Hello REIN community,

Currently screening some potential tenants that seem great but their credit scores tell a different story.

- How does someone have a credit score of 0? She said she's never had issues before with other people pulling her credit... but I confirmed it was her (it came up with her previous name)

- A collection came up on her credit decision report as well. She says it's a credit card she had as a teenager and in her first marriage (divorced in 2009) but the assigned date is 2013 and last payment is in 2012 so I'm not sure what to make of this timeline?

- Under "Fraud & Data Warnings", it says "inquiry address reported misused [code: 9]" which when I googled it, means the address has been reported as used to commit fraud. BUT the address she provided is an apartment building (she didn't provide unit number). Does the credit check connect her to her full address (including unit number)?

Thanks in advance! First time coming across someone with a suspicious credit report ...

Cheers, Allison

Huge red flag. I would pass regardless of what her story is.

Major flags! I base 80-85% of my tenant intake decisions on credit checks. They can tell A LOT of the story!

If she contacts you again: "we have decided to choose a different applicant."

Nothing more.

Haha ok thanks everyone for the extra push to go with the hard numbers and not the story!

Im sure you guys have heard it all but the story she's spinning up is (1) a snapshot of Credit Karma showing her credit score is 640 and (2) that her husband used to have a credit score of 760 and it is now 552 bc of a credit card that never arrived but is showing missed payments + they're going to call Equifax to get this fixed.

This one always ceases to amaze me. Social media is lit up with tenant complaints that credit checks are too invasive, we don't have the right, it's unethical, etc. but it is logical to assume if they don't pay their simple creditors they won't pay you either. This one is a judgement call for you, as they could very well be legit, but I can say it's an absolute living nightmare evicting someone for not paying rent.

The fraud warning is a full-stop for me, I wouldn't dig any further...NEXT

Credit scores of zero I can be okay with if there was a health reason, lost job, divorce from vengeful spouse, or just young and stupid and there is actual proof the debt was consolidated and that the tenant is making the payments on the adjusted debt. But the income and job history would need to be rock solid to outweigh the credit risk. Sometimes I have accepted prepaid rent on the back end of the lease for riskier tenants.

The only time I've seen a credit score of zero is when the person has never had any positive credit reporting. They may still have collections and other negative reporting, but no positive to offset them so the score stays at zero.

The only way I allow Credit Karma is if the person sets up the account with a login I can access. So perhaps they switch their password to my office phone number for the day so I can poke around.

If the Credit Karma report is verified and you want to do some more digging, try getting a judgment search at a Provincial Court House. This shows all civil judgments against a person, including tenancy judgments. I wouldn't be surprised to find something there.