Experian ConnectSM

Tenant Screening Services for Landlords and Property Managers

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Experian Connect for Tenants

Your potential tenants can purchase their credit report and score for $14.95 and then grant you access to view it for 30 days from purchase, for no additional fee.

Tenant Screening with Experian Connect

As a landlord or small property manager, it is essential to protect yourself and screen your potential tenant's credit. You will be able to see how they manage their other types of accounts, which may help in mitigating the risk of late rent checks or the expense of an eviction.

Experian Connect will let you quickly view the personal credit report and score of your potential tenants, who have granted you access, for no fee. When you view your tenant's credit report and score through Experian, you can be sure you are seeing their information directly from the credit bureau.

Landlord Screening Services - View Prospective Tenant's Credit Report & Score

Credit Checking Directly Between Landlords and TenantsCredit Checking Between Landlords and Their Prospective Tenants - Quickly View Credit Report and Score

Once you create your account on Experian Connect and you have completed authentication, you can start inviting your potential tenants as connections. After they complete authentication and accept your invitation, they will be able to:

  • Purchase and view their credit information
  • Grant you access to view their credit report and score within 30 days of purchase.

You will be able to quickly view your potential tenant's credit report and score. This may eliminate manual paperwork and save you time – you may be able to make smart decisions faster.

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Experian Connect – Questions and Answers

Can I use this service for both personal and business use?

Yes. In fact, if you are a small or independent business, it is important to know your personal credit information, too.

Why is the credit score different from the three different bureaus?

The three national credit bureaus do not share information with one another. This means that, if your creditor only sends information to one or two of the credit bureaus or only pulls an inquiry from one bureau, the activity won't appear on all three reports. The three bureaus also have different formats for the way they collect and store data, so information for the same account may appear differently from one credit report to another. This is why scores are sometimes different from one bureau to another.

What does it mean to create a “Connection” on Experian Connect?

In order to interact with someone else through this service, you first must go through a three-step invitation process. This invitation process allows both parties to confirm they know and trust each other before sharing important information, such as a credit report. Successfully completing the invitation process creates a link between the two accounts, and each party is now a “Connection” to the other.

What happens when I send an invitation to connect?

When you send an invitation to connect to someone, an email is sent from Experian Connect to the name and email address you provided to us. If you also added a custom message, we will include that in the email as well as your Connections page. It’s important to remember that you only should invite people who you know and trust. Before someone can accept your invitation, they will need to either sign in to their existing account or create a new account and verify their identity.

What happens when I use the “Ask to See a Credit Report” feature?

Experian Connect allows people to view and subsequently show their own Experian Credit Report and VantageScore to their Connections. If you need to view the report of one of your Connections instead, you can use this feature to ask them if they are willing to show their report to you. Remember that you can’t ask just anyone for their report for any reason. You need to make sure that you are asking Connections who you know and have a specific, allowed purpose for its use. We will ask you to select a single purpose and to certify to this before you can continue.

Does asking my Connection to see their report hurt their credit score?

No. When you ask a Connection to see their credit report and score, they will need to agree to show it to you. Once they do, it will not affect their score because this type of action is what we call a “soft inquiry”. Soft inquiries do not impact your credit score and do not appear on any credit reports viewed by other people.

Experian Credit Report and Score

What is a credit report?

A credit report is a snapshot of your tenant's experience with credit-related accounts. Aside from some basic personal information, like their name and address to help identify their report, there are three main types of information on their credit report:

  • Public Records: Court-related information, including bankruptcies, state and county court records, tax liens, monetary judgments and, in some states, overdue child support payments. 
  • Credit Inquiries: Names of businesses or individuals that have obtained a copy of your credit report, including lenders, landlords, and employers.
  • Accounts: Payment history on all your Real Estate, Installment, and Revolving Credit Accounts.

What is a credit score?

A credit score is a number based on the information in your tenant's credit report. It is similar to a grade you would have received in school, but instead of right and wrong answers, their credit score is based on positive and negative credit history. Paying bills on time and using credit responsibly builds a positive history while paying bills late and being irresponsible with credit builds a negative history.

There are many different ways to calculate a credit score. Experian Connect uses the VantageScore® calculation with the Experian credit report. VantageScore was developed by the three national credit reporting companies — Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Unlike other scoring systems, it is the most consistent score using only one model with one set of scoring calculations, resulting in scores that are more uniform and consistent.

How is the score determined?

Developers of credit scoring models review a selection of consumers — often more than one million. The historical credit profiles of these consumers are examined to identify common variables. The developers then build statistical models by selecting the credit variables most predictive of future behavior and assigning appropriate weights to each variable. The score is influenced by the following factors:

Experian VantageScore Credit Score

VantageScore Explained

VantageScore is based on the traditional A, B, C, D and F rating scale. All credit scores are measured in a numeric range — from 501 to 990. When you view your tenant's VantageScore, you are able to easily see and understand where your tenant stands.

 

VantageScore Credit Score - A - Consumers in this group have credit scores that rank higher than 84 percent of U.S. consumers. Most lenders are likely to provide the best credit terms available to these consumers. B - Consumers in this group have credit scores that rank higher than 59 percent of U.S. consumers. Most lenders are likely to provide good credit terms available to these customers.C - Consumers in this group have credit scores that rank higher than 39 percent of U.S. consumers. Most lenders are likely to provide the reasonable credit terms available to these consumers. Some lenders may wish to review the credit history of consumers in this category in more depth and may require additional documentation in order to extend favorable terms.D - Consumers in this group have credit scores that rank higher than 19 percent of U.S. consumers. Lenders typically view consumers in this category as higher risk. While many lenders still make credit available, they likely will offer somewhat less favorable terms to compensate for higher default rates in this category.F - Consumers in this group have credit scores that rank in the lowest 19 percent of U.S. consumers. Lenders generally view this as a very high-risk group. Many prefer not to extend credit to this group. Some will extend more traditional credit but require much higher interest payments to compensate for the increased risk associated with this category.

Contact Us

Please contact us using the form below. We will use your contact information to respond to your question, and we will use the information you provide to consider how we may evaluate and improve our service.

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