Understanding Application Decisions and Adverse Action Notices

If a background check played a role in a denial, federal law requires the landlord to tell you — here's what that notice means and what you can do about it.

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Pre-adverse action notice

If a landlord is considering denying you based in whole or in part on a screening report, you receive a pre-adverse action notice first. It names the consumer reporting agency (ScreenForge Labs, LLC) and confirms that a final housing decision hasn't been made yet — records found does not automatically mean you'll be denied. The notice spells out three rights:

• A free copy of your consumer report if you contact ScreenForge Labs within 60 days of the notice
• The right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information directly with ScreenForge Labs, who must reinvestigate and correct or delete anything that's wrong
• The right to add a statement to your file if a reinvestigation doesn't resolve your dispute

The waiting period

You have 5 business days from the date of the pre-adverse notice to review the report and dispute anything inaccurate before a final decision can be issued. Your application page shows this as a three-step timeline — pre-adverse notice, waiting period/dispute, and final notice — so you always know where things stand.

• Read the full report carefully — you can expand the notice text right on the application page
• If something is wrong, dispute it on the specific report at My Reports, or through the Dispute on ScreenForge Labs link on the application itself — see Sharing Reports, Correcting Errors, and Your FCRA Rights
• You can also contact the landlord directly to provide context

Final adverse action notice

If the landlord proceeds with denial after the waiting period, you receive a final adverse action notice under FCRA § 1681m. It confirms the decision, names ScreenForge Labs as the reporting agency used, states plainly that ScreenForge Labs did not make the housing decision and can't explain the landlord's reasoning, and repeats your rights to a free report (within 60 days) and to dispute inaccurate information.

Both notices are viewable in full on your application page — look for Read pre-adverse notice and Read final adverse action notice. From there you can also jump straight to View your report or open the ScreenForge Labs dispute portal.