TransUnion SmartMove on your credit report: what this inquiry means

Who TransUnion SmartMove is

TransUnion Rental Screening Solutions, Inc. runs SmartMove, an online screening service landlords use for credit checks, criminal and eviction reports, income estimates and a resident risk score. The renter gets an email, verifies identity and consents online before any report is released to the landlord.

Is it a hard or soft inquiry?

SmartMove says its screening has no impact on the renter's credit score. So a SmartMove screening shouldn't add a hard inquiry that lenders see.

Why it showed up on your report

A landlord sent you a SmartMove screening request and you completed it. Because you enter your own information and approve the release, a SmartMove entry you don't recognize is unusual and worth checking.

How to check that you authorized it

1. Search your email for a SmartMove screening request around the inquiry date.
2. Ask the landlord whether the request came from them.
3. Request copies of the reports you authorized, which SmartMove provides on request.

How to reach TransUnion SmartMove

Contact SmartMove through MySmartMove.com, by phone (option 4) or by mail to get copies of the tenant and income reports you authorized a landlord to receive. Disputes are investigated free, and corrections are passed to other reporting companies that received the error.

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.
• What landlords see when they check your creditMany landlords buy a tenant screening report that goes beyond your credit score. What it contains, who sells it, and how deposits and guarantors work.
• 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.