First Advantage on your credit report: what this inquiry means

Who First Advantage is

First Advantage runs two screening lines that both appear on the CFPB's list. First Advantage Resident Solutions screens rental applicants for property managers, owners and leasing agents. First Advantage Corporation handles background screening and post-hire monitoring for employers. The same consumer center handles requests for both, so the name alone doesn't tell you which kind of check it was.

Is it a hard or soft inquiry?

An employment background check isn't a credit application, and myFICO lists background checks as soft inquiries. A rental screening that includes a bureau credit pull is coded hard or soft by the landlord's order.

Why it showed up on your report

You applied for an apartment managed by a company that screens through First Advantage, or you accepted a job offer that required a background check.

How to check that you authorized it

1. Decide which you had near that date: a rental application or a job screening.
2. Ask the landlord or the employer's HR team whether they used First Advantage.
3. Request your First Advantage report to see who ordered it.

How to reach First Advantage

Use the free report request form on fadv.com, call 800-845-6004 or write to the Consumer Center for one free report every 12 months. To freeze, call or email [email protected].

Guides that go deeper

• What each apartment application costs your creditLandlord credit checks can be hard or soft, and FICO doesn't group rental inquiries the way it groups loan shopping. Ask these questions before you pay.
• Your rights when an employer checks your creditAn employer needs your written OK to pull your credit and must show you the report before acting on it. The federal steps, plus state and city limits.
• Specialty consumer reports: ChexSystems, tenant screening and moreBanks, landlords, insurers, and utilities often check reports you've never seen. Who keeps them, how to get yours free, and how to fix errors in them.
• Hard vs. soft inquiries: which credit checks count against youA hard inquiry comes from a credit application and can trim your score. A soft one never does. A table of the common checks, gray zones included.