Saturday, May 26, 2012

Can a Landlord Put a Nonpayment of Rent on Your Credit Report?

Consumers may be relieved to know that landlords usually cannot report rental payment history to a credit bureau, but unpaid rent can still appear on a credit history. A common way for landlords to collect rent and have the debt appear on your credit history is to sell it to a collection agency or sue you. Some credit agencies may find out about nonpayment of rent via a third party.

Identification

    Landlords often turn over unpaid rent balances to debt collectors because they may not have the time or resources to pursue the debt in court. Another way that landlords try to collect unpaid rent is by obtaining an eviction order and civil judgment. Either a collection account or civil judgment damages your credit rating, sometimes by more than 100 points.

Rental Payment History Reporting

    In 2011, Experian acquired one of the largest rental history reporting companies in the U.S. -- RentBureau -- which means millions of rental payment histories now affect consumer credit ratings. However, it is only Experian that reports rental data, and creditors usually pull reports from all three major consumer credit reporting companies. Experian won't report missed payments in 2011 but will report delinquencies. Starting in 2012, any delinquency or nonpayment reported by RentBureau will appear on Experian credit reports.

Tenant Screening

    Although nonpayment of rent frequently appears on a credit report, landlords still often use tenant screening companies. Tenant screening companies collect data on missed payments and public eviction records. Even if a landlord does not report to a tenant screening company, nonpayment of rent can still hurt you. For example, your previous landlord may give you a bad reference to future apartment complexes.

Tip

    Talk to your landlord about repaying your rent debt. Most landlords will work with you on a payment agreement to avoid paying a collection agency to recover the debt or spend money on a lawsuit. You might, for instance, offer to spread payment on the debt over the next couple of months. If you are still on the lease, you might ask for a reprieve from rent for a month and then pay double after the next month.

1 comment:

  1. I got flagged for a late payment on my credit report, I had bankruptcy chapter 7 discharged January 2020, I had 11 open account with all exceptional credit history which decreased my credit score to 515. Since then I’ve been looking for a way to rebuild my credit. I asked a question on my Fico forum on how to rebuild my credit history a member referred me to ROOTKITS CREDIT SPECIALIST and told me how they helped his family after 5 years of bad credit report. I decided to give them a shot on 1st of November 2021 and explained my situation to them. They promised to fix my credit report, but I’ll recommend their service if job is done, 3rd of November I got a text from them to confirm my new credit history. my score has been raised to 811 excellent score across the 3 credit bureaus. Late payment, bankruptcy have been deleted. I decided to wait after 7days to confirm if it’s a permanent hack. I now have a new credit history. I sincerely recommend them to anyone who has similar issues. Email them on: rootkitscreditspecialist@gmail.com Or CALL +1 760 474 3440.

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