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Some States Putting Restrictions on Employer's Use of Credit Reports

Verify Tenant Blog — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:58:59 GMT

As of January 1, 2012, California will join six other states in limiting the use of a consumer credit report for employment purposes. Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, and Connecticut have all enacted legislation restricting employers’ use of credit reports. Similar legislation is pending in several other states.

Employers in California may only use a consumer credit report for emploment pruposes if the report is sought for one of the following:

1. A managerial position
2. A position in the state Department of Justice
3. A sworn peace officer or other law enforcement
4. A position for which the information contained in the report is required by law to be disclosed or obtained
5. A position that involves regular access to confidential information such as credit card account information, Social Security number, or date of birth
6.A position which the perosn can enter into financial transactions on behalf of the company
7. A position that involves access to confidential or proprietary information; or
8. A position that involves regular access to cash totaling ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or more of the employer, a customer, or client, during workday

If an employer procures a consumer report for one of the limited exceptions outlined in the statute, it must provide the person for whom the credit report is sought with written notice informing him or her that a report will be requested, the specific reasons for obtaining the report as provided in the statute, and a check box allowing the applicant to request a copy of the credit report at no charge.

Accordingly, employers who use credit information as part of employment screening or other hiring purposes should evaluate their policies in light of the recent momentum against using such information in employment decisions.

Identity Theft

Verify Tenant Blog — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:30:35 GMT

As many as 9 million Americans have their identity stolen each year, according to the FTC.

Identy theft occurs when someone uses your personal information, such as your name, social security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft can damage your credit status and cost you time, money, and aggravation restoring your good name.

An identity thief may use your information to commit various types of fraud:

- Credit Card Fraud: Thieves open a credit account in your name, use it and don't pay the bill.
- Utilities Fraud: Thieves may open new services such as a new wireless phone line on your existing account or open a new electric account using your name.
- Bank Fraud: Thieves may create counterfeit checks using your name and account number, open a new bank account in your name and write bad checks, clone your ATM card, or take out a loan in your name.
- Government Documents Fraud: Thieves use your name and SS number to get government benefits, get driver's license with your name but their picture or file fraudulent tax returns.
- Other Fraud: Thieves may rent a house or get a mortgage using your name, or give out your personal information to the police in an arrest.

Identity thieves may use different methods to get hold of your information:

- Dumpster Diving: They rummage through trash looking for bills or other papers with your personal information on it.
- Skimming: They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
- Phishing: They pretend to be financial insitutions or companies and send out spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
- Changing your Address: They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form.
- Old Fashioned Stealing: They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records or bribe employees who have access.
- Pretexting: They use false pretenses to obtain your personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies and other sources.

If you get your identity stolen, file a police report, check your credit and notify creditors and dispute any unauthorized transaction.

Some tips to safeguard your identity are:

- Don't carry your SS card in your wallet
- Never write down your PIN number on your card or a paper kept in your wallet
-Watch out for "rubbernecks". Block the key pad when entering the PIN to avoid someone looking over your shoulder
- Collect your mail promplty. Place it on hold if you are going away
- Keep an eye on billing cycles. If you don't get a bill on time, contact the sender
- Keep receipts and compare them to your bank statements
- Tear up or shred receipts, credit offers, account statements, expired cards, etc.
- Store personal information in a safe place
- Don't respond to unsolicited requests
- Install firewalls, passwords and virus protection software
- Check your credit report yearly

Keep it safe, keep it legal

Verify Tenant Blog — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 05:16:05 GMT

Communities and landlords are entitled to accept or deny an applicant from moving into their properties by establishing certain criteria, but in the event of a denial, certain legal practices must be followed so your community can avoid legal liability while maintaining it safe from undesired tenants.

If your community or landlord denies an applicant due to a low credit score, new regulations under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires you to make the following additional disclosures:

If adverse action is taken based on the information in a credit report with score, the notice must now contain the following information:

New Requirements:

Actual numerical score used in the adverse decision

Range of possible scores under the model used

Key factors that adversely affected the credit score – top 4 factors are required and a 5th is required when number of credit report inquiries was one of the 4 factors.

Verify Tenant

Ph: 954.628.8222

E-mail: order@verifytenant.com

Website: www.verifytenant.com

Community Association Institute-SEFL 2011

Verify Tenant Blog — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:18:00 GMT

Verify Tenant is proud to announce that it will be participating as an exhibitor in the Community Association Institute-SEFL 2011 Day of Education and Trade Expo on JANUARY 22, 2011 from 8:30am - 3:30PM at the Signature Grand in Davie.

This is a great opportunity for property managers and condominium association volunteers and employees to get together and obtain the education and resources needed to govern and run their associations.

Make sure to look for our booth there. We'll have all kinds of information and giveaways

See you there
Verify Tenant
http://www.verifytenant.com

FL Association of Realtors Orlando Convention

Verify Tenant Blog — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 01:18:00 GMT

FARPM's Convention & Trade Show

Verify Tenant Blog — Fri, 21 May 2010 19:23:00 GMT

The Florida Association of Residential Property Managers (FARPM ) held it's annual convention and trade show this past week in Hawk's Cay.
Property Managers from across the region enjoyed two days of top notch educational speakers and had the opportunity to meet some of the industry's best and most reliable vendors, all while spending a few fabulous days in the Florida Keys.
Verify Tenant was fortunate enough to be able to attend and share information about our tenant screening services with attendees.

Thank you

Verify Tenant
http://www.verifytenant.com
http://www.facebook.com/verifytenant

Verify Tenant Flyer

Verify Tenant Blog — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:55:00 GMT

What Landlords Need to Know about using consumer reports

Verify Tenant Blog — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 03:36:00 GMT

On the current economic situation were people are going to financial problems. or jobs are getting lost, is very important before you lease your property try to do the research necessary to know if your tenants will be able to make their monthly payments, plus they will take care of your property.
Some information that you need to know before you denied a prospect tenant is:

What is a Consumer Report?
A consumer report contains information about a person's credit characteristics, character, general reputation, and lifestyle. A report also may include information about someone's rental history.

If you're a landlord, you may use consumer reports to evaluate rental applications - as long as you follow the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The FCRA is designed to protect the privacy of consumer report information and to guarantee that the information supplied by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) is as accurate as possible. The FCRA requires landlords who deny a lease based on information in the applicant's consumer report to provide the applicant with an "adverse action notice."

Good Luck
Verify Tenant
www.verifytenant.com

opt-out

Verify Tenant Blog — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:44:00 GMT

It's important to find out what happens to the personal information you provide to companies, marketers, and government agencies. These organizations may use your information simply to process your order; they may use it to tell you about products, services, or promotions; or they may share your information with others. More organizations are offering people choices about how their personal information is used. For example, many let you "opt-out" of having your information shared with others or used for promotional purposes The national credit bureaus offer a toll-free number that enables consumers to opt-out of all pre-approved credit offers with just one phone call. Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) for more information

Good Luck
Verify Tenant
www.verifytenant.com

What’s In a Credit Score?

Verify Tenant Blog — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:59:00 GMT

What’s In a Credit Score?

The information that impacts a credit score varies depending on the score being used. Credit scores are affected by elements in your credit report, such as:

Number and Severity of Late Payments
Type, number and age of accounts
Total debt
Public records

Understanding your credit score

Verify Tenant Blog — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:25:00 GMT

The Five Things That Count

Listed below are five main categories of information on a credit report that Fair Isaac & Co evaluate, along with their general level of importance. Within these categories is a complete list of the information that goes into a FICO score. Please note that:

• A score takes into consideration all these categories of information, not just one or two. No one piece of information or factor will determine your score.

• The importance of any factor depends on the overall information on your credit report.

• Your score only looks at information on your credit report. Your FICO score does not reflect your income

• Your score considers both positive and negative information in your credit report.

• Your score does not consider your ethnic group, religion, gender, marital status and nationality.

The score itself can range from 300 to 900. The formula for exactly how the score is calculated is proprietary information and owned by Fair Isaac. Here is an approximate breakdown of how it is determined:

1. 35% of the score is based on your payment history. One of the primary reasons a lender wants to see your score is to find out if and how timely you pay your bills.

2. 30% of the score is based on outstanding debt. How much do you owe on your loans? How many credit cards? Are they at their limits? A good rule is to keep your cards at 30% or less of their limits.

3. 15% of the score is based on the length of credit history. More information about your past payment history gives a more accurate prediction of your future actions.

4. 10% of the score is based on the number of inquiries. These may be bad for your score because they indicate that you may be in some kind of financial trouble or may be taking on a lot of debt. FICO scores only count inquiries from the past year.

5. 10% of the score is based on the types of credit you currently have. What kind and how many of each? The credit mix usually won’t be a key factor in determining your score- but it will be more important if the report lacks other information on which to base the score.

www.verifytenant.com

TENANT SCREENING TIPS

Verify Tenant Blog — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:24:00 GMT

TENANT SCREENING TIPS

1. Always use a preprinted rental application whether it is our generic form or a special company printed form.

2. Full Name: Should include first, middle and last names and any generation, such as Jr, Sr, etc. Include all nicknames and aliases previously used. Do this for all persons to occupy the property. Check to make sure that the drivers license, pay-stub, social security information match up.

3. Date of Birth: Obtain a birth date for each person and likewise verify the with IDCheck or Credit Report.

4. Driver license Number and State: Know what a valid license looks like and examine the driver license for genuineness. Be sure to check the full name, the address, the date of birth, the driver license number, the signature and most of all, the picture. Compare all these items with the data on the rental application form and with the physicality of the applicant. Also IDCheck will verify the applicants drivers license number and state of issuance.

5. Employment History: Get the business's name, supervisor's name, phone number and business address. Ask for copies of applicants pay stubs. Confirm and cross-reference all information with original application. If the prospective tenant is self-employed, ask for copies of tax returns. IDCheck may provide the name & date of Employement.

6.Reference Verification:Have at least three references of persons who know the applicant for a minimum of three years. Make sure the references are checked and confirmed. Although most references will not say something bad about applicant, references can be used as good sources for skip tracing should it be needed later.

7. Landlord History; Movement Patterns: Get the names, addresses and telephone numbers of last three Landlords. It is important to check present and prior landlords, however our professional screeners our careful as present landlord may not provide negative information in order to get rid of problem applicant. IDCheck also reports all addresses on file for applicant for the last 10 years.

To see the rest of the article you can go to http://www.verifytenant.com/Documents/TenantTIPS.pdf