Denied an apartment because of a tenant screening error?
You found the place, paid the application fee, and waited. Then the answer came back: denied. Maybe the landlord mentioned an eviction you never had. Maybe it was a criminal record from a state you’ve never lived in. Maybe it was a case you won years ago, reported as if you lost.
When a screening company gets your history wrong, a tenant screening lawsuit under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is how you make it answer for that. Tenant screening companies are consumer reporting agencies. They sell reports about you for money, and federal law requires them to get those reports right, to fix them when you dispute, and to stop selling records that are too old.
We sue screening companies in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel, on contingency. You pay no fee unless we win.
Who makes tenant screening reports?
Landlords and property managers rarely dig through court files themselves. They buy reports from screening companies that gather eviction filings, criminal records, credit data, and rental history from other sources and match them to applicants. Many reports also carry a score.
Our company guides cover the screeners renters run into most, including RealPage, SafeRent, RentGrow, and TransUnion Rental Screening.
The CFPB has examined this industry closely. In November 2022 it released two reports finding that renters are denied housing because of negative information that belongs to someone else, that outdated and misleading arrest, criminal, and eviction information goes uncorrected, and that renters who dispute often see the same errors come back on later reports. The Bureau also found that screeners appear inclined to include negative information even when it may be inaccurate, and that scores can hide data errors.
Common tenant screening report errors
These are the errors that cost people homes:
- An eviction that isn’t yours. Someone with a similar name had an eviction case, and the screener attached it to you.
- A dismissed eviction reported as a judgment. You won, or the landlord dropped the case, but the report shows a judgment or shows the filing with no outcome.
- A sealed eviction. A court sealed the record, and the screener reported it anyway.
- Duplicate entries. One eviction case shows up as two or three separate evictions.
- Someone else’s criminal record. Loose name matching ties you to a stranger’s conviction.
- Outdated records. Cases older than federal time limits allow.
- A disputed apartment balance. A former landlord’s claimed charges, sometimes placed with a collector such as National Credit Systems, follow you onto credit reports and into the next screening.
If a stranger’s records keep showing up under your name, read about mixed files. If the record belongs to someone who used your identity, see identity theft and your credit report.
What if a tenant screening report shows an eviction that isn’t mine?
Then the screener likely failed the FCRA’s central accuracy rule. Section 1681e(b) requires every consumer reporting agency to follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of what it reports. Matching court records to renters on thin identifiers is not a reasonable procedure.
In November 2021, the CFPB issued an advisory opinion stating that matching records by name alone does not meet that standard, and it named tenant screeners specifically. The CFPB withdrew that opinion in May 2025, but the accuracy duty itself comes from the statute and did not change.
Federal enforcement backs this up:
- RealPage (2018). RealPage agreed to pay a $3 million civil penalty to settle FTC charges that it failed to take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of its tenant screening reports. The FTC alleged its matching criteria linked some renters to criminal records that weren’t theirs.
- TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions (2023). TransUnion and its rental screening unit agreed to pay $15 million to settle FTC and CFPB charges. The agencies alleged the company reported multiple entries for a single eviction case, reported judgments in some cases that were actually dismissed, showed filings without later dismissals, and failed to keep sealed eviction records off its reports.
Both settlements resolved allegations without an admission of wrongdoing. But they show what regulators consider unacceptable, and the same failures are the basis for private lawsuits. For more on one of these companies, see our post on the RealPage lawsuit for errors on your RealPage report.
Dismissed, sealed, and outdated evictions
Reporting an eviction filing without its outcome, listing one case twice, or including a record a court has sealed can make a report inaccurate or misleading. The FTC and CFPB alleged exactly those failures in the TransUnion Rental Screening case above. (A January 2024 CFPB advisory opinion addressed the same practices; the CFPB withdrew it in May 2025.)
Time limits matter too. Under § 1681c, civil suits and civil judgments generally can’t be reported once they are more than seven years old from the date of entry, or longer only if the governing statute of limitations runs longer. An eviction from a decade ago generally has no business on your report.
What the landlord has to tell you
If a landlord takes adverse action on your application, such as denying it, based in whole or in part on a screening report, § 1681m requires an adverse action notice. It must:
- name the screening company, with its address and phone number,
- state that the screening company didn’t make the decision and can’t explain it,
- tell you that you can get a free copy of the report from that company if you ask within 60 days, and
- tell you that you can dispute the report’s accuracy or completeness.
The CFPB has found that many landlords don’t consistently tell renters about their dispute rights or give them the information needed to dispute. If you were denied and never got a notice, ask the landlord in writing which company supplied the report.
How to dispute a tenant screening report
- Get the report. Request your free copy from the screening company named in the notice.
- Mark every error. Wrong person, wrong outcome, sealed case, duplicate, too old, wrong balance.
- Gather proof. Dismissal orders, sealing orders, court dockets, your lease and payment records, and ID that shows the record isn’t yours.
- Dispute in writing. Send it to the screening company with your documents. Keep copies and proof of delivery.
- Track the deadline. The screener generally has 30 days to complete a reasonable reinvestigation (up to 15 more if you send new information during that window). It must delete or correct anything inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable, and send you written results within 5 business days after finishing.
Why the same error keeps coming back
The CFPB’s 2022 reports found that renters who tried to correct their tenant screening reports struggled to get errors fixed, and that the same bad information sometimes appeared again on later reports. Fixing one report doesn’t mean the problem is gone.
The FCRA addresses this. Under § 1681i, once a screening company deletes disputed information after a reinvestigation, it can’t put it back unless the source certifies that the information is complete and accurate, and if it does reinsert it, it must tell you in writing within 5 business days.
So keep every report, every dispute letter, and every response. A record that was deleted and then reappears without notice, or an error you disputed that the company “verified” without real checking, is often the strongest evidence in a tenant screening lawsuit. It shows the problem wasn’t a one-time slip. It was the procedure.
Our guide on how to dispute inaccurate tenant screening reports covers the letter in detail. Call us before or alongside the dispute; how it’s handled often becomes evidence.
What a tenant screening lawsuit can recover
If the screening company violated the FCRA:
- Negligent violations (§ 1681o): actual damages, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
- Willful violations (§ 1681n): actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, plus costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Actual damages can include the higher rent or deposit you paid elsewhere, moving and storage costs, extra application fees, and the stress and humiliation of being labeled an evicted tenant or a criminal. Because fees shift to the company that broke the law, you don’t need money up front to bring the case. See our results page for examples of past outcomes; every case turns on its own facts.
Screening errors don’t stop at housing. If the same bad record surfaced in a job application, read our page on background check errors.
Talk to an FCRA attorney about your tenant screening report
If a tenant screening error cost you an apartment, raised your rent or deposit, or keeps following you from application to application, send us the details through the form on this page. Case review is free, and you pay no fee unless we win. We file in federal courts in jurisdictions across the country.
Act now. Under § 1681p, you must sue by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it happened.
Frequently asked questions
Can I sue a tenant screening company?
Yes, when it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act and you were harmed. Tenant screening companies are consumer reporting agencies, and they must use reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy and must reasonably reinvestigate your disputes. You can recover actual damages and attorney's fees for negligent violations, and statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 plus possible punitive damages for willful ones.
What if my tenant screening report shows an eviction that was dismissed?
A report that shows the filing but hides the dismissal can be misleading and inaccurate. The CFPB has said screeners should report the outcome of eviction proceedings, and the FTC and CFPB alleged that TransUnion's rental screening unit reported judgments in some cases that were actually dismissed. Dispute it in writing and talk to a lawyer.
How long can an eviction stay on a tenant screening report?
Under federal law, civil suits and civil judgments, which include eviction cases, generally can't be reported once they are more than seven years old from the date of entry, or longer only if the governing statute of limitations runs longer. Some states set shorter limits or allow eviction records to be sealed.
Does the landlord have to tell me why I was denied?
If the landlord denied you or demanded more based in whole or in part on a screening report, it must give you an adverse action notice. The notice must name the screening company with its address and phone number, say the screener didn't make the decision, and tell you about your right to a free copy within 60 days and your right to dispute.
How long does the screening company have to fix the error?
Generally 30 days after it receives your dispute, extendable by up to 15 days if you send more relevant information during that period. Anything inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable must be deleted or corrected, and you must get written results within 5 business days after the reinvestigation ends.
What does it cost, and how long do I have to file?
Case review is free, and we work on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. You must sue by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it occurred.
Sources
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681c — Requirements relating to information contained in consumer reports (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681e — Compliance procedures; maximum possible accuracy (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681i — Procedure in case of disputed accuracy (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681m — Requirements on users of consumer reports; adverse action notices (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681n — Civil liability for willful noncompliance (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681o — Civil liability for negligent noncompliance (Cornell LII)
- 15 U.S.C. § 1681p — Jurisdiction of courts; limitation of actions (Cornell LII)
- CFPB, CFPB Reports Highlight Problems with Tenant Background Checks (Nov. 15, 2022)
- CFPB, CFPB Takes Action to Stop False Identification by Background Screeners (name-only matching advisory opinion, Nov. 4, 2021; withdrawn May 2025)
- CFPB, CFPB Addresses Inaccurate Background Check Reports and Sloppy Credit File Sharing Practices (background screening advisory opinion, Jan. 11, 2024; withdrawn May 2025)
- CFPB, Interpretive Rules, Policy Statements, and Advisory Opinions; Withdrawal, 90 Fed. Reg. 20084 (May 12, 2025)
- FTC, FTC and CFPB Settlement to Require Trans Union to Pay $15 Million over Charges It Failed to Ensure Accuracy of Tenant Screening Reports (Oct. 12, 2023)
- FTC, Texas Company Will Pay $3 Million to Settle FTC Charges That It Failed to Meet Accuracy Requirements for Its Tenant Screening Reports (Oct. 16, 2018)
Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.