First Advantage tenant screening cost you a home?

Who First Advantage Resident Solutions is

First Advantage Corp is a publicly traded background screening company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Most people know it for employment background checks (see our First Advantage background check page). It also screens rental applicants. The CFPB lists First Advantage Resident Solutions as a tenant screening company serving property managers, owners and leasing agents.

First Advantage says it provides information to the multifamily housing industry and that housing providers may obtain a consumer report to help make leasing decisions. According to the company, it maintains criminal and civil public court records, including landlord-tenant matters, obtained from courts and law enforcement agencies. It also resells credit information from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, though it does not maintain credit files itself.

That mix of court records and credit data is where most rental screening errors start. Court records often carry only limited identifying details, so a common name can pull in someone else’s case. A filing reported without its dismissal looks like an eviction you lost. Any of these can cost you an apartment.

Errors that show up on First Advantage resident screening reports

• Wrong-person records. Eviction or criminal cases of someone with a similar name or birth date.
• Missing outcomes. An eviction filing shown without the dismissal, settlement or judgment for the tenant.
• Dismissed or sealed cases. Criminal or eviction records that were dismissed, expunged or sealed but still reported.
• Obsolete records. Non-conviction records and civil judgments older than seven years.
• Duplicates. One court case reported more than once.
• Bad credit data. Collections or accounts that are not yours, carried over from a credit bureau file.

How to dispute First Advantage Resident Solutions

1. Confirm First Advantage screened you. The landlord’s adverse action notice should name the screening company. If it doesn’t, ask the property manager.
2. Request your full file. First Advantage’s free report page says you can request a full file disclosure by phone at (800) 845-6004, fax at (727) 214-2127, email at [email protected], or mail to First Advantage Consumer Center, P.O. Box 105292, Atlanta, GA 30348-5292. If a credit report was part of your housing screening, the full file disclosure includes it.
3. File the dispute. Use First Advantage’s online dispute form, or dispute by phone, fax, email or mail through the same consumer center. Say that the report was a housing or tenant screening report and name the property that ordered it.
4. Be specific and attach proof. Identify each wrong record and why. Include dismissal or sealing orders, judgments for you, ID, and proof that a record belongs to someone else.
5. Dispute credit data with the bureau too. First Advantage doesn’t keep credit files, so a wrong account should also be disputed with Equifax, Experian or TransUnion.
6. Keep copies and dates. Save the denial, the notice, your file, what you sent and every response.
7. Hold First Advantage to its timeline. First Advantage says it will complete a reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your request and notify you of the results in writing, which matches 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1).

How to contact First Advantage Resident Solutions

• Online dispute form: fadv.com/privacy-center/us-residents/dispute-report
• Report requests and freeze information: fadv.com/candidates/free-report
• Consumer phone: (800) 845-6004
• Fax: (727) 214-2127
• Email: [email protected]
• Mail for disputes and file requests: First Advantage Consumer Center, P.O. Box 105292, Atlanta, GA 30348-5292

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). First Advantage must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy, including complete case outcomes and careful identity matching.
• Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). Disputed items must be reasonably reinvestigated free of charge and corrected or deleted if they are inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified.
• File disclosure (§ 1681g). You can get all the information in your file and its sources.
• Free report (§ 1681j). First Advantage says you can get one free copy of your file in any 12-month period, and more in some situations, such as after a denial of housing within the past 60 days.
• Time limits (§ 1681c). Civil suits and judgments, including eviction cases, and most adverse information other than criminal convictions generally cannot be reported after seven years.
• Adverse action notice (§ 1681m). A landlord that denies you based on a report must name the screening company and tell you about your right to a free copy and to dispute.

Can you sue First Advantage Resident Solutions?

Yes, when the facts support a claim. You may have an FCRA case against First Advantage if it:

• reported someone else’s eviction or criminal record, or an incomplete case, without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy (§ 1681e(b));
• reported records past the FCRA’s time limits (§ 1681c); or
• failed to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation after your dispute (§ 1681i).

For a negligent violation, you may recover actual damages, such as lost housing, application fees, higher rent or deposits, moving and temporary housing costs, and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). For a willful violation, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n).

An FCRA lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after it occurred (§ 1681p).

Get a free case review

If a First Advantage resident screening report cost you a home, save the denial, the adverse action notice, your file and your dispute, and request a free case review. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel, and charges no fee unless we win.

Questions about suing First Advantage Resident Solutions

Can I sue First Advantage Resident Solutions?

You may be able to. First Advantage provides tenant screening reports to property managers, owners and leasing agents, which makes it a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. If it reported inaccurate information without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy, or failed to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute, you may have a claim.

Is this the same First Advantage that does employment background checks?

Yes. First Advantage Corp, based in Atlanta, runs both businesses and uses the same consumer center for report requests and disputes. The CFPB lists the rental screening business separately as First Advantage Resident Solutions. For employment reports, see our First Advantage background check page.

Does First Advantage keep my credit file?

No. First Advantage says it resells credit information from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion but does not maintain credit files itself. If your housing screening included a credit report, you can get a copy through a full file disclosure request, and you should dispute credit errors with the bureau too.

Can I freeze my First Advantage file?

Yes. The CFPB and First Advantage say you can request a security freeze on information First Advantage may use in screening reports by phone, fax, email or mail through its consumer center.

What does it cost to bring a case?

Nothing up front. FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win, 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
• Criminal Record Apartment Rights: What Landlords Can and Cannot Do

Sources

• CFPB consumer reporting companies list: First Advantage Resident Solutions (tenant screening; free report; freeze; contact details)
• First Advantage official free report page (file requests, disputes, 30-day reinvestigation, freezes, housing screening and court records)
• First Advantage official U.S. dispute page (online dispute form, phone, email)
• SEC EDGAR company filings: First Advantage Corp (business address, Atlanta, GA)

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