TransUnion SmartMove Provides Renters and Landlords With a Speedy and Secure Rental Screening Process
CHICAGO, Oct. 21 -- Given today's economic environment, renting an apartment or home is especially challenging for consumers and independent rental owners alike, as each are focusing on ways to reduce spending and improve predictability, while protecting sensitive personal and credit information. In August, TransUnion rolled out its new solution, SmartMove (http://www.MySmartMove.com), a secure and easy-to-use online tool for renters and landlords to enhance the rental screening process and prevent financial losses.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, homeownership fell to 67.8 percent this year, the sharpest decline in 20 years. With an influx of renters, comes the need for faster ways to approve the renting of an apartment or home. TransUnion SmartMove provides a new level of security and risk management as consumers no longer need to provide their Social Security number or credit card account numbers directly to landlords. Instead, potential renters can log in to MySmartMove.com for a one-time fee of $24.95 and grant access to the landlords to review their credit history and conduct a background check.
"An easy-to-use online tool, MySmartMove.com has already helped me streamline my screening process, eliminating the need to secure applicant data while objectively providing me with a recommendation and suggested deposit," said rental owner Donna Taylor of Arvada, Colorado. "My renters are already noticing a speedier and more secure process for approving their lease, and it also eliminated any need for me to release my confidential information to a third party."
"Logging in to MySmartMove.com takes away the archaic process of providing Social Security numbers to just anyone," said Mike Mauseth, vice president, business strategy and development of TransUnion's rental screening solutions. "MySmartMove.com provides renters with a new level of confidence and is a great solution to the competitive atmosphere for renting apartments, as users can have credit data within minutes instead of days."
With three easy steps, MySmartMove.com becomes a valued resource that provides an accurate and secure method to view and submit credit information for renters and independent owners/operators of multi-family properties from one unit up to 200 units. Independent rental owners and potential renters throughout the U.S., including college students, can simply visit http://www.MySmartMove.com to create an account and/or go through a demonstration of the process.
MySmartMove.com capabilities include:
-- Instant and reliable leasing recommendations based on the landlord's criteria and TransUnion's data and analytics.
-- Online instant enrollment that increases efficiency by giving rental owners prompt access to the service upon receipt of authorization from the prospective renter.
-- An added layer of protection and privacy for consumers because Social Security and credit account numbers are not displayed to the landlord.
-- A way to check renter applications against one of the largest credit, criminal and eviction databases.
