AI Tenant Screening That
Reads the Full Picture
Don't just pull a stack of PDFs. VerticalRent's AI Risk Score synthesizes criminal, eviction, and rental history into a single 0–100 score with a plain-English explanation. Credit reports are not live.
Renter rental history is free every 6 months. Landlord AI risk scores are Platinum at $5/month.
What Is AI Tenant Screening?
Traditional tenant screening gives you raw PDFs: criminal hits, eviction filings, and address history. You're left to interpret it yourself. Credit reports are still the industry default — they are not live on VerticalRent yet.
The problem is that raw data is misleading without context. An eviction from 2009 is different from one from 2024. A resolved misdemeanor from 2018 is different from a recent felony.
AI tenant screening synthesizes all of this data simultaneously and produces a single, contextualized risk score — plus a plain-English explanation of exactly why the applicant scored where they did.
How the AI Risk Score Works
Five steps from application to decision-ready insight.
Landlord orders screening on an applicant
You request the reports you need from within the application. Each report is 1 screening credit ($5).
Data Divers and DX pull criminal, eviction, and rental history
Criminal and rental history come from Data Divers. Eviction records come from DX Data Exchange. Credit reports are not live.
VerticalRent AI analyzes the reports together
The AI reads criminal, eviction, and rental history in context with each other — not as separate documents. A criminal record gets weighed differently if the rental history is spotless.
Produces a 0–100 risk score
The score runs from 0 (highest risk) to 100 (lowest risk). Score ranges map to risk tiers: 80–100 Low Risk, 60–79 Low-Moderate, 40–59 Moderate, 20–39 High, 0–19 Very High.
Plain-English explanation with actionable recommendation
The AI explains every factor that moved the score up or down, and provides a clear recommendation: approve, approve with conditions (higher deposit), or decline — with the reasoning a landlord can act on.
What Factors Go Into the AI Risk Score?
The AI weighs the reports you actually ordered. Credit reports and Plaid income are not live.
Eviction History
High weightEviction filings and judgments from DX Data Exchange, with recency factored in. An eviction from 2009 is weighted less than one from 2023.
Criminal Background
Medium weightType of offense, recency, and resolution from Data Divers. Non-violent misdemeanors from 10+ years ago are weighted differently than recent violent felonies.
Rental History
High weightAddress history and length of tenancy from the rental-history report. Stable multi-year tenancies are a strong positive signal. Frequent 6–12 month moves can indicate instability.
Credit reports
Coming later weightNot live. The AI Risk Score does not include a credit score or credit-account payment history yet.
Income verification
Coming later weightPlaid bank-link income is not live. The score does not currently flag a 3x rent income-to-rent ratio.
How AI Screening Protects You Under FCRA
The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how you can use consumer reports in housing decisions. VerticalRent was built with FCRA compliance at its core — not as an afterthought.
AI supports — landlord decides
The AI Risk Score is a decision-support tool. Under FCRA, the landlord makes the final housing decision. VerticalRent's interface is designed to keep that distinction clear.
Automatic adverse action notices
When you decline an applicant after running a screening report, VerticalRent automatically generates the FCRA-required adverse action notice with all required disclosures.
Complete audit log
Every screening action is timestamped and audit-logged with permissible purpose (tenant_screening). This protects you in the event of a compliance dispute.
FCRA consent captured first
Applicants must provide electronic FCRA consent before any screening reports are pulled. Consent timestamp is stored and available for your records.
Note: VerticalRent is not a law firm and this is not legal advice. If you have specific questions about FCRA compliance for your situation, consult a qualified attorney. All screening is conducted with permissible purpose as defined under 15 U.S.C. § 1681b.
Screening Reports & Pricing
Any single report is 1 screening credit ($5) after you verify. A $5 identity check becomes 1 credit. Platinum includes identity and 1 report each month. Renters can pull rental history every six months.
| Report | Free | Platinum | Applicant-Pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Background | $5.00 | $5.00 or included | ✓ |
| Credit Report | Not live | Not live | — |
| Eviction Search | $5.00 | $5.00 or included | ✓ |
| Rental History | Free when paired | Free when paired | — |
Platinum includes 1 screening report each month. Extra reports use credits ($5 each). Criminal and eviction together are 2 credits ($10); rental history is included when paired. Rental history is free for renters once every 6 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an AI risk score for tenants?
An AI tenant risk score is a single 0–100 number that synthesizes criminal background, eviction records, and rental history. Credit reports are not live. VerticalRent's AI also provides a plain-English explanation of every factor.
Is AI tenant screening FCRA compliant?
Yes. The AI Risk Score is a decision-support tool — you make the final housing decision. Every screening action is audit-logged. FCRA adverse action notices are generated automatically when required. Applicant FCRA consent is captured before any reports are pulled.
How accurate is AI tenant screening?
The AI Risk Score is based on verified criminal, eviction, and rental-history data from screening databases. Credit reports are not live. The AI synthesizes real data, it doesn't guess.
Can I use AI screening as the sole basis for rejection?
No. Under FCRA, you make the final housing decision. The AI Risk Score provides information and context to support that decision, but is not a substitute for landlord judgment. VerticalRent generates proper adverse action notices when you decline after screening.
Stop Reading Four PDFs. Get One Clear Answer.
Renter rental history is free every 6 months. AI Risk Score is included with landlord Platinum at $5/month (10 AI credits per score).
Start Free — Platinum unlocks AI scores