Identity Theft's Impact on Your Desired Living Location

As a follow on to yesterday's post we will focus on tenant screening services and the
ability for an unknowing consumer to be unfairly "black listed" due to the misdeeds of an identity thief.

Because identity thieves, who frequently change their
locations, prey on unsuspecting victims by assuming
their identities, it's vital to know how you can
verify your personal information has not been reported
incorrectly to the various, regional tenant
screening services.

Or, if have reason to believe that your file contains
inaccurate data because of fraud by an identity thief.

Failure to do so, may cause you to find out an
unpleasant surprise the next time you decide to move
to that new apartment in the nice location of your
choice.

Also, it can lead to negative information being
subsequently linked to your credit report.

First, a brief description what tenant screening
services are and what you can do to assist them
with your information.

Property managers use tenant screening services to
screen their applicants. Owners screen tenants for
ability to pay, criminal background, history with
other landlords and neighborliness. Tenant screening
reports may combine, in addition to data provided by
credit reporting agencies:

• Landlord-tenant history
• Your tenant payment history
• Any other information provided by prior landlords:
• Eviction and foreclosure records
• Criminal record checks
• Wanted fugitive checks
• any felony, conviction, misdemeanor, and criminal
  convictions against you
• Traffic convictions against you

Those types information are collected by the tenant
screening service and used by property managers to
approve or deny a tenancy.

Tenant screening agencies are mostly regional in
coverage. Similar to credit reporting agencies,
though, tenant screening agencies may have varying
information on you. Which fortunately for consumers
means these tenant screening services are responsible
under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to provide
Disclosure.

So, you have the right to contact these agencies to
find out:

1. All information in your file at the time of the
   request.
2. The list of all people who received a copy of your
   report within the last 12 months.
3. You are entitled to a free copy of your tenant report
   if, in the past two months, the information was used
   to deny you a rental application or to increase the
   rent or security deposit on a residential housing
   unit.
4. You also may get a free copy of the report if you
   receive public assistance or have reason to believe
   that your file contains inaccurate
   information because of fraud, otherwise the agency may
   charge a fee of approximately $8 for the report.
5. If you feel the tenant report is incomplete or
   inaccurate you can require the tenant screening
   service to re-investigate and record the current
   status of the information. If the information is found
   to be inaccurate or cannot be verified within 30 days,
   it must be deleted from your file.

Now that you've been armed with this information to
guard against un-warranted identity theft & fraud, you can contact
these tenant screening services listed below as
today's tip from ID Theft Secrets blog:

Tenant Screening Services

National Association of Screening Agencies
2020 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20006
Tel: (877) 900-NASA
Email: Info@n-a-s-a.com
http://www.n-a-s-a.com

Accufax
5801 East 41st Street, Suite 800
Tulsa, OK 74135
Tel: (800) 256-8898
Fax: (918) 622-9453
http://www.accufax-us.com

American Tenant Screen, Inc.
131 North Narberth Ave.
Narberth, PA 19072
Tel: (800) 888-1287
Fax: (800) 881-9699
http://www.atshome.com

Amrent, Inc.
9990 Richard Ave., Suite 100
Houston, TX 77042
(713) 266-1870
(713) 266-9146

Landlord Protect, Inc.
P.O. Box 521
Absecon, New Jersey 08201
Tel: (800) 221-9379
Fax: (800) 345-9379
http://www.landlordprotect.com/

National Tenant Network
525 SW First, #105
Post Office Box 1664
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97034
Tel: (800) 228-0989
Fax: (800) 340-1116
http://www.ntnnet.com

Rental Research Services, Inc.
11300 Minnetonka Mills Road
Minnetonka, MN 55305
Tel: (800) 328-0333
Fax: (800) 642-5226
http://www.rentalresearch.com

Rental Services, Inc.
10050 Ralston Road, Suite 7
Arvada, CO 80004
Tel: (303) 420-1212
Fax: (303) 420-1477

Resident Evaluation Service, Inc.
2755 South Locust Street, #209
Denver, CO 80222
Tel: (800) 752-8575
Fax: (303) 757-5573

Tenant Data Services, Inc.
421 South 9th Street
Lincoln, Nebraska 68508
Tel: 800-228-1837
http://www.tenantdata.com

Tenant Screening Services, Inc.
6824 19th Street West, Suite 291
University Place, WA 98466
Tel: (253) 565-9090
Fax: (253) 564-3964
http://www.tenantscreening.com

The Registry, Inc.
11140 Rockville, #1200
Rockville, MD 20852
Tel: (800) 999-0350
Fax: (301) 984-7312

The U.D. Registry, Inc.
P.O. Box 9140
Van Nuys, CA 91409
Tel: (800) 321-7803
Fax: (818) 947-4460
http://www.udregistry.com

TenantNet
http://www.tenant.net

Rental Housing Online
http://www.rental-housing.com