LeaseRunner says PTSR format is not the real screening issue

LeaseRunner is arguing that as portable tenant screening reports become mandatory in seven states, the data model behind the report matters more than the standardized format. The company says its Rental Screening Science Score is designed to add a rent-specific affordability layer to PTSRs using bank and rental data, not just repackaged credit files.

Why it matters: - Portable tenant screening reports are now regulated in seven states: Colorado, Illinois, New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Washington and California. - As landlords are required to accept PTSRs, LeaseRunner says the more important question is whether the report’s underlying data can actually predict rental payment risk. - The issue has direct consequences for tenant approvals, security deposit demands and Fair Housing exposure when screening inputs are incomplete or ambiguous.

What happened: - LeaseRunner released an analysis arguing that the law standardizes the format of a portable tenant screening report, but not the data model behind it. - The company says many PTSRs reuse bureau credit data in a portable wrapper, which changes the format but not the core inputs. - LeaseRunner positioned its Rental Screening Science Score, or RS³, as an added affordability layer inside its PTSR. - Joseph Buczkowski is listed with LeaseRunner in the release.

The details: - Standard PTSR contents usually include credit history, rental history, criminal background and payroll verification. - The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has said credit history is only a limited predictor of rent payment behavior. - The CFPB’s 2022 Tenant Background Check Markets Report said rent payment history appears in only 1.7% to 2.3% of renters’ credit files. - LeaseRunner says bureau-based reports can blur an eviction filing with an executed eviction, or an arrest with a conviction. - ProPublica documented a tenant with a 788 credit score and no criminal or eviction record who received a screening score of 685 out of 1,000, which ProPublica described as roughly a D grade for illustration. - In that case, apartment management asked for an extra month of rent as a security deposit. - The CFPB’s 2023 analysis of cash-flow data in underwriting recognized bank transaction data as a predictive signal in consumer credit decisions. - Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies reported 22.6 million cost-burdened renter households in 2023. - The same Harvard report said the cost-burden rate among households earning $45,000 to $74,999 doubled to 45% since 2001. - The Harvard report also said 13% of renters earning $75,000 or more were cost-burdened. - LeaseRunner says affordability is a ratio, not a fixed number. - RS³ produces a rental credit score on the 300–850 scale landlords already recognize, along with a corresponding default rate. - RS³ uses rental payment defaults, income, rental application data including the specific rent amount, and verified banking metrics such as account type, available and average balances and transaction activity. - LeaseRunner says RS³ reads bank data through a direct API connection, which avoids false-positive name and address matches common in credit reports and public records. - RS³ is built on LeaseRunner’s 15 years of online ACH rent collection data. - LeaseRunner says that data covers hundreds of thousands of payments across all 50 states, more than 2,000 ZIP codes and default data from over 1,000 U.S. banks. - RS³ relies on a soft credit inquiry, so the applicant’s credit score is not affected. - The score refreshes each time a tenant generates a new report, keeping the affordability read current within the report’s 30-day reuse window.

Between the lines: - The analysis is a bet that screening products will compete less on report packaging and more on whether their inputs mirror the actual landlord decision. - LeaseRunner is framing rent affordability as the missing variable in many credit-led screening workflows. - The company is also signaling that direct bank data may reduce false matches and improve decision quality compared with bureau-only records.

What’s next: - As PTSR adoption expands, landlords and screening providers will likely face more pressure to justify the data used inside legally accepted reports. - LeaseRunner is trying to position RS³ as a way to evaluate default risk at a specific rent amount rather than rely only on general credit history. - The company’s broader message is that legal acceptance of a report format does not guarantee the report is predictive enough for underwriting or leasing decisions.

The bottom line: - LeaseRunner’s core argument is simple: if the law requires landlords to accept the report, the data model inside the report becomes the real differentiator.