December 19, 2023
Last Updated
Tenant Background and Credit Check Authorization Form
In order to screen your tenant applicants, you need each applicant to sign off on a tenant background and credit check authorization form.
This is what gives you the right to legally run background checks and credit checks on your applicants.
Typically this signed disclosure is included in your rental application form.
On our rental applications here at RentPrep you will see this on the second page of the form.
That section of our rental form serves as the tenant background and credit check authorization form.
If you don’t have a rental application form or you don’t see this disclosure on your rental application you’ll need to get a new form.
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Why do you need a tenant background check form?
The reason you need a tenant background check form (or our rental form) is to get proper permission from the tenant applicant to run a background check.
There are a few reasons for this…
The most common reason is that you’re pinging their credit by running a credit check. Thus, you’ll need permission to do this.
Also, the data included in a tenant screening report is very sensitive so federal laws prohibit screening companies to run a background check without written consent from the applicant.
Don’t want to bug your tenant with another authorization form?
If you create an account with RentPrep and order a SmartMove Report the authorization is tenant driven.
You will just have to select who you want to pay for the report and enter your tenant applicant’s email address.
From there, the applicant will go through some verification questions and release their credit report information to you.
This process is tenant driven which means they’ll authorize everything on their end and it’s only a soft pull on their credit.