It might seem really basic to order criminal reports on prospective tenants, but there certainly is more to it than meets the eye. One of the most common problems landlords run into when running background criminal is how criminal reports are indexed. Unlike credit where every person has a unique identifier, their SSN, criminal reports are typically indexed only by name and birth date.
Our goal is to get the most accurate data to make a decision on the potential tenant. The first step in ensuring this with any tenant screening organization is to provide a correctly spelled name, and exact birth date. The best way I’ve found to get this is require a copy of the applicant’s state issued ID along with their application. This way you can verify the spelling of the name and birth date which can sometimes be misspelled (either unintentionally or intentionally) on the rental application.
Once you submit for the background report on your subject there is a good chance, especially with common names, that you may get numerous entries back which may be un-related to your applicant. This is especially true if your applicant has a common name. Your report should be showing you the match criteria for each record. For instance, it might say “name match only”, or “name and dob”, or “partial name match”. Name and DOB matches are the most accurate because it means both the name and date of birth of the applicant match the record. This type of entry is most likely a solid match. If it states either name only or partial name it is possible this match corresponds to a different person. I’m asked a lot how to determine if the records belong to their applicant. There are a few ways:
We offer what’s called a SSN Verification report (example below). It’s really inexpensive and provides a complete address history for the applicant based upon any credit application, loans, and utility billing. It is one of the most accurate ways to determine the actual physical history of an applicant. Other tenant screening organizations might have a similarly named report with the same data. You can use this report to cross reference the locations of any records on the criminal report. If the criminal report shows a hit by name only in Chicago, IL and the SSN Verification report shows that your applicant lived in Chicago, IL during the same dates, it is highly likely that the criminal report is for your applicant.
If your screening vendor doesn’t have such a report you can always ask your applicant. Keeping it vague generally produces the best results. A question like “So where did you live in the 90’s?” will prompt a more accurate response (especially if somebody is trying to hide their past) than “Did you commit any felonies in Chicago, IL in 1995?”
Finally, you can also order a county level criminal report either direct from the county courthouse of the offense, or from your screening vendor. Ordering the report directly from the county will produce the most up to date results with the most information available for you to make a decision on the particular offense and if it matches your applicant.
We help landlords and property managers read thousands of credit and criminal reports. If you have a questions about how to read them, we can help right here. Don’t publish any personal or private information publicly though when requesting help on either credit or criminal reports, nor should any information which could identify an individual ever be posted publicly when requesting help.
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Nathan is a member of Rentec Direct who provides property management software, tenant ach payment processing, and Rentec Direct's tenant credit, criminal, and eviction screening.
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