The Connection Between Credit Reports, Background Checks, and Tenant Screenings
A South Carolina landlord can check your credit, criminal, and eviction records before renting to you. Any of them can contain mistakes. Hays Cauley, P.C., brings more than three decades of consumer law work to tenant screening report errors, which often start where these records overlap.
Credit Checks vs. Background Checks
Tenant screening is the process landlords use to review your application. Your tenant background check and credit report usually arrive together in a single screening package. Each one still looks at a different part of your life:
- Credit reports: show payment history, debts, and collections.
- Background checks: show criminal records and eviction cases.
Some screening companies combine credit and background information into a rental score or approval recommendation. Landlords may receive that result with little access to the records behind it.
One rental dispute can appear as both a collection account on your credit report and an eviction filing in your background check. If the reports fail to show that you paid the debt or won the case, that single dispute may look like two unresolved problems.
A landlord’s credit check may count as a hard inquiry and slightly lower your score. Criminal and eviction searches do not affect your credit score.
Where Do South Carolina Background Checks Get Their Records?
Thorough criminal searches rely on the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), which keeps the state’s central criminal history database. National databases that some screening companies use instead can be outdated or mix up people with similar names.
An eviction history search in SC looks at magistrate court cases, which sit in county court indexes such as Florence County’s. Expunged charges should never appear, since SLED keeps only a nonpublic copy.
South Carolina Tenant Screening Laws on Fees and Criminal History
Unlike New York or California, South Carolina tenant screening laws set no cap on a rental application screening fee. Landlords should still charge all applicants the same amount, since uneven fees can create fair housing compliance issues in South Carolina.
South Carolina also has no statewide “ban the box” law for private housing. A landlord may ask about your criminal record at the start of the application.
How Does Federal Law Cover Tenant Screening?
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, credit reports and background checks are both “consumer reports.” A landlord who orders one is a “user” and needs a valid reason, such as your application. No separate signed consent form is federally required for rentals, though many landlords use one.
A landlord must follow adverse action notice requirements when a screening report plays any part in denying your application or setting less favorable rental terms. The Federal Trade Commission’s guidance for landlords confirms that requiring a co-signer or a larger deposit also counts. The notice must include:
- The screening company’s contact details
- A statement that the company did not make the decision
- Your right to a free copy if you ask within 60 days
- Your right to dispute wrong information
Landlords must also share any credit score they used. A missing notice may signal that the landlord skipped other steps, too.
Turned Down for a South Carolina Rental? Speak to Our Lawyer Today
Keep the denial letter and any screening report, since they name the company behind the information. With those papers nearby, call Hays Cauley, P.C., at 843-665-1717 to set up a free consultation with our attorney, or book a time online.