Do Landlords Report Tenant Payment History to Credit Bureaus?

For years, rental history never appeared on a credit report, because the credit bureaus did not find data from private leasers reliable or available for all consumers. In 2010, your rental history can appear on the reports of some credit rating companies, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Even if your rent does not appear on your report, it can still make you creditworthy.

Identification

Landlords cannot report directly to the credit bureaus, but they often report to companies that collect rental histories. In 2009, Experian, one of three major credit reporting companies, acquired RentBureau and began incorporating that data into credit reports. Also, the Fair Isaac Corporation, which holds the patent on the scoring model used by the major bureaus, purchased PRBC, a consumer credit rating company that uses nontraditional payment data such as rent for its FICO Expansion score.

Considerations

As of 2010, Experian only reports tenant payment history for its proprietary alternative score, because tenant payment history is not uniformly available. In the future, landlords might be able to report to the credit bureaus, but only if reporting costs come down. Creditors must invest in a substantial amount of technology to accurately report data and labor to meet the guidelines required of a credit agency. Usually, this is too expensive except for very large rental properties.

Considerations

Another reason reason credit bureaus do not accept payment history from landlords is the credit bureaus are not sure how useful it is as of 2010. Renting an apartment is not like having an open line of credit. The major credit bureaus, such as Experian, believe that rental history can accurately predict the chance of someone defaulting on a loan, so they actively compile data trying to prove this.

Tip

Your landlord might report your payment history to one of the rental history agencies, such as PRBC, so it is a good to pay rent on time anyway. Also, landlords often ask for the contact information of previous landlords, which could determine whether they approve your application. If you have no credit history, Kiplinger suggests applying for a secured credit card with no setup fee to build credit. These require a payment equivalent to the credit limit, but can become unsecured cards after several months of on-time payments.