The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) want to hear about your experiences with background checks used to screen potential tenants for rental housing.

They’re working together to crack down on abusive practices in the rental housing industry.

They need to hear about any experiences you’ve had dealing with background checks when trying to rent an apartment so they can develop recommendations to regulate and improve those practices to better protect consumers

To help you share your story, here are some areas in particular they’re seeking information about.

Choose a bullet point below and use it to write a short -- one or two paragraph -- comment and we’ll submit it directly before the deadline.

• Broadly, what has been your experience with background checks when applying for rental housing?

• Were you told in advance if a background check was required? If not, when did you find out?

• What kind of information was shared with you about the rental background check process? Were you told any details about what was included in the screening criteria?

• Did you have to pay for the background check? Were you told that in advance? Did the cost seem fair?

• Have you been told that your background check results determined whether you had to pay a higher rent rate or whether or require you to pay additional fees or a higher security deposit?

• Have you ever been able to see your report or were offered a copy of it? What did it include (credit reports, public records, criminal background, sealed records, a vague scoring system, etc.)? Was it accurate or filled with mistakes? Were you told how to dispute the results?

• Have you ever been rejected for rental housing? Were you given a reason for that rejection? Did you have an option to dispute the decision?

• Have you ever had a low score on a background check and felt that it may be based on your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disability?

Remember: these are prompts to help you share your thoughts. You do not need to answer all these questions. Just if you have a relevant experience to share.