I’ve been a big fan of National Tenant Network (www.ntnonline.com) and have promoted their services to other REIs here. However like all tenant research services (it would seem), they have placed strict limitations on obtaining credit reports on tenants.
The problem appears to be due to changes with the 3 big credit bureaus and identity theft. It would seem that in order to get these reports I need to have someone visit me, make sure I conform with their requirements, etc.
I have no problem in doing whatever needs to be done here, as I am running into a continual issue. NTN give a ‘Decision Point’ report in which their computers analyze the credit reports on behalf of their customers, give a score and make a determination of the tenant’s ability to pay rent, etc. The result is very little information that I can go by.
I can see eviction information which for me is the most important information in determining suitability of a tenant, but the courts here in AZ no longer require a social security no to file an eviction against a tenant and consequently its next to impossible to match on name whether my tenant has been evicted or someone with the same name. The only way I could validate this is to cross check with their credit report. As you can see, that’s where I fall short.
So I’m wondering if anyone has information of any other tenant research services that I could use for this? Or here’s another idea. I would be happy to pay another REI who is already able to run credit reports in the case when I get a tenant that I need to cross-validate information on. I clearly would prefer to be able to do this myself, but right now my hands are tied.
Anyone with any info, bright ideas, etc. on this?
V