Stop Trusting Tenants to Run Their Own Background Checks
Right now you ask a prospective tenant for a credit report and they email you a PDF. They could have made it in Photoshop. You'd never know. There is a better way — and this is it.
Cloud Nimbus LLC is not a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Actual background reports (credit, criminal, eviction) are obtained through a registered CRA partner (Checkr). By using this service you authorize Cloud Nimbus and the requesting landlord to obtain a consumer report on the tenant for screening purposes. Tenants have the right to dispute inaccurate information in any report obtained.
The trust problem
Most small landlords run their tenant background checks like this: ask the tenant to pull their own credit report and forward it. The tenant logs into Credit Karma, takes a screenshot, sends it over.
The landlord could be looking at a report that was edited in Preview five minutes ago. There is no audit trail. There is no third party. There is no way to know whether the score is real, whether the eviction history is complete, whether the criminal record was redacted before forwarding. The tenant is acting as their own background-check provider, which is the structural opposite of what a background check is supposed to do.
The fix is structural, not technological. The landlord (or their agent) has to be the one who pulls the report.
How it works
Three steps, two parties, one audit trail. The landlord stays in control. The tenant stays in the loop. Cloud Nimbus handles the screening provider relationship.
Landlord requests
Fill out a 90-second form: your info, the property, the tenant's name and email. We generate a unique link and send it to the tenant. You get a private status URL to track everything.
Tenant authorizes
The tenant clicks their unique link, fills out a 5-minute application (personal, residence history, employment), and signs an electronic FCRA-compliant authorization. Their data goes to Cloud Nimbus, never back through their email.
Report delivered
Cloud Nimbus processes the screening through a registered CRA partner. You get a notification when the report is ready. View the report in your status dashboard, record your decision, done.
Why this is structurally better
The tenant can't fake the report
The report comes directly from the CRA to the landlord. The tenant never touches the report PDF, so there's nothing for them to edit before you see it.
FCRA-compliant by default
The tenant signs a real authorization, the landlord has a real permissible purpose, the CRA is a real registered bureau. This is the legally correct workflow.
Full audit trail
Every action is timestamped. IP captured at consent. Self- disclosure recorded separately from the consumer report. If there's ever a dispute, you have the receipts.
The tenant pays
Standard model in the industry: the tenant covers the screening fee as part of their application. $49 for Standard, $99 for Comprehensive — paid via Stripe at the time of submission.
Pricing
The tenant pays the screening fee at the time of application. The landlord pays nothing.
Standard
$49
- ✓SSN trace
- ✓National criminal search
- ✓Sex offender registry
- ✓Global watchlist
- ✓Reference checks
- ✓Education verification
Comprehensive
$99
- ✓Everything in Standard
- ✓County criminal search (7 yr)
- ✓State criminal search (7 yr)
- ✓Federal criminal search (10 yr)
- ✓Credit report
- ✓Employment verification
FAQ
Is Cloud Nimbus a Consumer Reporting Agency?
No. Cloud Nimbus is not itself a CRA. We capture the screening request and tenant authorization, then process the actual report through a registered CRA partner (Checkr).
What does the tenant fill out?
A standard rental application: full name, date of birth, current address, prior addresses for the last 7 years, employer, monthly income, optional self-disclosure on convictions/evictions/bankruptcy, and a typed-name authorization signature with IP capture for the FCRA audit trail.
What does the landlord see?
The full tenant application (everything they submitted), plus the eventual screening report and recommendation. The landlord records their decision (approve / decline / conditional) on the same status page.
What does it cost?
Standard screening is $49 per report. Comprehensive screening is $99 per report. The tenant pays the screening fee at the time of application. The landlord pays nothing.
What about SSN?
SSN is collected securely at the time the report is ordered from our CRA partner. We do not store SSN after the report is processed.
How long does it take?
Standard results in 24-48 hours. Comprehensive results in minutes to hours depending on county court processing.
What is your refund policy?
Full refund if the screening has not yet been submitted to our CRA partner. Once the report has been ordered, the CRA fees are non-reversible and cannot be refunded. Duplicate requests are refunded automatically.
What are my rights as a tenant?
Under the FCRA, you have the right to: receive a copy of any report used in a decision about you, dispute inaccurate information directly with the CRA (Checkr), and receive notice if information in the report was used to deny your application. A full Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA is provided on the application form.
Stop sending tenants their own credit reports
Run your next tenant screening the way it's supposed to be run.