Released: March 29, 2022

Your shadow credit score could decide if you get an apartment

Source: Erin Smith & Heather Vogell, ProPublica

The rapid rise of tenant screening is one of the seismic changes to hit the rental market since the Great Recession. Tenant screening companies compile information beyond what’s in renters’ credit reports, including criminal and eviction filings. They say this data helps give landlords a better idea of who will pay on time and who will be a good tenant. The firms typically assign applicants scores or provide landlords a yes-or-no recommendation.

A ProPublica review found that such ratings have come to serve as shadow credit scores for renters. Errors are just one of the problems with tenant screening, ProPublica found. Tenants often can’t get enough information to understand why they were marked as a risk to landlords.

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