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Understanding Rental History and Your Credit Report

At O1ne Mortgage, we understand the importance of maintaining a good credit score. If you have any mortgage-related needs, feel free to call us at 213-732-3074. In this article, we will explore whether rental history appears on your credit report, what information is included in a credit report, and how you can get your rental payments reported.

Does Rental History Appear on Your Credit Report?

It’s unlikely that your rent payment history appears on your credit reports. This is not because paying your rent on time isn’t important, but rather because landlords typically do not report rent payments to the credit bureaus (Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax). However, the national credit bureaus are equipped to accept and report rental history data. The challenge lies in the fact that landlords and property managers generally do not furnish this information to the bureaus.

What Information Is Included in a Credit Report?

Most of the information on consumer credit reports comes from lenders such as banks, credit unions, finance companies, and providers of student loans and credit cards. Each credit report contains four sections:

• Personal Information: This includes your name, date of birth, current and past home addresses, phone numbers, and employers listed on credit applications.
• Accounts: This lists your loan and credit accounts, including those currently open and accounts closed within the past seven to ten years. Each entry includes a partial account number, last-reported balance, history of monthly payments, and account status.
• Public Records: If you’ve filed for bankruptcy, details will appear in this section for seven years (Chapter 13) or ten years (Chapter 7) from the filing date.
• Inquiries: This section lists requests to view your credit report or to use it to calculate a credit score. Credit checks related to credit applications are noted as hard inquiries, while business purposes and self-checks are soft inquiries. Both types expire after two years, but only hard inquiries can affect credit scores.

How to Get Your Rental Payments on Your Credit Reports

Since landlords and property management companies don’t usually supply information to the credit bureaus, you’ll need to take action to get your rent payments added to your credit reports:

• Ask Your Landlord: Convince your property manager or landlord to sign up for a rent-reporting service to send your payment records to the credit bureaus.
• Sign Up for a Fee-Based Service: For a monthly subscription fee, various services will report your rent payments to the credit bureaus. Some report to all three bureaus, while others report to just one or two.
• Try Experian Boost®: Enroll in Experian Boost, a free feature that lets you share your history of paying recurring expenses, including rent, to add eligible payments to your Experian credit report. This can lead to immediate improvements in your FICO® Scores based on Experian data.

Does Paying Rent Improve Your Credit Score?

If rent payment information appears on your credit report, the newest versions of the FICO® Score and all versions of the VantageScore® credit scoring system can recognize it and factor it into your credit scores. A pattern of timely rent payments can therefore benefit your credit scores. Using Experian Boost to share your history of rent payments made online may yield an increase in your FICO® Score 8 based on Experian credit data.

The Bottom Line

Rental payment history can be an indicator of creditworthiness, and modern credit scoring systems are equipped to factor it into your credit scores. However, it likely won’t appear on your credit report because your landlord doesn’t report it to the credit bureaus. If you make rent payments online and want your payment history to contribute to credit scores based on Experian data, consider enrolling in Experian Boost and sharing your payment history.

For any mortgage-related needs, call O1ne Mortgage at 213-732-3074. We’re here to help you navigate your financial journey with confidence.

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