CISI

What CISI does

CISI (Credit Information Service Incorporated) is a privately held consumer reporting agency founded in 1978 and headquartered in New Lenox, Illinois. The company provides tenant screening, employment screening, and background screening services to landlords, property managers, real estate agents, employers, volunteer organizations, and consumer-facing clients across the United States, with supplemental international screening capabilities for select countries. Its portfolio is organized around three core verticals — Tenant Screening (TransUnion credit files with score, nationwide eviction search, landlord and employment/salary verification, homeland security checks), Employment Screening (credit, sex offender, MVR, license, education, and civil searches), and Background Screening (SSN trace, person ID, county/statewide criminal, abuse registry, sanction, and drug testing) — plus specialized add-ons including a $10 Crime Free Multi-Housing Report and international reports. The client roster skews to individual landlords, small property managers, and independent real estate agents, with several testimonial customers reporting 7–15+ year usage histories.

The technology stack is built around two self-serve web portals — Instascreen (agent-facing) and QuickApp.Pro (applicant-facing) — integrated with TransUnion for credit data and third-party data aggregators for criminal, eviction, sex offender, and identity verification. No public API, SDK, or developer-facing integrations were disclosed; productized entry points are limited to internal portals and standardized service channels (landlords, real estate agencies). The company emphasizes accuracy over speed, manual/phone-based customer support (M-F 9-5, Sat 9-3), FCRA compliance since inception, and adherence to state-specific requirements including the Illinois Portable Tenant Screening Report Law and Cook County's Just Housing Amendment (JHA). No AI/ML, machine learning models, automated decisioning, or data flywheel mechanics are evidenced in the source material.

CISI operates a pure transaction-based revenue model with no monthly, annual, or minimum-volume fees. Clients pay per individual report at variable unit prices (e.g., $10 flat for Crime Free Multi-Housing), and applicants can be invoiced and pay CISI directly online. Distribution is self-serve through the portals, supplemented by phone sales/support and basic social media presence (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram). The company has 1–10 employees, no disclosed funding, no parent company, no identified management team in source material, and no revenue disclosure.

Name

CISI

Legal name

Credit Information Service Inc.

Website

https://creditinfoservice.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CISI (Credit Information Service Incorporated) is a privately held consumer reporting agency, founded in 1978, that provides tenant, employment, and background screening reports — including credit, criminal, and eviction histories — to landlords, property managers, real estate agents, and employers across the United States via TransUnion-integrated self-serve online portals on a transaction-based pricing model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Background Screening Services

NAICS

Credit Bureaus (561450), Investigation and Personal Background Check Services (561611)

SIC

Services-Consumer Credit Reporting, Collection Agencies (7320), Services-Detective, Guard & Armored Car Services (7381)

akta.pro primary industry

Identity Verification (ID, SSN Trace, KYC-lite) (BPACALAD)

Keywords

• Tenant screening services
• Employment background checks
• Consumer credit reports
• Criminal history searches
• Background screening agency

Headquarters

HQ city

New Lenox

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Tenant Screening Reports: Transaction-based fees for credit reports, criminal histories, and eviction reports for rental applicants. Clients pay per report with no monthly or annual fees required.
2. Employment Screening Services: Background checks for employment purposes including credit files, sex offender searches, MVR records, license verification, and education verification.
3. Background Screening Services: Screening for sports leagues, volunteers, nannies, and caregivers including SSN trace, criminal searches, abuse registry, and drug testing.
4. International Reports: International credit and criminal reports for most countries with varying fees and turnaround times.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

CISI provides transaction-based credit, criminal, eviction, and background screening reports to landlords, property managers, real estate companies, employers, and volunteer organizations. Reports are delivered through self-serve online portals (Instascreen for agents and QuickApp.Pro for applicants) and include TransUnion credit files with scores, nationwide criminal and sex offender searches, eviction history, MVR/license/education verification, and FCRA-compliant disclosures. No monthly or annual minimums are required; clients pay per individual report, and applicants can pay CISI directly.

Product overview

CISI (Credit Information Service Incorporated) operates as a unified platform offering credit and background screening services since 1978. The core product portfolio consists of three main screening verticals: Tenant Screening (for real estate companies, property managers, landlords, and apartment complexes), Employment Screening (for healthcare, childcare, education, financial services, and other industries), and Background Screening (for sports leagues, volunteers, nannies, and caregivers). These are complemented by specialized add-ons including Crime Free Multi-Housing Reports ($10 add-on with criminal and sex offender searches) and International Screening services. Clients access services through internal portals: Instascreen for agents and QuickApp.Pro for applicants, with dedicated service channels for landlords/property managers and incorporated real estate agencies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tenant Screening

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• TransUnioncoreTechnology or IntegrationCISI integrates with TransUnion to provide credit file access with scores for tenant and employment screening services. This is a fundamental data partnership for credit reporting capabilities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• RentPrep: SMB-focused tenant screening service providing credit, criminal, and eviction reports to independent landlords and small property managers. Directly comparable to CISI's tenant screening vertical in target customer (individual/small landlord), product scope, and transaction-based pricing model.
• Checkr: Technology-led background check provider primarily serving employers and gig-economy platforms. Comparable to CISI's employment screening vertical in core product (criminal, identity, MVR) and FCRA-regulated consumer reporting model, though Checkr operates at vastly larger scale and targets enterprise rather than SMB customers.
• TurboTenant: Free property management and tenant screening platform aimed at independent landlords, bundling credit, background, and eviction reports into its offering. Highly comparable in target segment and pricing philosophy (no/minimal landlord fees), though TurboTenant layers screening into a broader property management workflow.
• MyRental: Tenant screening service providing credit, criminal, and eviction reports directly to individual landlords and small property managers. Closely matches CISI's tenant screening vertical in customer profile, product scope, and transaction-based pricing for the SMB landlord market.
• TransUnion SmartMove: TransUnion's direct-to-landlord tenant screening product offering credit reports, background checks, and eviction history to SMB landlords. CISI is highly comparable as both serve the same landlord customer with credit-report-driven screening built on top of bureau data, though SmartMove is owned by one of CISI's upstream data partners.

Emerging players

• Buildium: Property management platform for SMB landlords offering integrated tenant screening as a feature within its broader software suite. Comparable to CISI's landlord customer base and tenant screening product, but differentiates by embedding screening into end-to-end property management rather than offering it standalone.
• AppFolio: Cloud property management software for small and mid-market landlords that includes integrated tenant screening (credit, criminal, eviction). Adjacent to CISI as it competes for the same landlord workflow; AppFolio bundles screening into a software platform whereas CISI sells stand-alone screening.

Broad incumbents

• Sterling: Established enterprise background screening provider (now Sterling Check Corp., NASDAQ: STER) covering employment, healthcare, and gig-economy screening. Comparable to CISI's employment and background screening offerings in core functionality and FCRA framework, but targets large enterprise buyers.
• HireRight: Large incumbent background screening provider serving global enterprise employers across transportation, healthcare, and financial services. Overlaps with CISI's employment screening product set (credit, criminal, MVR, license, education verification) but operates at much greater scale and is not focused on the SMB landlord segment.
• Experian Connect: Consumer credit bureau that also offers tenant and employment screening products to landlords and employers. Comparable to CISI as both are FCRA-compliant consumer reporting agencies offering credit-included screening, though Experian has substantially broader data assets, product suite, and enterprise reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/creditinformationservice
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cisi-credit-information-service-inc--/about
• Instagraminstagram.com/cisi_creditinfoservice

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CISI