Where Can You Get an Applicant's Credit Report?

You get an applicant's credit report through a tenant screening service, not by calling Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion yourself. The service pulls the report from a bureau after the applicant applies and confirms consent online, and federal law allows you to get it because the person applied to rent from you. Bureau-run services list credit check packages at about $35 to $50 per applicant as of October 2026, and either you or the applicant can pay, subject to state fee limits.

Who sells tenant credit reports to landlords?

The bureaus send individual landlords to tenant screening products rather than selling reports one at a time:

• TransUnion SmartMove. You create a free account and enter the applicant's email address. The applicant verifies their identity and consents, and results go to your dashboard, usually the same day. As of October 2026, SmartMove lists a $40 package with credit, criminal, and eviction reports and a $49 package that adds income and identity checks. You choose who pays, where state law permits.
• Experian through Zillow Rental Manager. Experian's tenant screening page directs landlords to Zillow, where the applicant applies online and Zillow pulls an Experian credit report and a background check. It is free for the landlord, and the renter pays $40, which covers applications to participating listings for 30 days.
• Other tenant screening companies. Background check firms and rental listing or property management platforms also sell bureau credit data, often bundled with eviction and criminal searches.

A company that assembles and sells these reports is a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The CFPB describes a tenant screening report as something that may combine a credit report with rental and eviction history, criminal history, employment verification, and a risk score based on criteria you choose. Decide whether you want credit alone or the full bundle; see what a credit report does and does not show.

What do you need before you order a report?

1. A completed application. Your rental application form should collect the identifying details the service asks for, usually full name, date of birth, address history, and Social Security number, plus a signed statement authorizing a credit and background check.
2. A permissible purpose. The FTC says landlords may get consumer reports on people who apply to rent or renew a lease. You must certify to the screening company that you will use the report only for that housing decision. Written permission from the applicant is your proof of purpose, so keep it with the file.
3. Your written screening criteria. Decide your credit, income, and rental history standards before the first report arrives, and apply them to every applicant.
4. Any notice your state requires. In Washington, before you obtain any information, you must tell the applicant in writing (or by posting) what types of information you will access, what criteria may lead to denial, the name and address of the consumer reporting agency, and whether you accept a reusable screening report. The notice must also explain the applicant's rights to a free copy of the consumer report after denial or another adverse action and to dispute inaccurate information. In Colorado, unless you qualify for the exemption described below, you must give notice before any screening action for which you expect to collect an application fee. Tell the applicant they have the right to provide a qualifying portable screening report and that providing it prevents you from charging an application fee or a fee to access or use the report.

What does a credit check cost, and who pays?

You can pass the cost to the applicant as an application screening fee where state law allows. These states set limits:

For refund rules and the other state limits, see whether you can require an application screening fee.

Should you accept a credit report the applicant brings?

Applicants can download free weekly reports from all three bureaus at AnnualCreditReport.com. A copy the applicant prints or emails you did not come to you from the reporting agency, so you cannot confirm it is complete or unedited. California law says outright that a landlord may, but is not required to, accept a credit report presented by an applicant.

A portable or reusable screening report is prepared at the applicant's request using information from a consumer reporting agency. State rules on these reports:

• Colorado: you must accept one, unless you take only one application fee at a time for a unit and refund it in full within 20 calendar days after either side declines the lease. You may require that the report be from the last 30 days, cost you nothing to access, and include the applicant's statement that nothing material, such as name, address, bankruptcy, criminal, or eviction history, has changed.
• California: optional. If you choose to accept reusable reports prepared within the past 30 days, you may not charge that applicant a screening fee or a fee to access the report.
• Washington: optional, but you must say. You must state whether you accept them, including on the home page of any website you use to advertise rentals. If you accept them, you may still run your own report, but you cannot charge the applicant for it.
• New York: the fee waiver above applies when the applicant supplies a check from the past 30 days.

In states without a rule, accepting portable reports is your choice. Set one policy and apply it to every applicant.

What do you do after you get the report?

Use it only for this rental decision. When you no longer need it, the FTC requires you to dispose of it securely, by shredding or burning paper copies and erasing electronic files so they cannot be reconstructed.

If anything in the report leads you to deny the applicant or to require a cosigner, a larger deposit, or higher rent, you must send an adverse action notice. See what to do when you deny an applicant for bad credit for what the notice must say, and what qualities make a good tenant for how credit fits with the rest of your screening.