Tenant Screening Services & Rental History Reports

I get a lot of questions about tenant screening services, rental history reports, tenant reports & particularly about SafeRent. As it turns out, many people see a SafeRent credit inquiry in their credit report and don’t know what it’s about.

CoreLogic SafeRent is the largest tenant screening services provider in the US. More than 30% of all property managers use it for making renting decisions. Additionally, it provides employment screening services for HR mangers.

CoreLogic SafeRent is also a reseller of consumer information to third party tenant & employment screening companies, as permitted by the FCRA. It provides Criminal Background Checking services, and even Collection Services!

The second largest accommodation screening services provider is LexisNexis.

SafeRent Report / SafeRent Consumer File
CoreLogic doesn’t collect credit information in itself. It relies on the 3 major credit bureaus for this type of information. What CoreLogic DOES collect is information about rental history, criminal records & more.

A SafeRent consumer file includes landlord-tenant records, rental performance history and criminal records.

SafeRent Score
CoreLogic SafeRent has developed a proprietary score (which is NOT a credit score). The SafeRent score is targets at reducing the probability of defaulting renting payments, and according to SafeRent: “Customers can use SafeRent to reduce bad debt by at least 16 to 20 percent“.

SafeRent analyzed thousands of renter‘s credit reports and compared how different people fulfilled their leasing obligations. These statistics are key part in the SafeRent score.

Unlike ‘normal‘ credit scores such as FICO, the SafeRent score DOES take into account your monthly income & monthly rent amount, as well as ‘normal’ credit information from your credit report with the 3 major credit bureaus. The result is a 3 digit score that predicts the probability that this lease will be beneficial.

A SafeRent score is usually much lower than one’s FICO score. As CoreLogic states: “Please note that this score, while incorporating credit as a factor, is not the same as the score you would receive from one of the national credit reporting agencies. It is generally much lower than a credit bureau score“.

For example, a SafeRent score of 900/1000 is considered good. In other words, “that means that 900 out of 1000 renters with similar backgrounds were responsible tenants”.

Getting Approved
Making rental decisions with CoreLogic SafeRent is very easy. Usually the property manager only needs to key in the monthly rental amount.

SafeRent pulls the applicant’s credit reports from all 3 major credit bureaus (this imply a SafeRent credit inquiry on the applicant’s credit report) and process it with the applicant’s rental information from its SafeRent report.

CoreLogic software compares the applicant’s SafeRent score with a minimum acceptable SafeRent score pre-entered by the property manager and comes up with 3 possible clear-cut results:

• “Accept”
• “Accept with Extra Deposit”
• “Decline”

If the result is anything other than “Accept”, the software automatically prints adverse action letters as required by the FCRA, explaining what credit was used in that decision, what credit bureau was used and 1 to 4 conditions that gave them their score.

FAQ
Q: Can I get a copy of my SafeRent Consumer File?
A: Yes. As a CRA, CoreLogic must obey the FCRA and disclose a copy of SafeRent consumer file to consumers. Use the contact information below to ask for your SafeRent Report disclosure.

Q: What information does my SafeRent Consumer File contains?
A: Your SafeRent may contain landlord-tenant records, rental performance history and criminal records. Your SafeRent report may also indicate what factors, if improved, would most improve your SafeRent score.

Q: Can I get my SafeRent score?
A: No. Under the FCRA, consumer reporting agencies are not required to disclose scores to consumers. Some companies (e.g. myFico.com) sell credit score to consumers. CoreLogic opted not to.

Q: My rental application was declined. Can SafeRent tell me why it was declined?
A: No. The criteria to accept or decline an applicant are established by the property manager, not SafeRent. SafeRent only provide their clients with consumer reports that they use as a tool in making their rental decisions. However, your adverse action letter will indicate what factors, if improved, would most improve your SafeRent score.

Q: Can I dispute information on my SafeRent report?
A: Yes. As per the FCRA you can dispute any information on your SafeRent report that is incomplete, outdated, missing or wrong. CoreLogic SafeRent will complete a reinvestigation within 30 days will notified in writing with the results. Use the contact information below to file a SafeRent dispute.

CoreLogic SafeRent Contact information
Phone:       1-800-815-8644

Website:     www.corelogic.com/saferent

Mailing address:  CoreLogic SafeRent, Consumer Relations Department
                                 P.O Box 509124
                                 San Diego, CA 92150