Crystal Clear Property Intelligence OS

Legal & Tenant Screening Compliance

Last updated: September 4, 2026

This page explains the intended legal and operational boundary for tenant-screening features made available through Crystal Clear Property Intelligence OS. It is general compliance information and is not legal advice.

1. Crystal Clear’s limited role

Crystal Clear Property Intelligence OS is designed and contractually limited to operate as business software that connects property operators with independent tenant-screening providers selected by the customer. Crystal Clear is not engaged to act as a consumer reporting agency, make rental-eligibility decisions, or furnish a Crystal Clear consumer report.

Crystal Clear will not create a proprietary tenant-screening score, pool applicant screening data across unrelated customers, sell applicant information, or independently determine whether an applicant should be approved, denied, or offered different rental terms. Screening providers remain interchangeable third parties, and the applicable provider must be identified to the customer and applicant when required.

Legal classification depends on actual conduct, not labels. If Crystal Clear’s services or data practices materially change, the company must reassess this boundary with qualified counsel before releasing the changed functionality.

2. Landlord and property-operator responsibilities

A landlord or property operator using a screening report is the user of that consumer report and remains responsible for its rental criteria, decisions, notices, and compliance. The customer must:

  • Obtain consumer reports only for a lawful, permissible housing purpose and make all certifications required by the screening provider.
  • Obtain applicant disclosures, authorizations, consents, and identity information required by federal, state, or local law.
  • Apply lawful, consistently documented rental criteria and comply with fair-housing, anti-discrimination, privacy, and local tenant-screening rules.
  • Independently review the underlying information and retain meaningful human responsibility for every rental decision. Crystal Clear output is not a substitute for judgment or legal review.
  • Give every legally required adverse-action notice when a consumer report contributes in any part to a denial, increased deposit, co-signer requirement, higher rent, or other less favorable term.
  • Include in an adverse-action notice the screening company’s name, address, and telephone number; a statement that the screening company did not make the decision and cannot explain it; and notice of the applicant’s right to dispute accuracy and obtain a free report from that company within 60 days.
  • Satisfy any additional credit-score disclosure or notice requirements that apply.
  • Use reasonable procedures to protect applicant information, limit access to authorized personnel, follow retention requirements, and securely dispose of consumer-report information.
  • Direct accuracy disputes to the responsible screening provider or information furnisher and cooperate with legally required investigations and corrections.
  • Comply with applicable information-furnisher duties if the customer reports applicant or tenant information to a consumer reporting agency.

3. Platform safeguards and auditability

Where screening integrations are enabled, Crystal Clear is intended to preserve provider identity and contact details, source and retrieval timestamps, report references, decision inputs, user actions, notices, delivery evidence, and audit history. Access must be role-limited and property-scoped. Screening information must not be reused for unrelated purposes or shared across customers.

System-generated workflows, reminders, templates, or explanations are administrative aids only. The customer is responsible for confirming that each notice is accurate, complete, timely, and legally sufficient before it is delivered.

4. Third-party screening providers

Screening results originate with independent providers under their own contracts, policies, dispute procedures, and legal obligations. Crystal Clear does not control the provider’s underlying records or guarantee their accuracy or completeness. Customers must maintain an active, authorized relationship with their selected provider and use the provider’s official dispute and support channels.

5. Governing sources

Federal guidance includes the FTC’s guidance for landlords using consumer reports, the Fair Credit Reporting Act materials maintained by the FTC, and the CFPB’s tenant background-check guidance. State and local requirements may provide additional rights or impose additional duties.

6. Customer agreements and legal review

This public page does not replace a signed customer service agreement, data-processing agreement, screening-provider agreement, or legal advice. Before production screening access is enabled, the customer agreement must preserve this role allocation and address security, retention, deletion, incident response, permitted use, dispute handling, and responsibility for notices.

7. Contact

Questions about this policy may be submitted through the Contact page.