Best RentSpree Alternatives 2024
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If you’re a landlord, agent, or property manager in Texas, you’ve probably heard of RentSpree. The platform includes many features built to power your rental business, including everything from listing pages, to e-signatures, to rent payments. For the purpose of this review, we will be evaluating their tenant screening feature and exploring some of the most popular screening alternatives, what makes them unique, and how they work.
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Shortcomings of Screening with RentSpree
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RentSpree makes it easy for renters to directly apply online to your property and they provide a full credit report with all screenings. However additional screening like income verification and references can not be accessed with their free plan. Users must upgrade to RentSpree PRO ($9.99/month) in order for you to request that the rental applicant upload additional required documents such as proof of income and government issued identification. None of this information is verified by a third party.
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Here are 5 RentSpree alternatives every landlord and real estate agent should know.
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1. Clara: Clara is a digital rental application and screening platform that provides a seamless experience for both renters and landlords. It collects, consolidates, and secures application information to help renters find their ideal homes and landlords find their ideal renters. For landlords like yourself, Clara provides access to a pool of highly qualified and verified renters, removes the risk of fraudulent applications, and helps you find their perfect renter. Clara features:
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• Digital Rental Application: Clara allows you to create and share an online application with potential renters.
• Identity and Income Verification: Clara partners with Plaid, an advanced security and encryption tool, to verify identification documents, phone numbers, name, date of birth, ID numbers, and more.
• Credit History: Clara provides a TransUnion credit report summary that includes a renter's credit score, total credit lines, collections, and more.
• Background Checks: Clara conducts an eviction search as well as an extensive criminal history search that searches through more than 200 million records.
• References: When a renter adds a reference to their profile, Clara will automatically email
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2. TransUnion SmartMove: SmartMove (TransUnion) is a tenant screening platform that gives landlords access to renter's credit, eviction, and criminal reports. TransUnion SmartMove features:
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• Resident Score: SmartMove provides a score built specifically to identify the likelihood of eviction better than a typical credit score.
• Credit History: SmartMove delivers credit reports direct from TransUnion.
• Criminal Background & Eviction Checks: SmartMove also shares a eviction related proceedings report and criminal records.
• Income Insights Report: SmartMove estimates total job and non-job related sources of income using a proprietary model that was verified against a variety of historical income data collected by independent third parties.
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3. Avail: Operated by Realtor.com, Avail has a suite of services including customizable online rental applications that provide residence histories, employment and income verifications, and everything else you need to select the right tenant. Avail features:
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• Renter Profile: Discover more about your applicant with a comprehensive renter profile. This includes details like their date of birth, contact information, pet details, and more.
• Residential History: See your tenant’s residence history from the past five years, as well as their landlords’ contact information.
• Automated reference checks: Avail will automatically email previous landlords to learn more about your tenant’s renting history.
• Employment and income verification: Verify income and current employment by viewing their current employer and streams of income.
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4. RentPrep: A national tenant screening service located in Lancaster, NY, RentPrep provides landlords with a renter's credit, eviction, and criminal reports. RentPrep features:
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• Background Reports: All RentPrep Background Reports are hand-compiled tenant background checks by a team of FCRA Certified Screeners.
• Credit History: RentPrep calls their Credit Report a “Credit Decision Report“, powered by TransUnion. Landlords select a star rating (0 through 5) that will act as your criteria that the applicant must pass.
• Income Verification: RentPrep provides instant real-time access to the most accurate income data available to help you make informed decisions with confidence.
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5. TurboTenant: Your one-stop shop for finding and managing tenants. TurboTenant features:
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• Credit Score: Obtain a full credit report from TransUnion to evaluate if the applicant meets your criteria. This report includes information such as Lines of Credit, Credit Inquiries, and Debt in Collections.
• Criminal Record: They check over 300 million records to ensure the applicant has no criminal history.
• Past Evictions: Stay calm knowing TurboTenant checks over 27 million eviction records covering all 50 states and D.C.
• Income Verification: Utilize an Income Insights tool to cross-verify the income reported by applicants against data from TransUnion.
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Next Steps

Now that you have a better understanding of the alternatives to RentSpree, you can make an informed decision about which tenant screening service best suits your needs. Remember, the right tenant can make your life as a landlord much easier, so take the time to thoroughly screen your applicants. Happy renting! 🏠