Some screening companies turn your records into a rental score or an accept or decline recommendation. The score is only as good as the data behind it, so get your file, check the eviction, criminal, and credit records it was based on, and dispute any errors.
The CFPB’s November 2022 report on the tenant screening market identified customized rental risk scores and automated screening as one of three areas of challenges for renters. In these systems, the landlord may see a number or a recommendation rather than the underlying records.
What drives a low score or a decline
A screening company may use information such as:
- eviction filings or judgments,
- criminal records,
- credit report information, including collections and unpaid balances, and
- rental debts reported by prior landlords.
If any of those records belongs to someone else, is too old to report, or is missing its outcome, the score or recommendation built from it can be wrong too.
Your rights
- Your file. Under § 1681g, the screening company must disclose all information in your file and its sources. The statute does not necessarily require it to disclose how its scoring model works, but you are entitled to see the records in your file.
- Accuracy. Under § 1681e(b), the company must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information it reports.
- Disputes. Under § 1681i, it generally must reinvestigate disputed information within 30 days and correct or delete what is inaccurate or cannot be verified.
- Notice. If a landlord denied you or changed your terms based on the report, the FTC says it must give you an adverse action notice naming the screening company. If a credit score was used, the notice must also disclose that score and the key factors that hurt it.
What to do
- Request your file from the screening company, which is free within 60 days of an adverse action notice.
- Look past the score and check each record it lists.
- Dispute errors in writing, with proof.
- Ask the landlord to reconsider once the records are corrected.
If a decline recommendation was based on records that were wrong, a free case review can help you understand your options, with no fee unless we win.
Related
- Tenant screening lawsuits
- How to Dispute a Tenant Screening Report: Evictions, Sealed Records and Wrong-Person Errors
- SafeRent lawsuit guide
Sources
- CFPB: Tenant Background Checks Market (Nov. 2022)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681g (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681i (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681e (Cornell LII)
- FTC: Using Consumer Reports: What Landlords Need to Know
Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.