TransUnion SmartMove vs RentPrep for Property Managers

TransUnion SmartMove and RentPrep are the two screening services an independent landlord is most likely to compare, and one of our tracked prompts puts the question the way a buyer asks it: TransUnion SmartMove vs RentPrep for tenant screening, which is better for a landlord with 20 rentals? Both sell a report per applicant, both publish their prices, and both aim at single-family and small multifamily owners. The difference is who produces the report. SmartMove is TransUnion’s own online product. It returns credit, criminal and eviction reports plus ResidentScore, Income Insights and an identity check, the same day. RentPrep, now part of Stessa, has an FCRA-certified screener review each report, covering SSN verification, criminal, eviction, judgments, bankruptcies and credit, with income and employment verification as add-ons. The landlord comparing them is usually the owner or a part-time leasing coordinator, and the decision comes down to whether you want a fast self-serve bureau report or a person checking the file before it reaches you. This page puts the two side by side from our vendor data and the research behind the tenant screening guide.

Where each fits

Both records list the same two segments, single-family and small multifamily, so segment does not separate them. Neither lists a property management system integration in our database. In both cases the report arrives in the vendor’s own dashboard or by email, and someone moves the decision into the PMS or the spreadsheet by hand. At 20 rentals that is a few minutes per applicant. At a few hundred doors it becomes a real chore, and that is where the category’s verification and PMS-integrated products start to make sense.

SmartMove fits the landlord who wants to send an applicant a link, have the report back the same day, and decide alone. Its homepage says it has no setup fee and that you can have the tenant cover the cost or pay it yourself. The report includes TransUnion’s ResidentScore and Income Insights alongside the credit, criminal and eviction reports. For a landlord who mostly needs a bureau report and a score, that covers the job.

RentPrep fits the landlord who would rather have someone else read the file first. Its distinguishing feature in our record is the human review by an FCRA-certified screener, and its research row says it has run more than two million screenings since 2007. Its credit report also carries ResidentScore, so the score itself does not separate the two. RentPrep is delivered through Stessa, which matters if you already use Stessa for your rental books. It also has an enterprise tier for portfolios of 50 or more properties, priced on request, with an API. A landlord who expects to grow past that line has a path inside RentPrep. SmartMove’s path above its own product is not in our records, because TransUnion’s main site blocked our research fetches.

Neither product examines the documents an applicant uploads. RentPrep’s own article on the subject says pay stubs are one of the most commonly faked documents rental applicants submit and that fakes are shockingly easy to buy online, and it recommends asking for at least two forms of income and employment verification. If faked pay stubs are a problem you have seen, RentPrep’s paid income and employment verification add-ons and SmartMove’s Income Insights are each a partial answer. Neither is a document-fraud check.

Pricing models

Both publish prices, which most of the category does not.

SmartMove sells three tiers per screening: SmartCheck Basic at $25, Plus at $40 and Premium at $49, excluding tax. The landlord or the applicant pays. Our record does not break down which reports each tier includes, so check that on SmartMove’s site before assuming Basic covers criminal and eviction history.

RentPrep sells a Credit Report at $29, a Full Background Check at $29 and a Complete Screening at $49. Income verification adds $10 and employment verification adds $15. The enterprise tier for 50 or more properties is custom. Our record does not say whether RentPrep lets the applicant pay, so ask.

At the top end the two land on the same number. SmartMove Premium and RentPrep Complete Screening are both $49 before RentPrep’s verification add-ons. At the bottom, SmartMove Basic is $25 and RentPrep’s cheapest report is $29. For a landlord with 20 rentals, who might screen a few dozen applicants in a year, the difference is small. Pick on the report and the review. If you plan to pass the fee to the applicant, application-fee rules vary by state, so confirm what you may charge with counsel before you set it.

What to ask each in a demo

If you do not get a demo at 20 rentals, these work just as well as questions for the sales line before your first applicant.

1. What exactly is in each tier? For SmartMove, which of Basic, Plus and Premium include criminal, eviction, ResidentScore and Income Insights. For RentPrep, what the Complete Screening covers that the Full Background Check does not.
2. How long does a report take? SmartMove says same day. RentPrep’s turnaround is not in our record, so ask whether the screener’s review adds time. Ask both for typical and worst-case times, since a slow decision loses applicants.
3. How are criminal records filtered for your city and county? Lookback rules vary by jurisdiction. Ask whether the report applies them or leaves that to you, and keep your written criteria in front of counsel.
4. What does the screener’s review add, and who is accountable for it? For RentPrep, ask what the screener checks and whether it makes a recommendation. For SmartMove, ask what you get beyond the score.
5. Who sends the adverse-action notice, and how does an applicant dispute a record? Both are your obligations under FCRA. Ask how each product supports them.
6. What happens to income when the credit file is thin? Ask SmartMove how Income Insights treats an applicant with little credit history, and ask RentPrep how its income verification works and what the applicant has to provide.

What the Index shows

The live table above carries the current edition’s figures for both vendors. Our reading is that the engine sorts tenant screening by portfolio size and treats SmartMove and RentPrep as the small-landlord pair, so a landlord with a few dozen rentals is likely to hear both names. The Index rows for TransUnion SmartMove and RentPrep have the prompt-by-prompt detail and the sources behind each answer.

Which fits you

SmartMove fits a landlord who wants a same-day bureau report with TransUnion’s own score and income estimate, wants to choose per applicant who pays, and is comfortable reading the report and deciding without help. RentPrep fits a landlord who wants a person to review the file, wants income and employment verification as priced add-ons, already keeps books in Stessa, or expects to pass 50 properties and want an API. Neither is better in the absolute. At 20 rentals the price gap is small enough to ignore, and the useful question is whether you want to read the report yourself.

If neither fits, the alternatives to TransUnion SmartMove cover the rest of the category, including RentSpree and the fraud and income verification tools larger operators layer on top. The full tenant screening vendor list puts the published price lists side by side, and the profiles for TransUnion SmartMove and RentPrep carry the dated sources for everything above. The category guide covers how to evaluate screening at any portfolio size. Insurance usually comes right after screening, so the renters insurance programs guide is a sensible next read.

If you sell screening to small landlords and want to know what they hear when they ask an AI which service to use, AI visibility for proptech companies explains what the Index measures and what moves it.