Published 2026-09-25 · 15 min read

Tenant Screening Services Compared 2026: TransUnion, RentPrep, Avail & More

Two services can both claim a credit report, a criminal check, and an eviction search, and still give you very different decisions to work with. One returns records in minutes and leaves interpretation to you. Another adds human review first. A third sells no screening alone at all — it bundles screening into an application, lease, and rent account. This page is the head-to-head: what is inside each report, who pays, how long you wait, and what a full year of screening costs.

That differs from a ranked best-of list: a ranking says which service to try first, while this comparison shows what differs in the report, the bill, and the clock when you screen the same applicant two ways.

What a screening report is — and what it is not

A tenant screening report is a consumer report, and that label triggers the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). A consumer reporting agency assembles it from credit files, public records, court records, and databases it searches. You are the user of the report; the applicant is the consumer it is about. The consent and adverse-action rules below are not decoration. They are the conditions under which a report may be obtained and used at all.

A report is not a verdict. It gives you records and, in some products, a rental-specific score or income estimate, to compare against criteria you set in advance, in writing, before you saw this applicant. That matters more than the vendor: a fast report judged against shifting criteria is a fair-housing problem with good turnaround time.

A report is also not complete. Criminal and eviction records depend on which jurisdictions report, how courts keep records, and what law allows a company to return. SmartMove says so on its pricing page: its criminal and eviction-related proceedings reports are subject to federal, state, and local laws that may limit or restrict the records returned, and certain jurisdictions may limit what is eligible for return. Read a clean report as no matching records were returned, not as proof nothing ever happened.

What is inside each report

Credit report and score. SmartMove describes its basic package as including its proprietary score and a criminal check, and its most complete package as including credit, criminal, eviction-related information, income insights, and an identity check. Avail, through TransUnion, pulls the applicant's TransUnion credit file and score, covering payment history, current debts, and financial reliability. Innago's two paid options both include credit and criminal history. TurboTenant groups credit, criminal, and eviction checks under applications and screening. RentPrep splits the pieces: its automated SmartMove package lists a full credit report, a ResidentScore, and bankruptcies; its background package is built around other records.

Criminal check. Innago's paid options add checks of the National Most Wanted databases and the National Sex Offender Public Registry. RentPrep's background package lists nationwide criminal and sex offender searching, nationwide evictions, judgments and liens, bankruptcies, and Social Security number verification, with review by an FCRA-certified screener. Avail describes a nationwide search of national databases for reportable records. SmartMove includes a criminal check even in Basic, subject to the jurisdiction limits above. Ask whether sex-offender and most-wanted databases are named, whether the search is nationwide, and whether a person reviews a possible match before you act on it.

Eviction history. Innago makes its split explicit: the lower paid option is criminal and credit only; the higher option adds eviction history. Avail sells eviction as one of three TransUnion reports, alone or in the full bundle. SmartMove's most complete package includes eviction-related information. RentPrep lists nationwide evictions inside its background package, so there eviction data does not depend on buying the credit package. TurboTenant lists eviction alongside credit and criminal. If eviction history decides your calls, check where it sits in the package you are buying, not in the product line as a whole.

Income and employment verification. Usually a separate purchase. SmartMove markets income insights; Avail's pricing page lists income verification and documentation, plus automated residence and employment reference checks. Innago offers income verification as an add-on when you run a background check — by connected bank account, connected payroll provider, or uploaded documents — priced by Innago at $10 per application, paid by the applicant. RentPrep prices add-ons at $10 for income verification and $15 for combined income and employment verification from the applicant's payroll provider, including employment status, job title, employer and hire dates, pay frequency and base pay rate, and year-to-date gross and net income. TurboTenant places income verification, employer verification, and fraud detection in its plan comparison, so confirm your tier includes it. Verification you control beats documents an applicant hands you: a pay stub sent as an image is only as trustworthy as its sender.

Identity verification. SmartMove includes an identity check in its most complete package. RentPrep's background package lists Social Security number verification. Avail describes applicants entering their own sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, through TransUnion's secure portal, answering verification questions, and authorizing sharing. That design matters wherever it appears: you never collect, store, or transmit the applicant's Social Security number yourself.

The five services, head to head

TransUnion SmartMove — the standalone TransUnion product

SmartMove is TransUnion screening without a management platform. Its pricing page, verified for this update, lists SmartCheck Basic at $25, SmartCheck Plus at $40, and SmartCheck Premium at $49, each plus tax where applicable, and also shows a Background Check Basic entry at $25. Premium is described as its most complete package; Basic as including its proprietary score and a criminal check. On who pays, the page says choose who pays, where permitted, with no hidden fees. Its services page adds a detail landlords miss: if you select tenant pay, only the top level of screening is available to select; lower tiers are available only when you pay yourself. Applicant-paid SmartMove is therefore the top-tier order, paid by the applicant.

SmartMove says most reports are delivered the same day after the applicant verifies their identity, and that there are no memberships or subscriptions required — pay as you go. For a landlord screening a handful of times a year, the appeal is one vendor and one report format to learn. The trade: applications, leases, and rent collection stay wherever they already live in your business.

RentPrep — human review, with core prices to confirm at order time

RentPrep's homepage, verified for this update, presents two different products. The first is an automated SmartMove package: full credit report, ResidentScore, and bankruptcies, with optional add-ons, and landlord or tenant pay options. The second is a background check package: FCRA-certified screener review, Social Security number verification, nationwide criminal and sex offender searching, nationwide evictions, judgments and liens, and bankruptcies, with optional add-ons — landlord-pay only. Which RentPrep you get depends on which package you order.

The verified prices on that homepage are the add-ons, not the core packages: income verification at $10, and income and employment verification at $15. The homepage fetched today does not state a dollar price for the two core packages, so this article quotes none. Confirm the core price on RentPrep's order screen the day you order, not from any comparison article. What the structure does tell you: a human-reviewed background package you pay for yourself, plus an automated credit package with either-party payment, plus paid verification if you want income evidence in the same order.

That review layer is the reason to choose RentPrep. A certified screener is a different product from an instant database return, especially for common names, where automated matching is likeliest to attach someone else's record. The trade is time and a landlord-paid bill.

Avail — screening inside an application, per report or as a bundle

Avail's pricing page presents a platform: Unlimited at $0 per unit, and Unlimited Plus at $9 per unit per month. Screening there is tenant-initiated TransUnion credit reports and background checks, with a nationwide criminal history report, a nationwide prior eviction report, automated residence and employment reference checks, income verification and documentation, and customizable screening questions. The screening price is clearest on Avail's support site, verified for this update: by default the applicant pays; an individual report — credit, criminal, or eviction — costs $30; the full bundle of all three costs $55, described as the most popular choice; sales tax is added where required based on the payer's location; and fees are non-refundable once reports are generated. The landlord can pay instead, chosen per application when you set up the invite, and every adult applicant still needs their own reports.

Do the bundle arithmetic. Three individual reports cost $30 plus $30 plus $30, which is $90. The same three in the bundle cost $55 — a saving of $90 minus $55, which is $35 per applicant, when you order all three, as most landlords should. Avail also says applicants control their data, can reuse their renter profile with other landlords at no extra cost, and can often share recent reports again as a portable screening report within a limited window. Applicants review their reports first, then submit to share them with you: slower than an instant pull, and cleaner, because consent is built into steps the applicant actually takes.

TurboTenant — a platform fee, with two prices on one page

TurboTenant's pricing page, verified for this update, lists a free plan at $0 per month, Essentials at $12.42 per month, and Pro at $16.48 per month, and groups credit, criminal, and eviction checks under applications and screening, with income verification, employer verification, fraud detection, a global threat database, lower screening fees, and custom screening questions in the plan comparison. Read its renter pricing carefully: one section states a screening fee of $45, and a later renter pricing section states $55. Both figures are on the official page fetched today, so this article reports both. Confirm which applies to your plan before quoting a fee. Quoting $45 and having an applicant charged $55 destroys trust at the start of a tenancy.

TurboTenant says renters pay upon completion of their application or screening report — when they apply — so the landlord can run the checks without coordinating payment later. It also says passing the cost to the tenant is most common, but landlords can opt to pay themselves, often when they have already collected a fee or fee restrictions apply. Applicant-paid by default, landlord-paid by choice, inside a platform that also markets the rental and collects rent: a workflow decision as much as a screening decision.

Innago — the clearest price list, applicant-paid

Innago's help center, re-verified for this update, states that all fees there are charged to the applicant, not the landlord. Application only is free, with no credit, criminal, or eviction reports, though screening can be requested later. Application plus criminal and credit costs $30, including the custom application, criminal and credit history reports, and checks of the National Most Wanted databases and the National Sex Offender Public Registry. Application plus criminal, credit, and eviction costs $35, adding an eviction history report. Income verification can be included with a background check; Innago's announcement prices it at $10 per application, applicant-paid, via connected bank account, connected payroll provider, or uploaded documents.

That menu is the easiest here to explain in one sentence, and the easiest to budget: your cost is $0 in every option, and the applicant's cost is one number stated in advance. The limit mirrors SmartMove's: screening lives inside Innago's application workflow. Innago also notes you may charge an additional application fee of your own, default $0. Do not layer one casually — an extra fee on top of a screening fee is the first thing an applicant, a regulator, or a local cap will ask you to justify.

Side-by-side: contents, payer, and verified price

Every price in that table comes from the service's own official page fetched for this update, listed under primary sources below. Where a price could not be verified today, the table says so instead of filling the gap.

Who should pay, and what the choice changes

Applicant-paid screening keeps your out-of-pocket cost at zero. It does not make screening free: it moves the cost to the person least able to spread it across a portfolio, and in a soft market or under a tight fee cap, it can be why a qualified applicant applies elsewhere first. Landlord-paid screening reverses that: you pay for every applicant, including ones you never house, but you control the package, you can use tiers applicant-paid flows may not offer, and no one is deterred at the door.

Three rules cover most cases. State the fee, amount, payer, and what it buys in the listing or first application message, before anyone starts. Never let who pays change what you order — a thinner report because the applicant is paying buys you less protection, not more. And if you pay, pay for every applicant screened at that stage, not selectively. Waiving fees for applicants you like and charging those you are unsure about builds exactly the inconsistent record fair-housing complaints rest on.

Turnaround: same day is a category, not a promise

SmartMove says most reports arrive the same day after the applicant verifies their identity. No service returns a report before verification and authorization, and applicant delay beats database speed as the largest real-world variable. Bundled platforms add review-and-submit time; human review adds more by design. Plan around business days, and measure your own files before quoting anyone a range.

A worked example, with real weekdays

Weekdays below were verified for 2026. On Monday, November 2, 2026, you receive a completed application for two adult occupants and send both the same screening invitation, for the same report set, under criteria published with the listing. On Tuesday, November 3, 2026, both complete identity verification and authorization, and reports are ordered. On Wednesday, November 4, 2026, you compare the reports against your written criteria — same income standard, eviction lookback, and criminal-history assessment for anyone — and document the comparison that day. On Thursday, November 5, 2026, you notify the applicants: approval, approval with conditions your criteria already provide for, or an adverse action notice if the report played any part in a denial or worse terms. On Friday, November 6, 2026, both screened adults sign the lease. On Monday, November 9, 2026, the tenancy starts. Five business days, application to signed lease, with no step requiring a literally instant report.

Now price a full year for a small portfolio: 8 adult applicants screened — four vacancies, two serious applicants each — with credit, criminal, and eviction ordered every time.

• SmartMove Premium, landlord-paid: 8 multiplied by $49 equals $392, plus tax where applicable.
• SmartMove Basic, landlord-paid: 8 multiplied by $25 equals $200, plus tax where applicable — but Basic is a score and criminal package, not the three-report set assumed here.
• Avail full bundle: 8 multiplied by $55 equals $440 in total. By default applicants pay it and your cost is $0; if you elect to pay, your cost is $440, plus tax where required.
• Avail report by report: 8 multiplied by 3 reports multiplied by $30 equals $720. The bundle saves $720 minus $440, which is $280 over the year, for identical reports.
• TurboTenant: 8 multiplied by $45 equals $360; at the $55 figure also listed, 8 multiplied by $55 equals $440. The difference is $440 minus $360, which is $80. Budget the figure your plan charges.
• Innago with eviction: 8 multiplied by $35 equals $280, applicant-paid, so your cost is $0. With income verification on every screen: 8 multiplied by ($35 plus $10) equals 8 multiplied by $45, which is $360, still applicant-paid.
• RentPrep: no annual total is calculated, because no core price was verified on its homepage today. Its verified add-ons alone are 8 multiplied by $10, which is $80, for income verification on all 8, or 8 multiplied by $15, which is $120, for income and employment verification — each on top of the core price you confirm at order time.

Against one bad tenancy — unpaid rent, filing costs, turnover repairs, lost weeks — none of those totals argues for thinning a report. Choose on contents, payer control, and workflow fit; save money on bundle arithmetic, not on the eviction search.

The 10-step decision and setup checklist

1. Write your screening criteria before listing: income standard, credit standard, eviction lookback, and how criminal records will be assessed, in publishable language.

2. Fix the report set — credit, criminal, and eviction by default — and order the same set for every applicant at the same stage.

3. Choose on workflow first: standalone report (SmartMove), human-reviewed background (RentPrep), or screening inside a platform you will actually use (Avail, TurboTenant, Innago).

4. Confirm today's price on the service's own pricing or support page, including tax and whether the figure applies to your plan, and put that figure in your listing.

5. Decide who pays, state it in the listing, and check state and local application-fee rules and caps before collecting anything.

6. Use the service's authorization flow, where the applicant enters sensitive information and authorizes the report. Never collect Social Security numbers on paper or by email.

7. Screen every adult occupant, every time — including occupants who are not the primary leaseholder.

8. Compare each report to your pre-written criteria only, note the comparison and date on the file, and add no new standards mid-decision.

9. If a report contributes to a denial, higher deposit, or worse terms, send the adverse action notice below, keep a copy, and tell the applicant how to get their report and dispute errors.

10. Store reports securely, limit access, and review prices, contents, fee rules, and your criteria once a year — each changed for at least one service in this update.

Compliance: consent, permissible purpose, and adverse action

This summarizes the federal framework from the statute and regulator sources linked below. It is general information, not legal advice; state and local law may add stricter fee, lookback, and consideration rules.

Permissible purpose and consent. Under the FCRA, a consumer reporting agency may furnish a report only for purposes the statute permits, including in accordance with the consumer's written instructions and for a legitimate business need in connection with a business transaction the consumer initiated — the structure a rental application fits. Get authorization before ordering, and use the report only for the tenancy decision it was obtained for. Platform flows are built around that step. Outside a platform, recreate it yourself, in writing, before the order — not after a denial.

Accuracy and disputes. The FCRA requires agencies to follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of a report. Reports can still contain errors, including someone else's records — one reason a human review layer exists at all. Disputes run against the reporting agency; your role is to follow the notice and dispute rights you told the applicant about.

Adverse action. If you take adverse action based in whole or in part on a consumer report — a denial, or approval on worse terms such as a higher deposit because of the report — federal law requires notice to the applicant. The notice must identify the reporting agency, including name and contact information, state that the agency did not make the decision and cannot explain it, and inform the applicant of the right to obtain a free copy of their report from that agency within the statutory window and to dispute its accuracy or completeness. Use your service's template, send it every time a report contributed, and keep proof. The common error is sending it only for outright denials and forgetting worse terms count too.

Consistency is a compliance control. Same criteria, report set, payer rule, and notice practice for every applicant, documented the same way. The checklist above does this if you follow it in order.

Read the rules yourself: primary sources

Every link below was checked for this update and returned a successful response on the day of checking.

• TransUnion SmartMove pricing — packages and who-pays wording: mysmartmove.com/pricing
• TransUnion SmartMove screening services — same-day wording and the tenant-pay tier rule: mysmartmove.com/tenant-screening-services
• RentPrep homepage — package contents, who pays, and the $10 and $15 add-ons: rentprep.com
• Avail pricing — platform tiers and screening contents: avail.co/pricing
• Avail support — the $30 individual report, $55 bundle, and landlord-pay choice: support.avail.com
• TurboTenant pricing — plan prices and both screening-fee figures: turbotenant.com/pricing
• Innago help center — the free, $30, and $35 applicant-paid options: help.innago.com
• FCRA permissible purposes, 15 U.S.C. section 1681b: law.cornell.edu
• FCRA disclosures to consumers, 15 U.S.C. section 1681g: law.cornell.edu
• FCRA compliance procedures, 15 U.S.C. section 1681e: law.cornell.edu
• FCRA adverse action duties, 15 U.S.C. section 1681m: law.cornell.edu
• FCRA definitions, 15 U.S.C. section 1681a: law.cornell.edu
• CFPB tenant background check guidance: consumerfinance.gov
• CFPB Regulation V: consumerfinance.gov

Two Federal Trade Commission pages checked today did not return a successful response, so they are not linked.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between this comparison and a ranked list of screening services?

A ranking tells you which service to try first. This comparison tells you what changes when you switch: report contents, which tier holds the eviction search, who pays, what applicant-paid actually buys, and what a year of screening costs. Build a short list from a ranking, then pick your workflow here.

How much does tenant screening cost per applicant in 2026?

At verified prices in this update: $49 for SmartMove Premium, plus tax where applicable; $55 for Avail's bundle of credit, criminal, and eviction reports; $35 for Innago's criminal, credit, and eviction option; and $45 or $55 at TurboTenant depending on which pricing section applies to your plan. RentPrep's core price was not stated on its homepage today, so confirm it at order time; its verified add-ons are $10 and $15.

Who usually pays for tenant screening, the landlord or the applicant?

The applicant, by default on Avail and TurboTenant, and in every Innago option. SmartMove lets you choose where permitted, but tenant-pay orders get only the top tier. RentPrep's automated package allows either payer; its human-reviewed background package is landlord-pay only. Avail and TurboTenant both let the landlord pay instead. Check state and local fee caps before collecting from applicants.

Does tenant screening hurt an applicant's credit score?

Avail describes its screening as a soft inquiry, designed not to negatively impact the applicant's credit score, because the applicant authorizes and initiates sharing their own TransUnion reports. If an applicant is worried, name the service before they start and let them read that service's own description of its inquiry type rather than reassuring them from memory.

How long does tenant screening take?

SmartMove says most reports arrive the same day after the applicant verifies their identity. Your real turnaround also includes the applicant completing verification, reviewing and submitting on bundled platforms, and any human review. Measure your own recent files, invitation to report in hand, and quote that range.

Do I need written consent before screening a tenant?

Yes. A report may be furnished only for an FCRA-permitted purpose, including on the consumer's written instructions and for a legitimate business need in a transaction the consumer initiated. Get authorization before ordering, ideally through the service's applicant flow. Never order first and paper consent later, and never reuse a report for an unrelated purpose.

What must I send if I deny an applicant because of a screening report?

An adverse action notice. If a report contributed in whole or in part to a denial or worse terms, the notice must name the reporting agency and how to contact it, state the agency did not make the decision, and tell the applicant they may obtain a free copy of their report within the statutory window and dispute inaccuracies. Use your service's template every time, and keep a copy.

Should I screen every adult who will live in the unit?

Yes — every adult occupant, with the same report set and criteria, not only the primary leaseholder. An unscreened adult is a gap in the decision your lease assumes you made, and selective screening builds the inconsistency compliance problems rest on. Each adult needs their own reports and is billed for their own package, whoever pays.

The bottom line

Pick on contents and workflow, not the headline fee. SmartMove offers verified tiers at $25, $40, and $49 with no subscription, and applicant-paid means top tier only. RentPrep is the human-review option: landlord-paid, plus $10 or $15 for verification in the same order, with the core price confirmed on the order screen. Avail's $55 bundle beats its $30-per-report pricing by $35 per applicant. Innago is the simplest menu: $30 without eviction, $35 with it, applicant-paid. TurboTenant bundles screening into a full platform — confirm $45 or $55 before quoting either. Whichever you choose: criteria first, same three reports every time, every adult screened, and an adverse action notice whenever a report shapes the answer.

See also: How to Screen Tenants and Tenant Screening Red Flags.

Compare more landlord software

• Landlord software compared: all reviews & comparisons
• TransUnion SmartMove Review 2026: Tenant Screening for Landlords
• RentPrep Review 2026: Tenant Screening Reports for Landlords
• SmartMove vs Avail Screening (2026): Which Tenant Screening Wins?

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