Inaccurate Credit

Facing the consequences

By Leah Etling on Mar 26, 2013 in News

When it comes to screening of rental applications, credit history is a vital piece of information.  Information from the major credit bureaus helps applicant screening agencies determine whether a prospective renter is of sound financial standing and able to meet the monthly obligation to pay rent for their new apartment. From a business perspective, it’s crucial for apartment providers to minimize their risk when it comes to taking on new leaseholders.

Credit reports are based on debt obligation and payment history information from a nationwide network of credit bureaus, and compiled by one of the three largest credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax.  Businesses, including apartment communities, use these reports to determine a consumer’s credit risk based on their history.

But what happens when a consumer’s credit report is bad – but inaccurate? A recent Federal Trade Commission study found that credit report errors are frighteningly common. The study indicated that as many as 42 million Americans have errors on their credit reports – and 20 million of those errors are significant mistakes.

Bad credit is not only damaging if you’re one of the consumers containing a credit report with an error. It’s also bad for those who are renting property within the multifamily industry, which may be turning away viable prospective residents based on faulty information. This can result in higher vacancy rates and longer lag-time between apartment turn over, two things all real estate companies want to avoid.

Yardi Resident Screening^TM, a market leading resident application screening system, works for multifamily communities to ensure they are welcoming qualified residents by reviewing credit and criminal history. As an expert in the field, Yardi understands that sometimes credit reports can contain errors and has a Boston-based consumer relations team dedicated exclusively to working with apartment applicants who wish to dispute the accuracy of information in their files.

“Yardi takes the consumer dispute process very seriously.  Nothing is more important to us as a Consumer Reporting Agency than the accuracy and integrity of consumer files,” said Patrick Hennessey, Director of Yardi Resident Screening.

“While we do not have any direct control over the information contained on the reports provided by Experian, Equifax, TransUnion, or other third party consumer data aggregators, our consumer relations team works hard to help our clients’ applicants initiate disputes with the major bureaus when they feel something is inaccurate,” Hennessey said.

Multifamily communities using Yardi Resident Screening benefit not only from the fast, accurate, and reliable screening resource. Decision criteria used in Yardi Resident Screening are tailored for each property in your portfolio, so applicants are screened uniformly, according to specified objectives.  If an apartment applicant is struggling with an inaccurate credit report, the Yardi consumer relations team will do their best to help.

In addition to helping with disputes when an applicant finds on error on their screening results, Yardi Resident Screening is rooted in a process management system with built-in flexibility to deal with every day limits in applicant information files. Properties can create customizable rules that automate screening decisions and improve compliance, but can also set parameters to review exceptions. The process management concept combines business intelligence into the leasing workflow allowing you monitor activity from a different perspective and make precise adjustments based on your real-time performance trends rather than assumptions.

Yardi Resident Screening automates consistent, smart rental decisions to ensure compliance, and protects your revenue by reducing loss from collections, evictions, and legal action. Make screening a seamless part of your leasing workflow with:

• Customizable rules that automate decisions and improve compliance
• Real-time results with visibility into your entire Voyager leasing cycle
• Business intelligence that leverages resident history data in Voyager
• Analytics that combine applicant traffic, trends, and property performance
• Instant 360º view of your business with specialized screening dashboards when you add Yardi Orion

To learn more, call 800.866.1144 or visit www.yardi.com/residentscreening