Tenant Screening in Massachusetts

FCRA-compliant tenant screening for landlords in Massachusetts — serving Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Cambridge, Lowell and every other Massachusetts market. Reports start at $24.99 with no subscription. Massachusetts-specific reporting-law overlays are applied automatically before the landlord sees any record.

What landlords in Massachusetts can include in a screening report

• Credit report and score — TransUnion VantageScore plus tradeline detail.
• Criminal background — nationwide criminal record search with Massachusetts-specific look-back limits applied.
• Eviction / housing-court records — sealed, dismissed, and time-barred records filtered before they reach you.
• Income verification — optional payroll + bank-link verification via Pinwheel.
• AI landlord reference call — optional AI agent calls the applicant’s prior landlord and produces a structured summary.

Eviction record reporting in Massachusetts

Massachusetts requires sealed eviction cases be excluded from consumer reports under the Housing Court sealing statute (M.G.L. c. 239, § 14).

Statutory citation: M.G.L. c. 239 § 14

How reporting limits interact with what you may lawfully consider is covered in what landlords can screen for and the investigative consumer report explainer.

Criminal-record reporting in Massachusetts

Massachusetts CORI Reform Act restricts criminal-record reporting; non-conviction items have shorter limits.

Fair housing in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Fair Housing Act, M.G.L. c. 151B applies in addition to the federal Fair Housing Act. Source of income is a protected class statewide in Massachusetts — landlords may not refuse to consider an applicant solely because they intend to pay with a housing-choice voucher or similar lawful source.

Notable Massachusetts considerations

Source of income (including Section 8 vouchers) is a protected class statewide.

How RentalApplication.ai works for Massachusetts landlords

1. You start a screening at rentalapplication.ai/apply. Enter the applicant’s name and email; pick the reports you want.
2. The applicant gets an email with a secure link, completes the application, and authorizes the screening (FCRA § 1681b(b)(2)).
3. The applicant pays at the moment of submission (or you can land-lord-pay).
4. Reports are delivered to you in minutes (credit) to a few hours (housing/criminal). State-law overlays are applied before the landlord sees any record.
5. If you decline based on the report, we generate the FCRA § 1681m adverse-action notice for you.

This page is an informational summary, not legal advice. State and local landlord-tenant law changes frequently — verify against current statute and local counsel before relying on this content. RentalApplication.ai is a reseller of consumer reports under FCRA § 1681a(u) and does not make tenancy decisions. The landlord (the “end user”) is the party who decides whether to approve or deny an application.