A prospective tenant can provide their own credit report, but in most states, the landlord is not required to use that report. Many landlords will instead opt to have tenant screening services pull more complete reports, which generally include credit checks, criminal background, and eviction history.
Read the table below to identify the benefits and drawbacks of submitting your own credit report to a landlord:
| Benefits | Drawbacks |
| Reduced or waived application fee | Cost to purchase the report |
| Applicant knows exactly what is on the report and can prepare an explanation if needed | The landlord may view the request as suspicious or as a fraudulent report |
| Avoid multiple credit checks as it can lower your credit score | In most states, the landlord doesn’t have to accept the report, even if you already paid for it |
Application fees are often used to cover the cost of hiring a service to pull a tenant screening report, which usually includes a credit report. An applicant may try to have the landlord reduce or waive the application fee in exchange for submitting a credit history themselves. It’s common practice for landlords to charge application fees except where it is illegal to do so. Massachusetts is the only state that prohibits application fees unless it is a licensed broker, while a few other states have limits on how much can be charged. Check out this table below for the maximum rental application fee in each state:
Depending on how many rentals an applicant applies for, the application fees can add up.
Under federal law, each of the three credit agencies is required to provide a free credit report once per year. An applicant can pull their credit report for free, and then submit that to the landlord.
However, keep in mind a credit report is only valid for 120 days. So even if a landlord does accept a copy of your credit report, it will need to have been within the last 120 days to be considered valid.
Landlords are federally required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to receive written permission from a potential tenant to pull their credit report.
59.2% of the population has a FICO credit score over 700. While this is great news for most Americans, it is important to know what is on your report.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received 197,709 credit report complaints with 66% of the complaints regarding credit information that belonged to someone else. This means that even if you think you know your score, a change made that’s not from your actions could keep you from your dream rental.
Keep in mind, that changes in your credit report are typically normal with credit usage. Paying off account balances or making a big purchase can affect your score. However, you should look through your credit report to confirm the information is accurate, including:
It is not uncommon for people to discover incorrect account information like late payments, debts listed more than once, or information added as a result of identity theft. Looking at your report helps to ensure the information a potential landlord sees is accurate.
There is no legal obligation to accept an applicant-pulled credit report, nor are landlords obligated to reduce or waive the application fee in exchange for a freely supplied report.
Most landlords will opt to not accept a free credit report supplied by the applicant. There are a few reasons for this:
In most cases, landlords will require all their applicants to pay the application fee, meaning there’s no reason to allow prospective tenants to submit their own reports.
There are certainly landlords who don’t plan to do full background histories on each prospective tenant. In these cases, they may ask that each applicant provide their own credit report.
Landlords may ask for applicant-submitted credit reports in these situations:
However, most landlords will want to collect a more thorough history and will likely hire a service rather than ask the applicants themselves for the credit report.
It may seem cheaper to spend less on screening reports, but in the long run, property owners will pay much more for evictions, property damage, and unplanned vacancies caused by under-screened candidates.
Landlords are legally within their right to reject applicants for negative marks on their credit history. In fact, it’s one of the more common reasons for turning down an application, as having tenants with a strong history of paying their financial obligations is paramount to the long-term success of a rental.
In addition, applicants may also be rejected for refusing to submit a credit report or not allowing a landlord to pull a full tenant screening report.
However, if a landlord does reject an applicant due to their credit history, the landlord is legally required to submit an “adverse action” notice that includes:
Landlords can choose a tenant with a poor credit history. Depending on the other applications they receive, someone with a low credit score or no credit score may be the best option.
To help mitigate the risk of selecting an applicant with a lower credit score, landlords may:
If a tenant does have incorrect information on their credit report, they will need to dispute the information with the credit reporting company. Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion offer online, by mail, and phone services.
The credit reporting company will then:
The tenant can submit proof of disputing the information to the landlord, but this doesn’t necessarily mean they will change their mind. If a landlord has a qualified applicant, they may choose that person instead. It can take up to 30 days to complete an investigation and by the time you receive the result, it may be too late.
Be knowledgeable about your credit as it can help you avoid drama. Many banks and credit cards offer credit reporting services that don’t affect your score. It notifies when when your score changes and often offers suggestions to help you improve your score.
(a) A landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee shall not be allowed to require or demand any prospective tenant to pay for a rental application fee. (b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee from requiring an official state criminal background check from the bureau of criminal identification (BCI), department of attorney general, state police or local police department where the prospective tenant resides or from requiring a credit check subject to the following limitations:
(1) If a prospective tenant provides a required official state criminal background check or credit report issued within ninety (90) days of the application for a rental unit, no fee for such official state criminal background check and/or credit report may be charged by the respective landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee; (2) If a prospective tenant does not provide a required official state background check and/or credit report issued within ninety (90) days of the application for a rental unit, then the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee may charge the prospective tenant a fee representing not more than the actual cost of obtaining the official state background check and/or credit report. Provided further, any prospective tenant who is charged a fee under this subsection for a background check or credit report shall be provided with a copy of the background check or credit report; and (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor, real estate broker, property management company, or designee from obtaining an independent background check or credit report at the landlord’s own expense.
