How to Dispute an Eviction on a Background Check

If a screening report gets your eviction wrong, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives you the right to dispute it. That covers things like a wrong balance status, a mistake in how the case ended, or a record that’s too old to report. Screening companies have 30 days to look into it (up to 45 in some cases). They have to fix or delete anything that turns out wrong or can’t be verified. Here’s how we walk our clients through it, step by step.

Step 1: Get the adverse action notice

If anything in a screening report played a part in your denial, the FCRA says the landlord has to give you an adverse action notice. The same goes for an approval that comes with conditions, like a bigger deposit or a cosigner. Most notices come as a letter or email, and they have to name the screening company whose report the landlord used. Didn’t get one? Ask the leasing office for it in writing.

The notice usually lists:

• Name of the screening company
• How to reach them (mailing address, phone, and sometimes a website)
• Your right to a free copy of the report if you ask within 60 days
• Your right to dispute anything that’s wrong
• A statement that the screening company didn’t make the decision

Screening companies we see on Texas notices: SafeRent Solutions, RealPage (LeasingDesk), TransUnion SmartMove, RentGrow (Yardi), AppFolio Tenant Screening, and Experian RentBureau. Properties know Yardi’s screening as ScreeningWorks Pro, but RentGrow is the Yardi company that handles your report. LexisNexis can show up too, since it sells public record reports that some screeners use.

Step 2: Pull your report

Ask the screening company named on the notice for a free copy of your report within those 60 days. Each company handles requests a little differently, so here’s where to start:

• SafeRent Solutions: call 888-333-2413 (weekdays, 8 to 6 Central). Or fill out the request form on saferentsolutions.com/consumer-support (opens in new tab) and email it to Consumer@SafeRentSolutions.com. If an old notice says CoreLogic, that screening business is now SafeRent Solutions
• RealPage (LeasingDesk): request form at realpage.com/support/consumer (opens in new tab), or call 866-934-1124
• LexisNexis: consumer.risk.lexisnexis.com, or call 866-897-8126
• TransUnion SmartMove: call SmartMove customer service at 866-775-0961, or start at mysmartmove.com
• Experian RentBureau: mail in the request form on Experian’s rental history page, or call 877-704-4519

Have your SSN, date of birth, and past addresses handy. The screening company will ask for them to prove it’s you.

Step 3: Look for errors you can dispute

Read every line of the report. These are the eviction errors we see most, and you can dispute all of them:

Balance status errors

• Report shows “unpaid balance” but you paid: dispute it with proof of payment
• Report shows “collections” but the landlord never sent the debt to a collection agency: dispute it
• Report shows a balance higher than what you actually owe: dispute it

Case outcome (disposition) errors

• Report shows “judgment for plaintiff” (a win for the landlord) but the case was dismissed: dispute it with the court order
• Report shows the filing as active but the landlord nonsuited (dropped) the case: dispute it
• Report shows the filing but leaves off the court’s dismissal: dispute it

Identity errors

• Filing belongs to another person with a similar name: dispute it
• Filing is tied to an address you never lived at: dispute it

Records that are too old

• Filing is over 7 years old but still showing: dispute it (under 15 U.S.C. § 1681c)

Not disputable: a real, accurate, recent eviction filing. Disputing won’t make an eviction that actually happened go away.

Step 4: File the written dispute

Put your dispute in writing and send it to the screening company. Most take it online, by email, by mail, or by fax. Always keep a copy of what you send.

Include:

1. Your name, current address, date of birth, and the last 4 digits of your SSN
2. Which report you mean (case number if you have it)
3. Exactly what you’re disputing and why it’s wrong
4. Proof that backs up your dispute:
   • Court order (dismissal, judgment for tenant, satisfaction of judgment)
   • Payment receipts or zero balance letters
   • Paperwork showing how the case actually ended
5. A clear statement that you’re asking for an investigation under the FCRA

You can open the letter like this: “Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. § 1681i), I am disputing the following information on my [Company Name] report…”

Step 5: Wait for the investigation

Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i (opens in new tab), screening companies have 30 days from the day they get your dispute to finish looking into it. That stretches to 45 days if you send more information partway through. Here’s what happens in the meantime:

• The screening company goes back to the original source (the JP court, the landlord, or LexisNexis) to check it
• They may ask you for more paperwork
• They have to send you the results in writing within 5 business days of finishing

Step 6: Read the results

It usually goes one of three ways:

Confirmed wrong → corrected. The screening company updates the report. It’s worth asking for a new copy that shows the fix.

Confirmed accurate → unchanged. The company says the information checks out. If you still disagree, you can add a short statement to your file explaining your side. The company can limit it to 100 words.

Can’t be verified → deleted. If the original source can’t back it up, the company has to remove it. That’s rare, but it happens.

What about records over 7 years old? Those usually get deleted. The FCRA doesn’t let a screening company report most eviction cases more than 7 years after they were filed.

What if the company won’t fix a clear error?

If the screening company won’t fix something you can prove is wrong, you still have moves:

1. Push it up the chain at the company: ask for a supervisor to review it
2. File a complaint with the CFPB (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau) at consumerfinance.gov/complaint (opens in new tab)
3. Talk to a consumer rights attorney: if the company broke the FCRA, you may be owed damages plus attorney fees. It can be more if the company did it on purpose.

After the dispute: what changes for you

A dispute you win changes what shows up the next time a landlord screens you. You can ask the screening company to send the correction to any landlord that pulled your report in the past six months. Our advice: wait for the corrected report before you turn in any applications, and attach it if it helps your case.

To find properties that may work with an eviction like yours, see our home page or management company eviction policy guide.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. For complicated FCRA disputes, talk to a consumer rights attorney or legal aid. TexasLawHelp.org lets you look up legal aid groups by county.