Best Tenant Screening Services of 2020 (Reviews & Guide)

How do you know whether your potential tenants have no criminal records, pay their rent (on time), take care of your property, and so on and so forth? Simple, you find the best tenant screening services out there and let it do all the tedious legwork for you. 

Not sure which one to pick? No sweat! 

We designed this guide specifically with you in mind. Here, we’ll explain all there is to know about the different tenant screening services and the many potential benefits they offer, including: 

• Best features 
• Customer reviews
• Affordable prices
• Ease of use
• And much more!

Like what you hear? Then come take a look!

Affiliate Disclosure

Overview — After multiple analyses and comparisons, Rentprep screening services tops our list as the best overall in 2020. What makes them stand out from the crowd is that they invest in their people’s screening skills — hence why they are highly-trained and FCRA-certified. The company also believes that manual screening provides more accurate results than databases; and for good reason too!

Customer reviews — The company earned high scores (4.8 and 4.9) on both Google and Facebook, which speaks volumes about its reputation and credibility. Don’t believe us? Well then, check people reviews and see for yourself!

Ease of use — The platform itself is relatively easy to use. On top of that, beginners will be pleased to hear that the company provides expert help (and aid) throughout the whole process.

Customer support — Besides having real people to assist you whenever necessary, their exceptional customer support team makes your experience both pleasant and satisfying. Clients can always reach them through phone, email, fax, or by filling up a form on their website. There’s also a list of FAQs to answer the most common questions.

Pricing and features — The company offers two plan options for screening tenants with affordable pricing:

• The comprehensive rental history report for $18.95 — It doesn’t require the tenant’s participation and includes data such as nationwide evictions, Social Security Number (SSN), address history, bankruptcy, and liens. Additional services include nationwide criminal and sex offender search for an extra $4.00, a credit decision report for a further $9.95, and income verification for another $10.00.
• And the SmartMove full credit checks for tenants report for $38.00 — It requires the applicant’s consent and email verification to receive the full results. This plan also includes a full credit report, a ResidentScore, a rental background check, and an applicant pay option, on top of the primary inclusions above. If you also want to have judgment and liens, it costs an additional $4.95, and income verification comes at an extra $10.00 as well.

Pros:

• Better report accuracy due to FCRA-trained screeners
• Affordable and comprehensive plans
• Exceptional support for beginners
• Outstanding customer experience
• Live screening

Cons:

• No 24/7 customer support
• No option to charge the applicants directly

Overview — RentSpree is a full-service online tenant application and screening platform that offers tons of cool features, such as credit reports, background checks, eviction history, and more. With this brand you no longer have to print, scan, fax, or copy any rental applications, saving you both valuable time and money.

Customer reviews — The company boasts a high Google review score of 4.7/5 (out of 899 reviews) and 5/5 (out of just five reviews) on Facebook at the time of writing. The very few negative reviews were mostly the result of miscommunication between the customer and the customer support team.

Ease of use — The best background check companies should keep up with current trends and adapt accordingly. In this case, the brand has done its homework, and as a result, its website is both intuitive and mobile-friendly. 

Customer support — There are lots of ways you can get assistance from their customer support. You can either fill in the contact form on their website, give them a call, send them an email, or use live chat during business hours. If you prefer not to interact, there are also articles and FAQs you can read on their website.

Pricing and features — There’s a free package for agents and owners, which includes a tenant credit and background check, a nationwide eviction check, identity verification, and rental application. For applicants, the premium package ranges from $30.00 to $39.00 and does not impact credit score. What’s more, the entire process is user-friendly, mobile-friendly, uses secured information, and provides excellent client support.

Pros:

• User-friendly online platform
• Soft credit check
• Extensive criminal records check
• Free for agents, landlords, and property managers
• Excellent customer service

Cons:

• Long wait time for phone calls
• The site gets down at times

Overview — The oldest brand on our list and the best tenant screening services for landlords who manage multiple properties. In addition, they provide huge discounts for over ten screenings per month. To take advantage of it, all you have to do is fill up a simple form on their site and ask for a quote. They also offer services that others don’t, such as telecheck verification, lease guarantee, and underwriting. 

Customer reviews — TenantAlert doesn’t have any Google or Facebook reviews to show as of yet, but it does have a comprehensive report from Shopper Approved — a reputation management platform that collects 10X more reviews. TenantAlert has a solid overall satisfaction rating of 4.8/5 out of 261 customer reviews. Meaning, this tenant background search company certainly “checks out.”

Ease of use — The platform is pretty straightforward with a clear web structure and pleasant interface. Navigating is easy and pleasurable as well. 

Customer support — Reaching a live agent by phone during their office hours (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM PST Mondays through Fridays) is also uncomplicated and relatively simple. You can also send them an email or use the form on the site.

Pricing and features — TenantAlert’s pricing may not be the cheapest on our list, but they sure are affordable. Overall, they have four tenant screening packages.

• The basic package costs $24.95 and includes a credit report, credit score, previous address and rental history report, and TeleCheck check verification.
• The plus package goes for $29.95 and includes everything the basic package has, plus a LeaseGuarantee analyzer and statewide eviction report.
• The pro package costs $39.95 and contains the previous two packages, plus statewide criminal records, as well as terrorist, sex offender, and federal search.
• Finally, The premier package goes for $49.95 and contains all of the above, plus an SSN fraud check.

Pros:

• Extensive industry experience
• 4 plan options
• LeaseGuarantee insurance available
• Easy-to-use platform
• Excellent reputation

Cons:

• Customer support is not available 24/7
• Eviction data is not included in the basic package

Overview — Avail is a software platform for landlords who prefer a more hands-on approach. Namely, it’s an all-in-one do-it-yourself platform that offers both tenant screening and property management (rent collection, property marketing tools, and lease management). And the best part — they all come free of charge for landlords! 

Customer reviews — Despite Avail not having any Google reviews available right now, Capterra, a well-known software review site, has recorded extensive customer reviews. The said tenant screening services for landlords has earned a score of 4.5/5 out of 139 reviews. As for Facebook, it earned 4/5 out of just 5 reviews. 

Ease of use — The platform itself is clear and straightforward. What’s more, you have everything you need for your tenant screening and property management all in one place. You can go through each process without much hassle as the whole site is streamlined. It’s easy to use on any device and there’s even an app available for download.

Customer support — There are three ways to contact Avail’s customer support: through phone, chat, or by filling the form on their site. Do note that the chat box is operated by a bot and not a live agent. Despite this, the site itself is overflowing with helpful articles about how to screen tenants, how to manage properties, and other related topics.

Pricing and features — Depending on the services you want, Avail has unique packages for its property management. 

• The landlords’ services are free on the unlimited plan, including listings, credit and criminal screening, free rental history report, leases, and maintenance tracking.
• The unlimited plus plan costs $5.00/unit, which includes everything in the unlimited plan, plus waived ACH fees, clone and reuse custom lease agreements, next-Day rent payments, custom applications and leases, and create your own properties website.
• Tenants can apply for credit, criminal background, and eviction checks for $30.00 each or $55.00 if taken as a bundle.

Pros:

• Wide collection of online educational resources
• Numerous integration options
• Mostly positive reviews
• Well-structured pricing plans
• Free plan for landlords

Cons:

• No live chat agent
• Not advisable for beginners

Overview — It’s worth noting right off the bat that LeaseRunner doesn’t offer packages. Instead, they offer individual services, which is unlike any other tenant screening company. This strategy is best applicable to landlords who need only bits and pieces and not full reports. Nevertheless, if all individual services are taken into account, the total cost could be on the pricier side. 

Another unique feature of LeaseRunner is that it sources its tenant credit check online reports from the Experian Credit Bureau instead of TransUnion like most other tenant screening services companies.

Customer reviews — Their website has a neat system that tracks customer reviews efficiently. As of right now, their customer reviews score sits at a solid 4.6/5 out of 96 reviews.

Ease of use — Judging from its website’s structure, it’s surprisingly easy to use and relatively painless to navigate. Many of its clients say so too. Despite the significant ease of use, LeaseRunner also utilizes VantageScore 3.0 to cross-check data from multiple credit bureaus. No wonder their reports are so extensive!

Customer support — Aside from a lot of positive feedback from customers, LeaseRunner also has an excellent customer support system. In addition, you can find many helpful articles about the best credit and background checks for landlords, and more, on their website. You can reach them through phone or email, between 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Mountain time, Mondays thru Fridays.

Pricing and features — There’s no monthly fee for signing up at LeaseRunner. Rental ads and digital rental applications are also free. Below are the services with notably minimal fees. Note that they can either be paid by the applicant or the landlord (except for the Digital Lease e-signature, which will be paid by the landlord).

• Landlord-tenant credit check report — $20.00
• Criminal Report — $15.00
• Applicant’s financial health report — $10.00
• Nationwide eviction search report — $12.00
• Digital Lease e-signature — $33.00
• Online rent payments — $4.00

Pros:

• Individual solutions
• Free tools for automated advertisements
• Budget-friendly
• Robust credit report tool
• Soft-pull credit report

Cons:

•  No online chat capability
• No FCRA-certified agent

Overview — SmartMove is a direct product of TransUnion — one of the three major credit bureaus along with Experian and Equifax. Although most tenant screening services also get their report from TransUnion, SmartMove is the only one that gets it directly from them.

Customer reviews — As of the time of writing, there are no available Google or Facebook reviews’ ratings that we can include here. The website doesn’t have any testimonials either. However, according to some best tenant screening services Biggerpockets’ customer reviews, they’ve had some refund and system mistakes, which were later rectified by a customer support representative.

Ease of use — They have a user-friendly platform and the screening process is just a click away. All you have to do is submit your email address and you’re good to go!

Customer support — Its customer support page leads to various options, such as the FAQ page, the About Us page, and the Contact Us page where you have to fill in a form to ask questions. Still, according to numerous tenant screening service reviews, the company does not offer live chat nor the option of a phone call.

Pricing and features — The company offers three comprehensive plan options for screening tenants with equivalent pricing.

• The basic plan costs $25.00 per screening and includes a nationwide criminal background report and a ResidentScore credit check — SmartMove’s unique offering. Namely, its “predict evictions” feature helps landlords save money by flagging risky applicants.
• The plus plan goes for $38.00 per screening and includes a full best credit check for landlords and a national eviction report as well as the basic plan.
• The premium plan goes for $40.00 and includes Income Insights in addition to the basic and plus plans. Income Insights is a custom report that notifies the landlord on whether an applicant needs additional income verification. In effect, it lowers the risk of renter’s payment issues. Only SmartMove offers this unique service!

Pros:

• Data comes directly from the TransUnion credit bureau
• Full credit check
• Easy-to-use platform
• Manage multiple properties from a single account
• Landlords can pass the cost to the tenants

Cons:

• The criminal background check is restricted in some states
• The customer support procedure needs streamlining

Overview — What sets Turbo Tenant apart from the competition is the pallet of free marketing tools for landlords. These include flyers, brochures, posting, advertising, listings, etc. Landlords can do more than just screenings of applicants — hence why we named it the best all-in-one platform.

Customer reviews — Turbo Tenant is proud of its positive tenant screening services reviews from customers who appreciate being able to do both marketing and screening on a single platform, and their testimonials page shows just that. While we couldn’t find any Google reviews, they do have Facebook reviews with an average rating of 4/5 from 53 people.

Ease of use — The company offers a streamlined online application process, making the platform incredibly easy to use.

Customer support — Although customer support is not available 24/7, it has an efficient system in place. Customers can contact agents through email, live chat, contact form, or their unique calendar-based phone appointment system.

Pricing and features — Despite landlords getting free tenant screening and similar services, Turbo Tenant has two renters packages:

• The basic package includes a credit and criminal report for $35.00
• The premium package includes a credit, criminal, and eviction report for $45.00

Pros:

• Unique free marketing and property management tools
• Wide range of ala-carte solutions
• Quick and painless screening process
• Uses TransUnion to run a tenant credit check
• Caters to landlords with up to 100 properties

Cons:

• Lacks income and employment verification tools
• Eviction report is not included on the basic package

Overview — MyRental is backed by CoreLogic, a reputable real estate database. Its operations are purely online and it’s known to have some of the most influential technologies in the industry. What’s more, the brand offers affordable ala-carte services and individual solutions starting from $7.99.

Customer reviews — There are no Google reviews available for this brand nor any Facebook reviews. Even its website has merely three testimonials.

Ease of use — The platform is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Another unique feature is the automatic 24/7 website and database update. Thus, people working outside regular working hours will find it useful indeed.

Customer Support — Although there are only specific customer service hours, the site also has a blog and a FAQ section that customers may find helpful when asking how to run a credit check on a tenant or other related concerns. Otherwise, you can contact them through phone, chat, or email. They have a reputation for quality customer service so you needn’t worry much.

Pricing and features — The brand offers verification services in two packages and a plethora of ala-carte deals:

• The basic plan includes a nationwide criminal background check, eviction history, multi-state sex offender report, and even a terrorist report for $24.99. 
• On top of the basic plan, the premium plan includes a credit report, a renter pay option, a SafeRent score, and more, and goes for $34.99.
• For those who prefer to pick and choose solutions, the individual services are credit check for tenants report for $14.99, eviction history for $7.99, multistate criminal record search for $19.99, statewide criminal search for $9.99, and county criminal search for $14.99. Naturally, these options are great for those looking for specific deals, and they are easy on the budget too.

Pros:

• Offers ala-carte services at an affordable price
• Ease of use even after office hours
• Fast results
• Quick and helpful customer service
• Constantly updated database

Cons:

• Live screeners don’t verify reports
• Doesn’t check references

Overview — Although E-Renter’s packages may not be the most affordable on the market, their features are extensive and worth every penny. There’s criminal, sex offender, judgment, lien, and even bankruptcy records.

Customer reviews — Those familiar with tenant screening services have already heard about E-Renter. The company has had an excellent reputation since it was founded almost two decades ago. Sadly, if you want to check people reviews, there are no Google reviews available, and their Facebook reviews score is only 2.2 from merely 5 reviewers. 

Ease of use — E-Renter is yet another fully online platform that you can use freely without the need for any special software. The website’s interface is also clear and straightforward. The processes are streamlined and the reports are generated within an hour of submission. For landlord-tenant screening, it’s even faster — just 15 minutes!

Customer support — The brand’s reputation as one of the best tenant screening services companies was built around outstanding customer service. Moreover, the company also invests in employee training and ensures that they are all certified FCRA agents. In addition, they can be contacted either by phone or email from as early as 6:00 AM to 8:00 PM, Mondays thru Saturdays.

Pricing and features — Their packages contain a lot of reports for almost half the price, giving you the best bang for your buck.

• The basic package includes SSN verification, OFAC/Patriot Act Research, evictions and suits, liens and judgments, bankruptcies, criminal records search, and sex offender search for only $19.95.
• The premium package includes all of the above, plus the tenant credit check, FICO score, and collections for only $29.99 + $1.99 from the tenant.
• The ultimate package includes all of the above, plus name history, address history, and rent check advisor assessment.

Pros:

• Simple and affordable pricing structure
• Accurate results and human touch due to FCRA-certified employees
• Exceptional customer support
• Fast results
• Extremely popular

Cons:

• Can’t charge the applicant directly
• Blog posts are too outdated

Overview — Buildium is an end-to-end property management software company that uses a cloud management system to streamline the management of multiple. The company takes pride in offering everything that a budding property manager needs and has one of the most extensive screening services available. 

Still, larger corporations may find its features a bit sporadic and it may not be named as one of the best tenant verification services for individual landlords as it is a bit overwhelming.

Customer reviews — There are no Google reviews available for Buildium right now, but it does have 87 reviews on Facebook with an average review rating of 3.7/5. In addition, the majority of the negative feedback was about how overwhelming their system is and how long it takes for issues to be resolved.

Ease of use — This is the best tenant screening services platform for tech-savvy landlords and property managers. Yet, it’s also a double-edged sword as it’s overly complicated and hard to master. Moreover, it comes with a downloadable app that is compatible with any device.

Customer support — The best way to contact customer support is by calling the number indicated on their website during business hours. While there may have been some negative reviews about them, we found their agents both helpful and friendly. Another way of reaching them is by submitting a ticket on their website. You can also leave a message on the chatbot, and an agent will get back to you once they come online.

Pricing and features — Buildium has solid plans and features, given that it’s more of a property management platform than a tenant verification services company. Namely, the three packets are:

• The Essential plan ($50.00) which includes a free marketing website, tenant screening, and standard reports. There are also add-ons with corresponding prices for those who prefer it.
• The Growth plan ($160.00) — includes the Essential plan, plus it comes with unlimited e-Leases, performance analytics, and insights. Free tenant screening is also included as well. Like the Essential plan, you also have the option to add additional services; for a fee. 
• The Premium plan is the most comprehensive and also the most expensive one. It contains both the Essential and Growth plans, plus a plethora of other services, such as Business analytics and insights, open API, Buildium rewards, ticket support, live phone support, and much more. Like the other two plans, it also includes a tenant screening report.

Pros:

• Solid plans and features
• Cloud-based system
• Vast property management tools
• Instant generation of reports
• Streamlined processes

Cons:

• Does not provide credit score
• A bit costly

Real estate properties are costly investments you simply can’t afford to fail. Instead of wasting precious time trying to figure it out all on your own, you should employ the help of seasoned professionals that know the entire process like the back of their hands.

Yet, with the over-abundance of tenant screening services on the current market just what is the best tenant screening service? 

To answer this conundrum, we’ve painstakingly scrutinized dozens upon dozens of brands until we’ve effectively separated the wheat from the chaff. Here’s the exact criteria we used to get our top 10 list:

Customer Reviews — Customers make the core of every successful business. They are the ones that help a company build a lasting reputation, especially for online platforms like tenant verification services. As such, customer reviews can speak volumes about a brand; these are first-hand experiences of not just one but dozens of people who had actual contact with the many different platforms on offer. 

Hence, we took what they had to say into serious consideration when reviewing the best screenings services for tenants on the current market.  

Ease of Use — Managing properties, and multiple ones at that, is exhausting in itself. The whole purpose of getting the best tenant credit and background check company is to make your life easier by taking most of the cumbersome workload off of you. Thus, we ranked the brands that were more user-friendly and easy to use higher on our list.

Customer Support — Each brand on our list went through extensive scrutiny, and customer support was no exception. Namely, in today’s world, exceptional customer support goes without saying, no matter the industry. Therefore, we didn’t have to think twice about this one when ranking our top 10 list.

Features — From credit reports, criminal background checks, SSN verifications, eviction reports, rental history reports, and everything else in between. We’ve helped you narrow your search. All you have to do is choose the one that suits your needs the most.

Pricing — We analyzed the many different factors that helped us arrive at the best value for money. The most expensive options are not always the best. And at other times, they’re worth every penny. On the other hand, the cheapest options could cost less but offer little in return. That is why we looked at the middle ground to find the best ratio of price and the services offered — or in other words, value.

In short, brands that offered more value generally ranked higher.

Finding tenants that will treat your property as if it were their own is definitely not easy. Yet, it’s not impossible either — you only need to find the right tenant screening company.

Now, that’s the tricky part! Hence, the reason we’ve compiled the necessary info in the guide below to help you pick the best one in the sea of screening companies.

All in all, the best tenant background search company must:

Offer a vast array of services — The worst thing that a landlord can experience is having to jump from one vendor to another to be able to complete all the services and reports they need to screen their future tenants. Thus, make sure you choose the one with a wide array of services that has a clear pricing structure.

Have a user-friendly platform — Even though the screening company will do most of the legwork for you, you still need to use their platform to place your order and jumpstart the whole process. Hence, to get the best credit and background check for landlords, you must find an intuitive, user-friendly online platform. That way you get the most optimal, streamlined user experience.

Have excellent customer support — Naturally, a new platform will come with a lot of questions, and not being able to get answers you need in a timely manner can be frustrating. Worse yet, you get to talk with an unfriendly customer support agent early in the morning and get zero help. 

To avoid such a scenario, always pick the company with top-notch customer support; the best way to do this is to check people reviews and see what they have to say.

The Bottom Line

Tenant screening services provide tremendous help and ensure that you get only the best tenants for your properties. We did our best to scrutinize the top ones in the industry, so we hope that our list helped you make an informed decision and picked the right one for your particular needs. 

Take your particular needs into consideration and see which of the above best tenant screening services matches your demands the most.