Buildium screening report cost you a rental?

Who Buildium is and who prepares its reports

Buildium is cloud-based property management software for small and mid-sized landlords and property managers. RealPage, the rental housing software company headquartered in Richardson, Texas, closed its acquisition of Buildium on December 18, 2019, and RealPage’s SEC filing says Buildium became a wholly owned subsidiary. At the time, RealPage described Buildium as serving roughly 2 million units under management.

Landlords who use Buildium can screen applicants from inside the software. Buildium does not prepare those reports itself. Buildium says its tenant screening is “powered by TransUnion,” and that the screening covers a credit check, a criminal background check and an eviction history report. When Buildium first announced the TransUnion partnership, it explained that applicants enter their identifying information directly with TransUnion and Buildium then displays the results.

So the consumer reporting agency behind a Buildium screening is TransUnion’s tenant screening company, TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, Inc. See our guide on TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions. Because Buildium is a RealPage company, people often assume the report is a RealPage report. RealPage does sell its own screening products, covered in our RealPage guide, but a Buildium screening is generally TransUnion’s. Your adverse action notice and the report itself will say which company prepared it.

Why TransUnion’s rental screening record matters

In October 2023, the FTC and the CFPB announced a $15 million settlement with Trans Union LLC and TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions over tenant screening reports. The agencies alleged the company reported one eviction case as several separate evictions, left out dismissals, reported some dismissed cases as judgments, included sealed eviction records in its reports, and often did not tell renters which vendor supplied a criminal or eviction record. Those allegations were resolved by settlement, but they are a useful checklist for reviewing a Buildium report.

Errors that show up on tenant screening reports

• Incomplete eviction records. A filing reported as an eviction even though the case was dismissed, settled or decided for you.
• Duplicates. One eviction case listed several times.
• Wrong-person records. Criminal or eviction cases of someone with a similar name or birth date.
• Sealed records. Eviction cases a court sealed or state law restricts.
• Bad credit data. Collections or accounts that are not yours.
• Obsolete records. Arrests and other non-conviction records older than seven years.

How to dispute Buildium

1. Get the adverse action notice. A landlord that denies you based on a report must name the screening company. For Buildium screening, expect TransUnion.
2. Get your report. Ask the landlord for the copy it received and request your file from TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions. The CFPB lists its phone as 800-230-9376 (Option 4) and its website as MySmartMove.com.
3. Dispute with TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions. The CFPB lists the dispute address as Attention: Consumer Dispute Team, P.O. Box 800, Woodlyn, PA 19094. List each wrong item and explain why it is wrong.
4. Dispute credit account errors with the credit bureau too. A wrong account or collection should also be disputed on your regular TransUnion credit report, and the creditor that reported it must investigate when the bureau forwards your dispute (§ 1681s-2(b)).
5. Attach proof. Dismissal or sealing orders, judgments in your favor, a payment ledger, ID, and anything showing a record belongs to someone else.
6. Tell the landlord. Buildium’s software belongs to the landlord, and the landlord makes the leasing decision. Let it know you have disputed and ask it to hold the unit.
7. Track the deadline. A consumer reporting agency generally must finish its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)). Keep copies of everything.

How to contact Buildium

Buildium does not run the dispute process for TransUnion screening reports, and we did not find a consumer dispute channel on Buildium’s site. The contact points that matter:

• Report disputes (TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions): 800-230-9376 (Option 4); Attention: Consumer Dispute Team, P.O. Box 800, Woodlyn, PA 19094; MySmartMove.com.
• Buildium’s parent company: RealPage, 2201 Lakeside Blvd., Richardson, TX 75082, which Buildium’s website lists as its global headquarters.
• Your landlord or property manager: the company that ordered the screening through Buildium and made the decision.

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). The company preparing the report must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). Disputed information must be reasonably reinvestigated and corrected or deleted if it is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable.
• Adverse action notice (§ 1681m). A landlord that takes adverse action based on a report must tell you which company supplied it and that you can get a free copy and dispute.
• Free report after denial (§ 1681j(b)). You may get a free copy if you ask within 60 days after an adverse action notice.
• File disclosure (§ 1681g). You can see the information in your file and its sources.
• Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Arrest records and most other adverse non-conviction information generally cannot be reported after seven years.

Can you sue Buildium?

An FCRA claim over a Buildium screening usually runs against TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, the consumer reporting agency that prepared the report, for failing to use reasonable procedures to assure accuracy (§ 1681e(b)) or failing to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute (§ 1681i). Whether Buildium or the landlord also bears responsibility depends on the facts, which a lawyer can review.

If the FCRA was negligently violated, you may recover actual damages, such as lost housing, extra fees and deposits, higher rent, moving costs, and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). If the violation was willful, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n). A lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no more than five years after it occurred (§ 1681p).

The key regulator action involving the reports Buildium delivers is the 2023 FTC and CFPB settlement with TransUnion described above. We found no regulator action against Buildium itself over screening.

FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency. No fee unless we win.

Get a free case review

If a Buildium screening cost you a rental, keep the denial, the adverse action notice, the report, and your disputes and responses, and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel.

Questions about suing Buildium

Can I sue Buildium?

It depends on who made the mistake. Buildium says its tenant screening is powered by TransUnion, and TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, Inc. is a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. If the report was inaccurate because of poor procedures, or the error was not fixed after you disputed it, you may have a claim against the company that prepared it. A lawyer can review the platform's role too.

Is Buildium owned by RealPage?

Yes. RealPage closed its acquisition of Buildium on December 18, 2019, and an SEC filing says Buildium became a wholly owned subsidiary of RealPage. Buildium's website lists RealPage's headquarters in Richardson, Texas as its global headquarters.

Is a Buildium screening the same as a RealPage screening report?

Not necessarily. Buildium says its tenant screening is powered by TransUnion, so a Buildium report is generally a TransUnion report. RealPage also sells its own screening products, such as LeasingDesk Screening, through other channels. Check the adverse action notice or the report itself to see which company prepared it.

What does it cost to bring a case?

No fee unless we win. FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Related reading

• How to Dispute a Tenant Screening Report: Evictions, Sealed Records and Wrong-Person Errors
• Denied an Apartment Because of a Background Check: What to Do in the First Week
• Your RealPage Tenant Screening Report: How to Request It, Read It and Dispute It
• Criminal Record Apartment Rights: What Landlords Can and Cannot Do

Sources

• Buildium: Tenant screening features ("Tenant Screening, powered by TransUnion"; credit, criminal and eviction reports)
• Buildium: Tenant screening page (lists Global Headquarters: RealPage, 2201 Lakeside Blvd., Richardson, TX 75082)
• RealPage Form 8-K exhibit 99.1: RealPage closes acquisition of Buildium (December 18, 2019)
• RealPage Form 8-K (December 2019): Buildium survives merger as wholly owned subsidiary of RealPage
• Buildium press release: Buildium introduces tenant screening through TransUnion partnership (July 1, 2009; applicants provide identifying information directly to TransUnion)
• CFPB consumer reporting companies list: TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, Inc. (TransUnion SmartMove) contact information
• FTC press release: FTC and CFPB settlement requires Trans Union to pay $15 million over inaccurate tenant screening reports (October 12, 2023)

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.