How to Use Public Record Search - Tenant Screening
Main use: tenant screening
Weiting Bollu
Last Update 1 年前
Who this is for:
→ Anyone conducting tenant screening searches inside Openroom's Public Record Search product
→ Anyone who is trying to verify or background check a person and/or an address
📌 Openroom operates across the country. More specifically, Openroom is a registered and certified Consumer Reporting Agency in the Province of Ontario. The way we conduct searches for specific purposes must be in compliance with government standards.
As such, the Public Record Search is to be conducted for specific purposes. That is tenant screening, background checks, or fraud investigations. If you are conducting searches for other reasons, you should check with us at [email protected] before conducting further searches.
Before you conduct a search:
All searchers must have an Openroom account before you can conduct research.
Types of Searches
There are two types of FREE searches within Openroom.
First, Public Record Search - most prominently used for tenant screening purposes. This article shows you how to conduct thorough screening inside Openroom.
Second, Legal Research - for preparation for the next court hearing purposes. See How to Use Legal Research.
Elements You Can Search With
📌 Recommended: start your search with the exact name and address from an applicant's government issued ID. Then follow up with more searches using additional addresses and alternate names from their credit report, if needed.
There are 4 key components to know about when you conduct a search.
a - Personal Details
First Name and Last Name are required fields. Middle Name is good for us to do additional checks but are not needed and does not impact search results.
b. Date of birth (optional)
Openroom has over 140K profiles in our system from different services we offer. When you add in an optional birth date field, it helps with the precision of who you are searching for.
c. Address History (optional)
The options to add in address history helps us identify potential addresses that relate to your inquiry. When you put in an address, we do search combinations in our system independently of what name or birth date you've put in.
Results - Strong vs. Weak Matches
Strong Matching - Public records that are highly likely to be related to the person you are looking for. These records match on name and one other attribute (e.g. address, birth date).
Common Scenario: "I only know a name"
In the cases where you only write personal details of first name and last name, the system will comb through records to find only weak matches because there is only 1 parameter to match on.
Results would look like the following. You can then click in to view the particular court orders on this particular Public Record Report.
Common Scenario: "I know a name and address"
In the case you know the name and address, it's important for you to try to search on both parameters. Openroom's system will do combination searches independently to see if there are matches are either name and/or address.
If there are matches against the search results by name AND address history, we will display it within the STRONG MATCHES section of the Public Record Report.
Common Scenario: "I know a name, as well as a birth date / address"
That is fantastic because the more you know, the more precise of a search you can get.
Each parameter is searched TOGETHER as well as SEPARATELY in our system to help you find the most relevant search results.
Common Scenario: "I want to search by address but I might not know the name"
Since each parameter in the Public Record Search is done together as well as independently, you can input the name and go through different iterations of addresses that you know of for that particular name. Openroom's system will search in various combinations for the records.
Common Scenario: "I want to search by Landlord Name, Judge Name, Legal Rep, City, Topics, etc."
When you want to conduct searches beyond these 3 parameters, head to the Legal Research side of Openroom where you have more search parameters.
Common Question:
"How do I know I'm searching for the right person?"
This is one of the reasons Openroom had added additional parameters to search on a specific profile. It's difficult to search for an exact name when there are THOUSANDS of records in our database.
The short answer is: you should pull an Equifax report to get as much information about the tenant as possible such as their past addresses and nick names to continue your searches within Openroom. See How to confirm who I'm searching for.
Expecting a record to show up but it's not? Please message us at [email protected].
Should you have concerns or feedback for us at Openroom, please message us at [email protected].