You can view your rental history report for free by asking the tenant screening companies that hold a file on you; under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, each one must give you a copy once every 12 months at no charge, and deliver it within 15 days of your request.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Experian RentBureau You get a second free copy from that same company within 60 days if a landlord denies your application or offers worse terms based on the report.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures
The trick is knowing which companies to write to. There’s no single rental history bureau; several specialty consumer reporting agencies collect this data, and any given landlord might pull from one of them or from none.
Finding Out Which Companies Have Your File
Tenant screening firms are classified as specialty consumer reporting agencies. Most won’t have a file on you unless you’ve previously applied for rental housing or a landlord submitted information about you. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau publishes a list of consumer reporting companies, organized by category, that identifies the major tenant screening firms and how to contact each one.3Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. List of Consumer Reporting Companies
Experian RentBureau operates the largest rental payment database. You can request your report at experian.com/rentbureau, by phone at (877) 704-4519, or by mailing Experian RentBureau, P.O. Box 26, Allen, TX 75013.1Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Experian RentBureau CoreLogic, TransUnion, and LexisNexis run their own tenant screening operations with similar request processes; the CFPB list has their current contact details.
How to Request Your Free Report
Each company needs enough information to locate your file. Have your full name, date of birth, Social Security number, and previous addresses ready. Some companies offer an online portal; others require a printed form sent by mail.
Once your request is complete, the company has 15 days to send the report. What arrives will vary by company, but a typical tenant screening file can include eviction filings and judgments from court records, rental payment history reported by landlords or property managers, prior addresses, misdemeanor and felony records, and credit information from the three major bureaus. Some companies also pull public records such as liens, bankruptcy filings, and property ownership history. The exact contents depend on which company you’re asking and what data it collects.
If you’ve never rented before, or you’ve only rented from small landlords who don’t report, expect some companies to reply that they have no file on you. That’s a normal outcome, not an error.
Getting a Second Free Copy After a Denial
If a landlord turns you down, requires a larger deposit, asks for a co-signer, or otherwise gives you worse terms based on a screening report, they have to send you an adverse action notice. The notice must name the screening company they used and how to reach it. You then have 60 days from receiving the notice to request a free copy from that specific company, and this copy is on top of the annual free report you’re already entitled to.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681j – Charges for Certain Disclosures
Adverse action notices are often how renters first learn which company a landlord used. Don’t let it sit. Request the report right away so you can see what the landlord saw and address any problems before your next application.
Checking Your Credit Report Too
Your standard credit report is a separate document from a tenant screening report, but most landlords pull it as part of screening, so it’s worth checking at the same time. Rental-related items that can appear on a credit report include collections accounts for unpaid rent or fees sent to a collection agency, and rent payment tradelines if your landlord or a rent reporting service furnishes that data.
Free credit reports from all three bureaus are available weekly through AnnualCreditReport.com, which is the only site authorized by the federal government for free reports.4Federal Trade Commission. Free Credit Reports5Annual Credit Report. Getting Your Credit Reports
Getting Records Directly from Former Landlords
Screening company files often miss data from smaller landlords who never reported to any database. If your formal report comes back thin, contacting former landlords directly is the fastest way to reconstruct your record.
Give the landlord your full name and the dates you lived at the property. Ask for the specifics you’d want to show a future landlord: tenancy dates, payment history, the condition of the property when you left, and the reason you moved. You might get a verbal reference, a written letter, or a copy of your payment ledger.
Keep your own paperwork too. Old leases, rent receipts, and bank statements showing recurring payments both verify what a landlord tells you and serve as evidence if you later need to dispute something on a screening report.
Disputing Errors You Find
Errors on tenant screening reports are common. The same eviction can appear more than once because different stages of the case get listed separately, dismissed cases sometimes show up without the dismissal noted, and someone else’s records occasionally end up in your file. Review tenancy dates, payment amounts, eviction outcomes, and any criminal background entries. An eviction filing that was dismissed should say “dismissed”; if only the filing appears, that’s worth disputing.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Review Your Rental Background Check
Send disputes in writing to the screening company, with supporting documentation: lease agreements, rent receipts, bank statements, or court records showing a case was dismissed. The company must investigate within 30 days, or 45 days total if you provide additional information partway through.7Federal Trade Commission. Fair Credit Reporting Act Section 611 If the investigation confirms an error, the company must correct or delete it and notify anyone it shared the data with.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. How Do I Dispute an Error on My Credit Report?
You can also dispute directly with the furnisher of the bad data, such as a former landlord or property management company that reported incorrect payment information. Furnishers have the same 30-day investigation obligation.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1022.43 – Direct Disputes
If a dispute doesn’t produce a correction, you can file a complaint with the CFPB at consumerfinance.gov/complaint, and the bureau will forward it to the company and track the response.10Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint The FCRA also lets you attach a brief statement to your file explaining your side of any item that isn’t resolved in your favor.