Best Tenant Screening Services: Your Full Guide
Thomas Fine - February 27, 2025
A tenant screening service is a convenient service used by landlords as part of the rental application process. If you are a landlord, you no doubt want to ensure that the people you are allowing to live in your rental are well suited to live there and not at risk of destroying the property or having their time with you end in eviction.
Our article gives you an overview of the best tenant screening services around so you can get started thinking about which service you’d like to use. From there, you can screen potential tenants for your rental property.
What Is a Tenant Screening Service?
A tenant screening service is a service that provides detailed reports of a tenant’s rental history and other important rental information for landlords to review.
Tenant screening services are a convenient way for landlords and property managers to learn about the applicants who wish to live on their property. These services allow landlords to easily screen each person and ensure they are suitable for living in the rental housing they are applying for.
What Will a Tenant Screening Service Show?
A tenant screening service will show a number of different things about a potential tenant to your rental property. The most common and important items that are reviewed through a tenant screening report include an applicant’s rental history, criminal background, and eviction history.
Some services combine tenant screening reports and background check reports for added convenience. You’ll need to research the specific service you are using to understand what features the service offers.
How Do I Choose a Tenant Screening Service?
As you start to think about choosing a tenant screening service, it’s important to keep in mind some of the factors that can help you decide on which service is the best for your situation. Below we give you an idea of factors that should be a part of your decision for a tenant screening service:
- The types of screening services offered
- Integration with your existing property and rental management systems
- The potential for customer support and the score of customer support services
- The types of add-ons and specialty reports available
- The accuracy of each report
You should also be sure to choose a screening service that you can use in every state or jurisdiction where you have a rental property, as some screening services are only allowed in certain areas.
The Best Tenant Screening Services for Your Needs
There are numerous tenant screening services around today, all of them offering slightly different variations of tenant screening reports and add-on enhancements to help you with verification. Below, we discuss the most popular tenant screening services.
RentPrep
RentPrep Has been around since 2007, and this service is especially helpful for landlords with multiple properties. The service offers a volume discount and reasonable pricing, and all reports are crafted by FCRA-certified screeners.
Tenants do not need to be involved in the process with this screening service, though reports are not instantaneous like they would be with some other services.
TransUnion SmartMove
One of the most notable credit report and score companies, TransUnion, produced SmartMove in 2009. This service provides instant results and transparent pricing, and landlords also have the option to pass the cost of screening over to residents.
That being said, this service can be difficult to integrate into certain property management software systems, and its use may be limited in some states and local areas.
National Tenant Network
The National Tenant Network gives you access to one-time reports, or you can join the service as a member for a reasonable fee each month.
This service also provides a few different add-ons and special screening reports not provided by other services. This makes it a great choice for landlords who need limited or specialized tenant screening reports.
TurboTenant
TurboTenant is one of the fastest tenant screening services around, and landlords have the option of paying for a screening report or passing this cost on to the applicants.
As soon as you put the applicant’s name and e-mail into this service, an e-mail will be sent to verify their identity, and then a tenant screening report will be conducted. This is a good choice for landlords who want a fast and straightforward tenant screening service.
Zillow Rental Manager
Zillow is one of the most popular real estate and rental listing websites around today, and Zillow has a Rental Manager service that allows you to screen potential rental housing tenants.
Using this service, you can request the rental history, credit check, background check, and eviction report of a tenant in addition to their income verification. Reports are reasonably priced, and you have access to the information for a month, giving you plenty of time to screen potential tenants.
Do I Need to Pay for a Tenant Screening Service?
Tenants typically do not need to pay for a tenant screening service, as this is covered in the application fee. Though, potential applicants may sometimes find that the landlord does ask them to cover this cost.
Depending on certain state laws, you may also be required to pay a separate fee for a background check. This will be communicated to you during the application process so you can decide whether to continue with your application or not.
Landlords who are renting out their property to tenants will sometimes need to pay for a tenant screening service. Whether or not you pay depends on the type of service you are using and the types of reports that you need.
More in-depth tenant screening reports and extensive tenant screening reports that also include background checks will generally be a paid service. Cursory checks of a rental history and credit report may be low cost or no cost.
How Do I Fail a Tenant Screening?
Failing a tenant screening can be somewhat subjective, as landlords have different ideas of disqualifying items that they might run across on your report.
Generally, a significant criminal history, including a history of violent crimes, drug offenses, or offenses that took place on rental properties, can cause a landlord to pass on your application. Other issues on your tenant screening report that may raise red flags include evictions, inconsistent rental history, and poor references from previous landlords.
If you are concerned about what counts as a disqualifying offense with your specific landlord, you should ask them during the application process.
Sometimes, landlords are required by state law to tell you what they are looking at on your tenant screening report. In these cases, your landlord will give you a heads-up before running your report to inform you of the specific items they are reviewing.
Will Evictions Show Up on My Tenant Screening Report?
Evictions from any rental home or apartment can and will show up on your tenant screening report. This is because evictions are a significant event in the world of rental housing, and an eviction generally finds a place on your tenant screening report and credit report for up to seven years.
You may be able to remove an eviction from your tenant screening report by paying off the debt that led to your eviction or successfully settling a wrongful eviction case in court. You will need to check state laws regarding evictions and credit report history to understand what you can do about an eviction on your report and how to reduce its impact on your prospects.
Is a Tenant Screening Report the Same as a Background Check?
A tenant screening report is different from a background check, though tenant screening reports can also include a background check report. In general, tenant screening reports are reports that cover a person’s rental history specifically, and they may detail a rental history, references from previous landlords, criminal history, and income.
On the other hand, background check reports cover a person’s personal history, including their employment and educational history. These reports provide more in-depth details about someone’s criminal and civil history, their contact details, and other items of personal history.
Landlords may use details in both a tenant screening report and a background check report, or they may just use a tenant screening report, to determine if a rental applicant would be a good fit.
Securing Rental Housing
Applying for rental housing or owning a property that is rented out can be nerve-wracking, as both of these positions require plenty of scrutiny and verifications.
For tenants, a good rental history and credit report attest to their ability to rent housing without issues. Landlords, on the other hand, will need to perform these checks to make sure that their properties are not at risk for damage and that eviction is not likely.
The tenant screening services in our article can help you verify potential tenants if you are a landlord. In addition, these services can help tenants understand what exactly is being reviewed when applying for rental housing.
