• Reason to use: You can learn a lot just by talking to someone
• Limitations:
  • People lie. Lie detectors on questionnaires are more reliable than human judgment.
  • Beware adverse impact. Impressions are influenced by things (e.g., skin color) that bias judgments.
  • Beware illegal questions. There are many prohibited grounds for denying tenancy (e.g., religion, marital status, ethnicity). Asking questions about those protected grounds can get you into legal trouble. Check the laws governing your area.
  • Some interviews are better than others. Structuring interviews can improve interview quality.
• Typical cost: Time if you do it yourself. Some agencies may include interviews as part of a package.

• Reason to use: Find out what this person is like as a tenant by someone who should know
• Limitations:
  • The reference could be bogus. Giving a friend as a reference may be one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it still used.
  • The vast majority of references are positive. Tenants generally only list people who think highly of them, and most landlords probably avoid badmouthing people.
  • Laws may prohibit references from saying anything bad about the tenant
  • References may not know important information. It depends how involved they are with their units.
  • References may have forgotten details. After all, you are likely asking them about one tenant out of many.
• Typical cost: Time if you do it yourself. If you use a screening agency, ~$10.

• Reason to use: See whether a person has a reliable job/income, which will likely affect his or her ability to pay make rent payments on time.
• Limitations:
  • Most troublesome tenants are employed at the time they apply to rent.
  • The reference could be bogus. Giving a friend as a reference may be one of the oldest tricks in the book, but it still used.
  • The vast majority of references are positive. Tenants generally only list people who think highly of them, and most employers probably avoid badmouthing their employees.
  • Laws may prohibit employers from saying anything bad about employees.
  • Employer information may not be useful if the tenant just changed jobs or moved long distances.
• Typical cost: Time if you do it yourself. If you use a screening agency, ~$10 to $20 depending on number of attempts and how far back the verification goes.

• Reason to use: Estimate a tenant's risk of late payment or nonpayment of rent. Reports indicate (a) whether a person has a history of late payments, (b) the amount of debt a person is carrying, and (c) employment history.
• Limitations:
  • Plenty of bad tenants have good credit.
  • A majority of credit reports contain mistakes, with 1 out of 4 containing "serious" errors (US National Association of State PIRGs, Cassady & Mierzwinski, 2004).
  • Using a report containing an error can result in lawsuits (e.g., see New York Times article).
  • They don't tell you whether someone has been a bad tenant. Reports do not include late payments to landlords/property managers.
  • They probably result in adverse impact. Minorities are more likely to have low credit ratings (Federal Trade Commission 2007; Gallagher 2006), so should be systematically disadvantaged.
  • Good people often get bad credit for reasons outside of their control (e.g., divorce, error, brief period of unemployment).
• Typical cost: ~$20 per person.
  As always, you get what you pay for. Some reports included more information than others (e.g., an overall credit score).

• Reason to use: Don't repeat the same mistake made by a previous landlord/property manager!
• Limitations:
  • Very few problem renters make it to the eviction stage. These people would leave no record.
  • There are many cases of mistaken identity in which you get a report pertaining to someone with the same or a similar name.
  • Having a record is not enough. There are many court outcomes (e.g., settlement, mediation, dismissal). In some cases a tenant can request that their eviction record be expunged, particularly if the tenant prevailed, the case was dismissed or deemed a misunderstanding (LawHelpMN.org, 2004).
• • Not all evictions are relevant grounds for declining an applicant. The eviction should be recent (e.g., within the last 10 years). It should also be related. For example, an eviction notice for having a pet in a no-pet unit is irrelevant if the person no longer has pets or your unit accepts pets.
• Typical cost: ~$10 to $20 per person, depending on the area and comprehensiveness

• Reason to use: Don't repeat the same mistake made by a previous landlord/property manager!
• Limitations:
  • Data will only be available for a certain percentage of applicants - there will not be any information on someone who has never rented, or rented from someone who does not participate in the the particular list you are using.
• Typical cost: Depends on the list. Some are free, though those are probably less comprehensive than large paid lists.
• Examples: (Note: these examples are not endorsements)
  • RentCheckCorp.com - Canada's largest tenant history databse
  • Do Not Rent To.com
  • Renter Hall Of Shame.com
  • TICA - Australia and New Zealand's largest tenant history database
  • The Deadbeat Database

Note: criminal record checks were available before the 1970s, but obtaining that information was originally such a lengthy and costly process that it generally wasn't feasible.

• Reason to use: Protect property (and other tenants) from people at increased risk for damaging or stealing property.
• Limitations:
  • Most bad tenants have no criminal convictions.
  • Criminal records systematically discriminate against minorities. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, 28% of Black males will serve time in a federal prison. Compare that to 16% of Hispanic males, and only 4% of White males (Bonczar & Beck, 1997).
  • Many laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of a criminal record (check legislation in your jurisdiction). Before denying someone accommodation, you should ensure that the reasons for incarceration justify declining to rent accommodation to that person.
  • Most criminals go undetected. Estimates are that less than half of crimes committed are discovered. For those that are discovered, suspects are identified in less than half of the cases. Of individuals apprehended, only about 20% actually are convicted (Faltermayer, 1970).
  • There is a growing concern that use of criminal records may violate the rights of the ex-offender. Many think people should not suffer additional punishments (e.g., social stigma, employment and accommodation barriers) after paying their debt to society.
  • Criminal records have not been scientifically validated in tenant screening. As far as we can find, there is no evidence that a past criminal record predicts future tenant problems. We intend to fill this gap by collecting evidence.
  • There are many cases of mistaken identity in which you get a report pertaining to someone with the same or a similar name.
• Typical cost: ~$15 to $25 per person. Prices vary by location and comprehensiveness of the search.

• Reason to use: Combine the strengths of multiple screening tools.
• Limitations:
  • Combines the limitations of multiple screening tools (e.g., adverse impact, mistaken identities, invasive)
  • Combines the cost of each screening tool, though there is a slight advantage to getting them in a package.
• Typical cost: add up the cost of all the tools included in the report, then apply a 10% to 30% discount.

• Reasons to use: Because when compared or added to traditional screening tools, we believe personality assessments will provide:
  • Better results (see comparison)
  • More value for the money
  • Instant and credible information on how someone will behave as a tenant
  • Less adverse impact against minorities
  • Increased fairness in the selection process
  • Information not available by any other means
• Limitations:
  • Adds time to the application process. Tenants complete an assessment in about 10 minutes.
  • Some people try to lie. That's why our all assessments contain lie detectors. See our page on how we prevent and detect lying.
  • While online testing is usually more convenient, some people don't use computers. That's why our all assessments can be completed either online or in pencil and paper.
• Typical cost: we aim to keep the cost similar to other tenant screening tools (~$20 per person).

Science can help inform decisions on which tools to use. By conducting research, we hope to determine:

1. How well each screening tool predicts tenant behavior
2. How to get the most out of each tool
3. How to combine screening tools for maximum effectiveness