Usually a tenant screening company. The landlord or property manager orders the report, and the screening company gathers eviction, criminal, and credit records, sometimes adding a score or recommendation. That company is a consumer reporting agency with duties to you under the FCRA.
When you apply to rent, the landlord or property manager typically does not search court files itself. It buys a report from a tenant screening company.
What a screening company does
According to the CFPB’s November 2022 report on the tenant screening market, these companies pull together:
- Public records, including eviction and criminal records,
- Credit reports and scores, and
- in some cases customized rental risk scores or automated screening results, such as a recommendation to the landlord.
The CFPB noted that the market includes hundreds of small companies alongside a few large ones. The company that ran your report may not be obvious from the application itself.
Why it matters who ran it
A company that assembles this kind of information and furnishes it to landlords is a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. That means it must:
- follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy (§ 1681e(b)),
- give you your file on request (§ 1681g), and
- reinvestigate disputes, generally within 30 days (§ 1681i).
The landlord, as the user of the report, must have a permissible purpose and must give you an adverse action notice if it denies you or changes your terms based on the report.
How to find out
- Read the landlord’s adverse action notice. The FTC says it must name the screening company and give its address and phone number.
- If there was no notice, ask the landlord in writing which company it used.
- Check the CFPB’s list of consumer reporting companies for contact information.
If a screening company’s report cost you a home and you believe it was wrong, a free case review can help you understand your options, with no fee unless we win.
Related
- Tenant screening lawsuits
- Companies we sue
- TransUnion Rental Screening lawsuit guide
- RealPage lawsuit guide
Sources
- CFPB: Tenant Background Checks Market (Nov. 2022)
- FTC: Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know
- CFPB: List of Consumer Reporting Companies
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681e (Cornell LII)
Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.