The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), in partnership with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), released a new resource, “Tenant Background Checks and Your Rights,” to help households applying for rental units know their background screening rights and to help tenants dispute errors in their background screening reports.
Landlords and other housing providers often rely on third-party background check companies – known as “tenant screening companies” – to create background reports on rental applicants. These reports are used in determining whether to offer tenancy to an applicant. Too often, however, the reports generated by tenant screening companies contain inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information that can result in an applicant being unjustly denied housing.
The new resource from FTC and its partners outlines what tenants should expect when applying for a rental unit, including their rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and what they should do in the event they are denied housing because of the results of a background report. An accompanying resource, “Disputing Errors on Your Tenant Background Check Report,” shares ways in which tenants can obtain a copy of their background report, refute and correct any inaccurate information, and report companies believed to be violating tenants’ rights.