RealPage screening report cost you an apartment?

Who RealPage is and who relies on its reports

RealPage is a software and data analytics company for the rental housing industry, headquartered in Richardson, Texas. It says its platform serves over 19 million units worldwide. RealPage has been privately held since April 22, 2021, when the private equity firm Thoma Bravo completed its acquisition of the company in a deal valued at approximately $10.2 billion including net debt.

Among other products, RealPage sells tenant screening. Its consumer support page handles report requests and disputes for LeasingDesk Screening. When a property manager runs your application through a RealPage screening product, the report it gets back can decide whether you get the apartment, pay a bigger deposit, or start over somewhere else.

The FTC’s $3 million case against RealPage

In October 2018, RealPage agreed to pay a $3 million civil penalty to settle FTC charges that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the tenant screening information it provided to landlords. The FTC described it as the largest civil penalty it had obtained against a background screening company.

The FTC alleged that from January 2012 through September 2017, RealPage matched applicants to criminal records using an exact match on last name but only a non-exact match on first name, middle name or date of birth, with limited filters, and had no policies or procedures to assess the accuracy of those results. The FTC’s example: a search for an applicant named Anthony Jones could return criminal records for Antony Jones, Antonio Jones and Antoinette Jones. According to the FTC, some renters were linked to records that were not theirs and may have been turned down for housing. The settlement, filed in federal court in Dallas, requires RealPage to maintain reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy.

Errors that show up on tenant screening reports

Loose matching is the classic tenant screening error, but it is not the only one:

• Wrong-person criminal records. Records of someone who shares your last name and a similar first name or birth date.
• Family mix-ups. A parent’s, child’s or sibling’s record attached to you because of a shared name and address.
• Incomplete eviction records. An eviction filing that was dismissed, settled or won by the tenant reported as though you were evicted.
• Duplicates. One case reported several times.
• Obsolete records. Arrests and other non-conviction records older than seven years.
• Income verification errors. Verified income reported incorrectly.

How to dispute a RealPage screening report

1. Get the adverse action notice. If you were denied or charged more, ask the landlord for the notice, which should name the screening company.
2. Request your report. RealPage’s official consumer support page has a request form for a copy of your LeasingDesk Screening file. It asks you to verify your identity and to include the name, city and state of the apartment community.
3. File a dispute. The same page has a Consumer Dispute Form, a separate form for verified income disputes, and an option to file a statement of disagreement if your dispute is not resolved.
4. Dispute credit data with the bureau too. RealPage says it forwards disputes about Equifax or TransUnion credit data to the bureau that supplied it. Consider disputing directly with that bureau as well.
5. Attach proof. Court dismissal or sealing orders, your ID, and anything showing a record belongs to someone else, such as a different middle name, birth date or address history.
6. Keep copies of everything. The denial, the notice, the report, your forms and every response.
7. Track the deadline. A consumer reporting agency generally must complete its reinvestigation within 30 days of receiving your dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)). If you are about to lose a unit, tell the landlord you have disputed and ask it to hold the apartment.

Your rights under the FCRA

• Accuracy (§ 1681e(b)). RealPage must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy. Matching on last name plus a near-match is what the FTC challenged in 2018.
• 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 it.
• Free report after denial (§ 1681j(b)). You may get a free copy if you ask within 60 days after receiving an adverse action notice.
• File disclosure (§ 1681g). You have the right to 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.

What you may recover

If the FCRA was negligently violated, you may recover actual damages, such as lost housing, extra application fees and deposits, higher rent, moving and storage 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).

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

Get a free case review

The FCRA’s deadline is generally two years after you discover the violation and no more than five years after it occurred (15 U.S.C. § 1681p). If a RealPage screening report cost you a place to live, keep the denial, the notice, the report and your dispute, 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 RealPage

Can I sue RealPage over a tenant screening report?

Yes, if the facts support it. A company that sells tenant screening reports to landlords is a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. You may have a claim if RealPage reported inaccurate information without reasonable procedures to assure accuracy, or failed to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute.

The landlord won't tell me why I was denied. What can I do?

A landlord that denies you based in whole or part on a screening report generally must give you an adverse action notice naming the screening company and explaining your right to a free copy and to dispute. Ask for it in writing. Then request your report from the screening company named.

My dispute involves a credit account, not a court record. Will RealPage fix it?

RealPage says it does not control the credit data it receives from Equifax or TransUnion and forwards those disputes to the bureau that supplied the data. You can also dispute directly with that bureau. Keep copies of both disputes.

What will this cost me?

Nothing up front. FCRA Attorneys works on contingency, with no fee unless we win, and the FCRA allows a successful consumer to recover attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Related reading

• Your RealPage Tenant Screening Report: How to Request It, Read It and Dispute It
• 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

• RealPage: Thoma Bravo Completes Acquisition of RealPage (April 22, 2021; headquartered in Richardson, Texas)
• FTC press release: Texas Company Will Pay $3 Million to Settle FTC Charges That it Failed to Meet Accuracy Requirements for its Tenant Screening Reports (October 16, 2018)
• RealPage official consumer support page (LeasingDesk Screening report requests and disputes)

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