LeasingDesk Screening Report Dispute: Can You Sue for Damages?
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LeasingDesk Screening Report Dispute: Can You Sue for Damages?
Errors in a LeasingDesk by RealPage report can wreck hopes of finding a home. Here’s what to do if it happens to you.
Property managers use LeasingDesk by RealPage reports to assess the creditworthiness of rental applicants. Sometimes LeasingDesk reports are inaccurate. When that happens, you can lose your chance of renting a home. But here’s how to fix the report, repair your reputation, and hold LeasingDesk accountable.
Was your rental application denied because of a LeasingDesk error?
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LeasingDesk is a service from a company called RealPage that has a big role in determining which renter applicants get approved for an apartment and which renter applicants get denied. This article explains the process LeasingDesk screening uses, how that process can foster inaccuracies and errors, and what potential renters can do if they identify an error in their LeasingDesk screening report and that error causes a landlord or property manager to deny them housing.
As lawyers for consumers, we proudly and eagerly offer guidance and support to renters through the challenging process of disputing an inaccurate LeasingDesk screening report.
LeasingDesk Screening Report
Landlords and property managers use a LeasingDesk screening report to evaluate the risk of renting to potential tenants. The LeasingDesk screening report uses the following to determine if a rental applicant will be a suitable tenant:
- Your credit information
- Your income
- Your criminal history
- Your rental history
- Your rent payment history
- Your debt-to-income ratio
- Your eviction history
- Your property damage history
The report condenses the above information to provide a LeasingDesk score of pass or fail. Landlords, property managers, and anyone else involved in the rental decision-making process find these reports to be valuable. However, the quick turnaround time means if LeasingDesk reviews your score, it does so quickly. Because former property managers can neglect to update their data, and because administrative mistakes happen, this speed means that a LeasingDesk screening report can contain errors, outdated information, or outright wrong information that unjustly affects a rental applicant’s pass or fail rating.
LeasingDesk Hard Inquiry
Rental applicants often ask, “Why is LeasingDesk on my credit report?” To produce their LeasingDesk background report, LeasingDesk pulls your credit information. This results in a LeasingDesk hard inquiry on your credit report, which can lower your credit score and LeasingDesk credit report inquiries can stay on your credit report for up to two years. You should be aware of this, especially if you are filling out multiple rental applications at multiple apartments. These multiple inquiries can add up.
LeasingDesk Background Check Dispute
Should you become aware of errors or inaccuracies in your LeasingDesk screening report, you must correct them promptly. LeasingDesk errors range from incorrect credit information to outdated or mistaken criminal history or inaccurate rental history data. To correct the report, you must file a dispute. Disputing these inaccuracies can help ensure that your rental application is judged fairly.
Here’s how you can start the LeasingDesk dispute process:
- Get a copy of your LeasingDesk report. RealPage, the company that owns LeasingDesk, will provide one free report every year. To request the report, go to the RealPage website.
- Identify inaccuracies. Closely examine all sections of the report. Look for any errors in personal information, length of stay at former residences, inaccurate payment information, LeasingDesk criminal background errors, or any inaccurate financial data.
- Collect evidence to disprove the errors. Collect any documents, emails from former landlords, and credit statements, and take screenshots of reports that support your position.
- File a dispute. Write a letter to LeasingDesk identifying yourself, explaining the inaccuracies, and including any document evidence. We recommend doing this via certified mail so you do not waive any future rights to take legal action.
- Contact credit report lawyers. LeasingDesk must obey the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a federal law that governs how reporting companies must treat consumers including how it must handle disputes. LeasingDesk must investigate your dispute and respond in 30 days. We are always here to guide you through the dispute process and help you however we can. The sooner you contact us, the sooner a lawyer will be able to file a lawsuit should LeasingDesk fail to obey the law, if it fails to correct the error, or if you have already experienced the loss of a rental opportunity because of the error.
Inaccurate information in your LeasingDesk screening report can have significant consequences. If you have been denied a rental for which you were qualified because LeasingDesk made an error, you have rights and legal remedies to compensate you for the damage.
If you have experienced any issues with background check errors associated with your LeasingDesk report that have not been resolved within the promised resolution duration, reach out to Consumer Attorneys to rectify the situation! You can connect with our legal team in various ways:
- Call +1 877-615-1725 for immediate assistance and a free case review.
- Fill out our brief Contact Us form or initiate a live chat to share your concerns.
Reach out to us at info@consumerattorneys.com with any questions.
Frequently Asked Questions
A LeasingDesk score is a pass/fail rating from a company called RealPage. Landlords, property managers, and others in the property rental industry pay LeasingDesk to create the score to evaluate the risk of renting to potential tenants. LeasingDesk calculates the score from specific factors like the applicant’s rental history, income, debt, criminal records, credit history, payment records, and other public record information. The LeasingDesk score differs from conventional credit scores as it focuses on rental-specific elements like histories of unpaid rent and eviction records. Decisionmakers in the property rental arena use this score to predict the likelihood of a prospective tenant paying their rent on time, maintaining the property, and generally fulfilling the obligations of their lease. It's a tool in the application process for property managers and landlords and, therefore, must be accurate.
LeasingDesk screening is a service from a company called RealPage. Landlords and property managers use LeaningDesk to screen potential renters and gauge whether those renters will be reliable. LeasingDesk evaluates various sources, including credit assessment, criminal background checks, income, debt, criminal history, rental history, and eviction records, to produce a profile of an applicant that is as thorough as possible. LeasingDesk aims to eliminate the possibility that landlords and property managers are renting apartments to people who habitually make late payments or leave apartments damaged. Property managers and property owners use LeasingDesk to make informed decisions about who they rent to, so LeasingDesk screening needs to be accurate. When the screening is not accurate, the consequences for potential renters are devastating.
The speed of LeasingDesk screening results depends on many factors. While typically, property managers can get results from a LeasingDesk credit inquiry in a few minutes, the speed of the screening will take longer if the property manager requests complicated information, there are many databases to access, and the databases take a long time to respond to the LeasingDesk inquiry. For a basic credit and background check, the LeasingDesk process is usually automated and quick. Discrepancies in the applicant's information or other delays in accessing certain records will make the process take longer. Property managers and landlords like the quick response from LeasingDesk, but the quick turnaround can also mean that inaccuracies and errors arise.
Daniel Cohen is the Founder of Consumer Attorneys. Daniel manages the firm’s branding, marketing, client intake and business development efforts. Since 2017, he is a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates and the National Consumer Law Center. Mr. Cohen is a nationally-recognized practitioner of consumer protection law. He has a we... Read more
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