Even if you have a spotless rental history going back several years, it will have no effect on your credit history. The only way rent can affect your FICO credit score is when you show evidence of being a poor renter. Landlords can report you to alternative agencies that collect information on rent payments.
Credit Score
Landlords rarely report rent payments to the credit bureaus because the credit bureaus have stringent reporting requirements for creditors. Large rental communities are the most likely to report payments, but even they are not required to do so. Because reporting rent payments is so uncommon, the credit rating agencies just tell customers that they do not affect credit scores.
Breaking a Lease
If you break your lease or receive an eviction because of late payments, the landlord will likely report your account to a collections agency. Credit bureaus check nationwide with collections agencies for delinquent accounts, which will seriously damage your score if you have one. Also, credit checks for an apartment usually count as a hard inquiry, which will take three to five points off of your score.
Negative Report
Your landlord may report your rental history to a tenant screening service, according to the Federal Trade Commission. These companies do not report to the credit rating agencies, but landlords frequently check these before granting a lease.
Rental History Database
Major credit rating bureau Experian purchased RentBureau -- owners of data on seven million rental histories in the United States, according to Apartment Guide. It is the hope of many landlords that Experian's large database of rental payments might entice them to factor this into credit scores and expand the collection rental history data.
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