SUBJECT:  Your responsibilities under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

At TenantTracks we take the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and our compliance obligations very seriously. We want to send all our customers a reminder of the basic rules that TenantTracks customers are required to comply with per your contract with TenantTracks and our contract with the credit bureaus.

1. You MUST have the written permission of the person you are running a credit report on. You should retain their rental application for at least three (3) years.  There are two important reasons;

• If you receive a Fair Housing complaint you must be prepared to hand over several years of applications and your screening process will be scrutinized, you must treat every application the same and need to have a copy on hand.
• TenantTracks and/or Trans Union will do a random audit for your permissible purpose documentation and these applications with the applicants written permission must be produced, if not, your account may be terminated.

2. If you deny an applicant housing, OR change the terms and conditions of the original offer (examples: requiring a co-signer, or an additional security deposit, or a higher rent), you MUST give them a denial letter so that they may obtain a copy of their consumer report.
3. You MUST keep all TenantTracks reports confidential; secure any computers, filing cabinets, and the physical office itself to prevent unauthorized access. If you share your account with other office or team members, those users’ no longer needing access to your account should be removed immediately to prevent fraudulent usage or charges to your account.  All files no longer needed (we suggest 3-years of storage) MUST be destroyed in a secure manner.

There are significant penalties in the FCRA as well as the Fair Housing laws for failure to adhere to and follow the rules; compliance is strictly required, there are no exceptions!  As with all areas of potential liability issues, please consult with your attorney for specific guidance.

If you have any questions, please contact TenantTracks at 888-610-4710.