Almost one-fifth of Americans have poor credit. Nearly one-tenth of Americans have a felony conviction on their record. If either of these items is a deal-breaker to rent your property, you need a reliable way to determine whether or not your applicants fit into these categories.

Imagine: you’ve just received a rental application. The applicant seems reputable, listing a high-paying job for their current employer and requesting the perfect move-in date to keep your vacancy period to a minimum. 

Unfortunately for you, the applicant is a serial squatter lying about their current employer. 

How will you figure this out before you get stuck battling a non-paying tenant for months on end? Simple: partnering with one of the top tenant screening companies!

This post covers five top tenant screening companies that can help you avoid making mistakes regarding your applicant approval processes. 

Key Features of Tenant Screening Companies 

Tenant screening is the cornerstone of your property management processes. Without it, you won’t be able to ensure your property finds its ideal tenant. But what exactly should you be seeking in tenant screening companies? Let's look at the key aspects and features of a robust tenant screening process.

First and foremost, your tenant screening partner must be able to perform comprehensive background checks. This background check should include criminal history, credit history, eviction records, employment verification, and a thorough examination of rental history. 

Income verification is another essential piece of the tenant screening puzzle. Without strong income verification processes, you won’t be able to confirm that your applicants have the funds they need to afford the rent you charge. When your tenant screening company gets income verification right, your chances of wrestling with a tenant with delinquent payments goes down considerably. 

Related Read: Property Management Tenant Screening: Tips & Tools to Improve Your Process

Your properties and needs are unique, so another feature to consider is the customizability of a tenant screening company’s offerings. Look for a solution that can tailor screening criteria to your needs, helping you find candidates perfectly suited to your property. For example, you may want to set parameters around pet ownership, vehicle ownership, or other requirements. You may also have some “hard” criteria (dealbreakers), and other criteria may be “soft,” which would not make an applicant ineligible for your property, but may flag as a point of concern.

In the business of property management, time is often of the essence. Hence, quick turnaround time in screening processes is essential. You also want to explore a tenant screening partner who offers an intuitive, user-friendly online platform. These features will simplify the screening process and help make it painless for you and your applicants. 

Reputable tenant screening companies also help you maintain compliance with laws like the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and local fair housing regulations. You may fall out of compliance without the right solution, resulting in fines or worse!

Last but not least: affordability matters. You need strong tenant screening services… but you have competing costs and priorities! It’s important you find a tenant screening company whose pricing aligns with your budget. 

With all this in mind, let’s dive into our list of the five top tenant screening companies! 

1. RentPrep 

RentPrep offers a user-friendly interface that can help you simplify tenant screening. Their comprehensive packages include a full credit report, nationwide eviction report, judgments and liens, bankruptcies, and national criminal and sex offender search. 

RentPrep offers an easy-to-follow tutorial for the tenant screening process, guides on rental background checks and tenant credit checks, and additional insights for informed decision-making. Some key features of RentPrep include:

• Pre-built landlord and real estate forms
• RentPrep resource center, featuring blogs, a podcast, and more
• Facebook community featuring over 10,000 landlords

Pricing: RentPrep offers a TransUnion credit report starting at $40 and a background check starting at $21.

Review:

“RentPrep is very easy and affordable.  They are always improving their services for us as landlords and ensuring personal data is never exchanged.  We consider the RentPrep team a valuable member of our team!” -RentPrep customer 

2. E-Renter 

You can use E-Renter to order efficient and comprehensive tenant screening reports. E-Renter provides prompt online results in a secure and user-friendly interface. They offer three tenant screening packages with various features. 

E-Renter is 100% online and requires no specialized software to operate. We eliminate on-site inspections for individual landlords and provide background check results in as quick as an hour during office hours. You can also request same-day service outside of office hours if necessary.

Some features E-Renter offers in their screening packages include:

• Nationwide service
• Judgments and collections checks
• Social security death index checks

Pricing: E-Renter’s Ultimate screening package starts at $36.95

Review:

“...it's easy to see what makes [E-Renter] so popular with landlords and property managers. They have truly gone out of their way to make easy for you to buy your tenant background and credit reports. Their excellent customer support is also a big plus as well.” -PropertyDo.com

3. VeriFirst 

VeriFirst, offers risk management and compliance background screening services. They offer services for employee and corporate screening in addition to tenant screening. VeriFirst also simplifies FCRA Background Check Compliance through an all-in-one compliance portal, ensuring adherence to FCRA regulations during the hiring process for added ease and assurance.

Some of VeriFirst’s most appealing features for property managers include:

• Corporate and international applicant screenings
• Complimentary pre-screening of income and asset information
• Custom acceptance and denial letter templates

Pricing: VeriFirst’s pricing is available only upon request on their website. 

Review:

“VeriFirst is an efficient and reliable platform for employment background checks. Simple and easy to use dashboard with all of the options you need to verify applicant information.” -VeriFirst customer

4. DoorLoop 

DoorLoop offers a comprehensive solution for tenant background checks, catering to landlords and property managers seeking reliable and responsible tenants for their rental properties. This tenant screening software streamlines the process of running in-depth background checks, credit assessments, and bankruptcy checks on potential tenants. 

By utilizing DoorLoop's platform, landlords can effectively evaluate an applicant's criminal history, credit history, eviction records, and bankruptcy filings. In addition to background checks, DoorLoop's features encompass credit history analysis, eviction history verification, and bankruptcy record checks, empowering landlords to make well-informed leasing choices.

Some of DoorLoop’s top features include:

• Accounting and financials
• CRM for prospective tenants
• eSignature features

Pricing: DoorLoop’s basic package starts at $29.50 per month for one unit. 

Review:

“I used to run background checks manually but was never too happy with the results, as it was hard to quickly tell which tenants would be the best fit. With DoorLoop, I can analyze an applicant in seconds, saving me hours for each unit." -DoorLoop customer 

5. Intellirent 

Intellirent's Leasing Tools empower you to attract, screen, and compare rental applicants, enabling swift approvals of dependable tenants. Our quick and easy-to-use interface can help you fill vacancies in hours rather than days. 

Intellirent also helps with effective property marketing, including creating compelling property listings, generating custom-branded listing websites, and distributing listings to over 80 listing sites with a single click. You can also use our trademark Renter SmartMatch™ features to reduce friction in the leasing process, cutting vacancy rates and providing an efficient, back-office solution for every step of your leasing process.

Some key features of our solution include:

• Customizable online application
• Robust, easy-to-run credit and background checks
• Professional property listings
• Centralized collaboration

Pricing: Intellirent is always free for leasing managers! Applicants will pay $30 to submit their application, but you’ll never pay a dime.

Review:

“One of the most time-consuming aspects of tenant screening is the back and forth. The form was incorrectly filled out, or information is missing. Partial applications are received, causing us to go back and forth with the applicant multiple times. Every mishap causes a delay, and these delays add up to a lot of costly time for both the renter and the landlord. Intellirent is a game-changer. Coupled with our hands-on, personalized approach, it’s a win-win for all.” -Lindsay Victory, The Rental Girl

The Best Tenant Screening Company for Your Properties 

The solutions listed in this post all offer strong tenant screening services. However, the best tenant screening company is not one-size-fits-all. You must select the best tenant screening solution for your property’s needs.

If you’re looking for a tenant screening company with a proven solution that allows you to approve high-quality renters in hours, not days, consider creating a free account with Intellirent!

Our Renter SmartMatch™ solution allows you to attract renters, screen applicants, and compare and approve the right fit for your property, all within the same platform. 

Create your free Intellirent account and list your first property today to see how easy and efficient Renter SmartMatch™ can make your tenant screening processes!