allow the Agent or PM to make the decision on the Tenant and then ask to review the application afterwards most are fine with sharing the app with you after the fact and giving generalitws regarding credit over the phone.

@Bruce Lynn @Russell Brazil

Russell Brazil · Answer

Yes. The landlord of the property is the decision maker. They should be reviewing the credit report to make a decision as to whether to accept the applicant or not. That is not their agents job.

Can realtors share someone else's credit report with a homeowner

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