Skip to main content
Hub or DubHub or Dub™
Housing

Tenant screening, done in a way that holds up

Tenant screening uses a verified profile for a housing decision. That single fact decides what a landlord should check, what an applicant should be told, and what happens when something on the profile is wrong.

8 min read Educational guide

What tenant screening actually covers

A screening review for a rental application typically combines identity verification, civil court records including eviction filings, criminal record checks where state law permits them, and in many cases a measure of payment behavior.

None of that is useful unless it is tied to the right person. Name-only matching is the single most common source of wrongful denials, which is why identity verification belongs at the front of the process rather than the end.

Authorized purpose in housing

Reviewing a rental application is a documented and consented purpose. Curiosity about a neighbor, a former tenant, or a person you are in a dispute with is not.

A landlord or property manager who views a profile without an authorized purpose is exposed regardless of what the profile says. Verified accounts exist so that the purpose is certified and recorded before the profile is produced.

  • Certify the purpose before the run, not after the decision.
  • Keep the record of who ran it, when, and why.
  • Apply the same criteria to every applicant for the same unit.

Notice: the step most landlords miss

If information in a profile contributes to a denial, a higher deposit, or a co-signer requirement, best practice gives the applicant notice identifying that a profile was used, a right to a free copy, and a right to dispute it.

This is not paperwork for its own sake. It is the mechanism that lets a person fix a record that was wrong about them, and skipping it is what turns a routine denial into a real dispute.

How Hub or Dub approaches rental screening

Every item on a Hub or Dub profile is reviewed by a human investigator against source evidence and published with a citation. Access to view an applicant's profile is limited to verified HOD Pro+, HOD Run+, and HOD Enterprise+ business accounts with a documented and consented purpose.

Applicants are never in the dark. Consumer accounts are free, show the same evidence the landlord sees, and include a dispute channel that a person can use before, during, or after an application.

See HOD Pro+ for housing

Verified business accounts, authorized-purpose gated, unlimited overall, 2 per subject each month.

See HOD Pro+ for housing

Frequently asked questions

Can a landlord view a profile without permission?
Housing applicants should be given clear notice, and authorization is standard practice. Verified accounts on Hub or Dub certify a documented and consented purpose before any profile is produced.
How far back do eviction records go?
Retention varies by record type and by state law. Hub or Dub applies its own published standards alongside the stricter state rules where they apply.
What if a tenant screening result is wrong?
The applicant can dispute the item. Hub or Dub investigates against source evidence and corrects or removes anything that cannot be verified.
Is a credit score enough to screen a tenant?
It answers one question about borrowing behavior from a credit bureau. It says nothing about identity, court history, or conduct, which is why most housing decisions use more than a score.

Keep reading