Credentialing Required of Landlord Businesses Wanting Credit Reports

We are informing landlords and property managers about changes coming from all three of the major credit bureaus requiring the credentialing of businesses wanting credit reports. This process is quite lengthy, costly, and frequently denies small home-based businesses [such as “mom and pop” landlords] access to credit reports.

Because of increasing difficulties nationwide resulting from fraud, identity theft, risk of casual disclosure or access, and overall mishandling of credit reports, the credit bureaus are adding more rules and regulations for accessing credit files. The new regulations affect the entire tenant screening industry. All tenant screening companies will be requiring an on-site inspection prior to granting access to credit reports.

On-site inspections will be required annually for landlords conducting business from their residences. More stringent documentation may also be required of such landlords. The annual on-site inspection is conducted to verify separation of office space from living quarters; as well as separation of office equipment such as a fax machine, telephones, computers, locked filing cabinets, etc. This separation is required to ensure that landlords are NOT working from their kitchen tables where they may accidentally leave a credit report laying around where it can be casually viewed. The onsite inspection fee must be paid in full before the inspection can be ordered.

Landlords will be able to obtain credit reports only if they successfully pass an on-site inspection by an authorized representative of the credit bureau. The authorized representative of the credit bureau will take pictures of your home and/or office, your workspace, and will ask you several required questions, such as your Tax ID and/or business license, etc., at an average cost of $100 (the actual cost may be more or less depending on the credit bureau).

To assist landlords, especially those conducting business from their residences, many tenant credit reporting agencies are now providing landlords with recommendations for “approval”, “approval with conditions” or “denial” instead of providing a detailed credit report. This way, landlords can obtain recommendations over the Internet almost instantly without sacrificing the security of a prospective tenant’s credit report.

We want to inform you that there are other alternatives available which will provide adequate background and financial information upon which a landlord of any size can base his/her rental decisions. A credit report is no longer the primary document needed to make a wise rental decision. IntelliCorp can have everyone validated for their other products within a matter of 1 to 2 days with as little as a rental agreement as proof of a landlord’s business. And, they can do it for much lower costs.

Here’s what’s happening:

All three major credit bureaus are now requiring a thorough credentialing of businesses wanting to obtain credit reports. In this new credentialing process, small home-based businesses [such as “mom and pop” landlords] are often denied access to credit reports. Because a lot of our members and visitors fall into this category, IntelliCorp has been unable to provide this service to as many people as they would like.

Some relief has recently been granted by TransUnion, but they still require an on-site inspection of the landlord’s business.

Here are the newest requirements set forth by Trans Union:

An End User [the landlord] operating from a home office may be approved [for access to credit reports] only if each of the following conditions are met:

1. The on-site inspection must confirm physical separation of the business from the living quarters.

2. The End User [the landlord] is listed in either the appropriate category of a reputable public business telephone directory (e.g., Yellow Pages, yellowpages.com, 411.com) or a national or state trade association or a current copy of the End User’s telephone bill reflects the same company name and address as the End User’s application for membership and the bill reflects commercial rate charges.

3. The End User [the landlord] must still show proof of a business (e.g., business license, vendors license, IRS tax ID) in order to have access to credit reports.

The process to obtain a credit report can take up to 2 weeks. This is because of the added paperwork, calling of bank and trade references, and finally completion of the on-site inspection (which costs $60.00 or more). This in depth process is mandated by TransUnion and is something IntelliCorp had to implement to offer credit reports to any client.

Once a client/business [landlord] has jumped through all these hoops and passed successfully, the client [landlord] will be permitted to obtain credit reports and can run as many as needed without having to fill out any additional paperwork.

Remember, there are faster, far less expensive alternatives to this cumbersome credentialing process. IntelliCorp has the ability to provide a landlord of any size with sufficient background and financial data upon which s/he can base their rental decisions without the need for a credit report.

If you have any questions or want to purchase one of our discounted bundled packages, please contact Michael Moats at 1-800-539-3717 ext. 148. Please use promo code "LLA1" to receive the discounts shown below.

Bundled Package #1 - Comprehensive Package $21.95
(after passing the credentialing process)

• Criminal SuperSearchOne (1) Single County Search
• Sex Offender Registry (all 50 states)
• Social Security Verification with Address History
  
• OFAC (Terrorist Database) Search
• One (1) state Eviction Search
• Credit Report from TransUnion

Bundled Package #2 - Smaller Package $9.95
(available to any landlord with a rental agreement as proof of their business)

• Sex Offender Registry (All 50 States)
• Social Security Verification with Address History
• OFAC (Terrorist Database) Search
• One (1) State Eviction Search
• Bankruptcies, Liens and Judgments Search

Please, visit us at www.LandlordAssociation.Org for more information about our tenant screening services.