Coverage varies by partner, package, and jurisdiction, but reports may include criminal records and other public-record indicators where the law allows them. The report itself identifies the FCRA-regulated partner that supplied it, along with the jurisdiction context your team needs for review.
Background checks
Run background checks beside source-verified income.
FCRA-regulated partners run the criminal and public-record search. Burnt returns it in the same package as source-verified income and employment, so your team reviews one applicant file against criteria you set.
Partner reports. Source-verified income. One review queue.
How background checks run.
The property team sets the package once, the applicant consents inside the same screening session, and results come back as one file instead of a separate report chase.
More than a criminal report.
Most screening tools sell the background check as the product. Burnt treats it as one half of the applicant file, with the other half verified at the source.
Clear partner attribution
Criminal and public-record results come from FCRA-regulated partners and are labeled as partner data. Burnt reserves "verified" for facts checked at the source, so your team always knows what kind of evidence it is reading.
Policy-aware review
Jurisdictions restrict criminal screening differently, including fair-chance laws. You configure which modules run and which criteria apply per property, and Burnt applies that counsel-reviewed policy consistently instead of one national default.
The fraud records miss
A clean background says nothing about a forged pay stub, and income documents are where most rental fraud lives. In the same package, the income half is verified at the source, so the file is harder to game.
One queue, no report sprawl
Partner checks run in parallel with source verification, and results land in one review queue in minutes after the applicant consents and connects. No second portal, no PDF chase.
93%
of rental operators experienced rental fraud in the past 12 months
NMHC Pulse Survey, 2024
84%
of rental operators saw falsified pay stubs or income documents in the past 12 months
NMHC Pulse Survey, 2024
38%
of property managers discovered fraud only after move-in
TransUnion, 2023Pay per screening, not per seat.
One full package covers source-verified income and employment, identity, and partner credit, background, and eviction: $39.99 per applicant, $20 during beta. Sending applications is free, and portfolio terms are custom.
Short answer
What is a tenant background check?
A tenant background check searches criminal records and related public records for a rental applicant, run with the applicant's consent through an FCRA-regulated consumer reporting agency. What a report may include, and how it may be used, varies by state and local law, including fair-chance housing rules. Burnt runs background checks through FCRA-regulated partners and returns the results inside one screening package, beside source-verified income and the criteria the operator configures.
Frequently asked questions.
Send the link.
Guide the renter.
Review one package.
Launch with screening links or talk through a portfolio workflow with the Burnt team.
