RentPrep vs MySmartMove for Landlords (2026): Human-Reviewed vs Automated Tenant Screening
- The short answer
- Side-by-side comparison
- How each service works
- Report quality: human interpretation vs. first-party data
RentPrep vs MySmartMove for Landlords (2026)
RentPrep and MySmartMove are two of the best-known standalone tenant screening services for landlords. MySmartMove is TransUnion's fully automated, applicant-driven product: the applicant enters their own information and a screening report comes back in minutes. RentPrep is the human-assisted alternative: trained screeners review every report before you see it, trading speed for interpretation. Both cost you nothing up front and charge per report, so the choice comes down to workflow, not subscription fees.
This article is reader-supported. If you buy through links on our site, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you — including from RentPrep, whose affiliate program we are currently in the application process for. We only recommend screening services we'd use ourselves; this comparison is based on each product's published features and pricing.
The short answer
- Pick MySmartMove if you want reports in minutes, you prefer the applicant to enter their own data and pay for the report, and you're comfortable interpreting a credit file yourself.
- Pick RentPrep if you'd rather have a trained reviewer sanity-check every report, you want compliance hand-holding around consent and adverse action notices, and you can wait longer for results.
For wider context, our best tenant screening services roundup and tenant screening services compared guides place both products in a field of a dozen competitors.
Side-by-side comparison
| Factor | RentPrep | MySmartMove |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs it | Independent screening company (Roofstock-owned) | TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus |
| Core approach | Human reviewers examine every report | Fully automated; applicant enters their own data |
| Report components | Credit, criminal, eviction checks bundled by tier; registry checks at higher tiers | TransUnion credit, national/state criminal search, eviction history; ResidentScore leasing recommendation; Income Insights on higher tiers |
| Turnaround | Hours to days — human review takes time | Minutes — reports generate as soon as the applicant completes their portion |
| Who enters applicant data | You submit the applicant's info (with written consent) | The applicant enters their own SSN and personal details |
| Pricing model | Per report, tiered by bundle | Per report, three tiers (Basic, Plus, Full Credit Report) |
| Who pays | Landlord typically pays; many landlords pass the fee to applicants where state law allows | You choose per screening: applicant-paid or landlord-paid |
| Membership required | No | No |
| Leasing recommendation | No automated score — the human review is the interpretive layer | Yes — ResidentScore outputs Accept / Accept with Conditions / Decline |
| Compliance support | Consent collection plus adverse-action notice support | Reports only — adverse action paperwork is your job |
| Bundled extras | None — screening only | None — screening only |
How each service works
RentPrep's flow is landlord-driven. You create an account, submit the applicant's name and identifiers along with written consent, and RentPrep pulls the credit, criminal, and eviction data. Then a trained screener reads the file and adds context — flagging, for example, that a single five-year-old medical collection tells a different story than a pattern of recent charge-offs, or calling out a name mismatch you might have missed. You get the raw data plus a second set of eyes.
MySmartMove's flow is applicant-driven. You send the applicant an email invitation. They complete their own portion online — personal information, SSN, consent — their identity gets verified, and the reports generate in minutes. You never collect or store the applicant's sensitive information yourself, which is a meaningful security and liability advantage for small landlords who don't want applicant SSNs sitting in an inbox.
Report quality: human interpretation vs. first-party data
RentPrep's strongest card is interpretation. Automated models classify borderline histories crudely; a human reviewer can flag nuance — thin files, stale records, addresses that don't line up — that matters when you're making a housing decision. If you don't read credit reports fluently, that layer can prevent an expensive misread. For the economics of getting a screening call wrong, see our tenant screening cost guide.
The honest caveat is that RentPrep's review quality is a black box. You can audit raw bureau data line by line; you can't audit a reviewer's judgment the same way. With RentPrep you are trusting the reviewer, not just the data.
MySmartMove's quality advantage is first-party data. TransUnion doesn't buy its credit data from a reseller — it is the bureau. That means fewer layers between the consumer's file and the report you read. You also get the ResidentScore leasing recommendation and, on higher tiers, Income Insights, which cross-checks stated income against TransUnion's income data. But SmartMove is ultimately a data dump with a score attached: you are the underwriter. The recommendation doesn't know your written criteria, your property, or your risk tolerance — treat it as a data point, never as the decision itself.
Pricing and who pays
RentPrep prices per report with packages bundling credit, criminal, and eviction checks in different combinations, plus registry checks and added verification at higher tiers. The landlord generally pays, and many landlords pass the fee through to the applicant as an application fee where state law permits. Package prices shift over time, so check current pricing on RentPrep's site before you budget.
MySmartMove also charges per report across three tiers. Basic covers the three pillars — TransUnion credit with ResidentScore, criminal search, eviction history. Plus adds Income Insights and a fuller criminal search. Full Credit Report adds complete account-level tradeline detail. The critical pricing difference isn't the sticker price: it's who pays. MySmartMove lets you pick applicant-paid or landlord-paid per screening, and in most markets having the applicant pay is standard practice — which keeps your out-of-pocket cost at zero. Our guide to what tenant screening costs landlords breaks down both models in detail.
Speed: minutes vs. hours-to-days
This is MySmartMove's clearest win. The applicant completes their portion online and the report returns in minutes — same-day screening, no waiting. In a competitive rental market where a good applicant is attending three showings in one weekend, that speed is the difference between landing the tenant and losing them to the landlord down the street who screened same-day.
RentPrep's human review necessarily takes longer — plan for hours to days rather than minutes. If you're filling a vacancy against a hard move-in deadline, that delay has a real cost. If you're the kind of landlord who would rather have the careful screen and a patient applicant, the trade is worth making. Either way, don't let speed decide for you: set your written screening criteria first, then pick the service that matches your timeline. Our tenant screening red flags guide is a good starting point for what those criteria should catch.
Applicant experience and compliance
MySmartMove asks the least of the landlord: send the invite, wait for the report, read it. The applicant does the data-entry work, which also means fewer chances for you to transpose an SSN or misspell a name — and no applicant identity documents sitting in your inbox.
RentPrep asks more of you: you gather the applicant's information, hold written consent, and submit everything yourself. That adds friction. On the other hand, RentPrep's consent collection and adverse-action notice support remove one of the most common legal trip hazards for newer landlords — the FCRA paperwork that must accompany every report-based decision. An adverse action notice is required whenever you decline an applicant (even partially) based on a screening report, and getting it wrong is an expensive compliance mistake.
Which matters more depends on what kind of landlord you are. If you're organized and comfortable with paperwork, MySmartMove's lower effort wins. If compliance is the part that keeps you up at night, RentPrep's hand-holding is the safer pick.
Which one wins for your situation?
Choose MySmartMove if:
- You need reports fast — same-day or minutes, not days.
- You want the applicant to handle data entry and (usually) pay for the report.
- You're comfortable interpreting credit reports and criminal histories yourself.
- You screen frequently enough that per-report speed compounds into real time saved.
Choose RentPrep if:
- You want a trained human reviewer to sanity-check every report.
- You're newer to screening and want consent and adverse-action compliance support.
- You prefer to control the process yourself rather than rely on the applicant.
- Your screening volume is low enough that slower turnaround isn't a bottleneck.
See our head-to-head of the wider field in tenant screening services compared for how both stack up against the rest of the market, and our best tenant screening services for 2026 roundup for tier-by-tier picks.
The verdict
There is no universal winner here — there is a workflow winner. MySmartMove is the tool for landlords who value speed, automation, and applicant-paid economics. RentPrep is the tool for landlords who value human judgment and compliance hand-holding. If you screen dozens of applicants a month in a fast market, MySmartMove's minutes-long turnaround is hard to beat. If you screen a handful of applicants a year and each decision feels high-stakes, RentPrep's second set of eyes is worth the wait.