Why isn’t my rent on my credit report?

The next time you pull your credit report take a look at the inventory of information listed. Do you see any rental obligations?  Any apartment leases?  If not you shouldn’t be surprised. The credit bureaus still very much have a “financial services” model, which means most of the information on your credit report is related, in one way or another, to a relationship you have with a bank. But, that’s changing…

Before you are able to afford to purchase a home, you’ll usually rent an apartment or a house, or live with your parents or family member until you have enough money to buy your own home.  Your rent represents a large percentage of your monthly payments, just as a mortgage does.  How well you pay your rent is a good indication of how responsible you are in paying your debts.  Now we just need to see it on a credit report!!

Tenant screening companies

There are companies that maintain databases of rental information; local and regional companies that compile this information. These companies collect information from all over the place including tenant eviction court records. Some receive information reported from rental companies, which includes rental performance history and rental applicant data.

Experian acquired Rent Bureau in 2010 and now includes rental trade lines on their credit reports.  This information is not compiled by the other two credit reporting agencies – Equifax and TransUnion.  And, this information is not currently considered by the FICO score but is considered by the VantageScore credit score.

Rental information on credit report, indirectly

Information related to non-payment of rent, breaking a lease, eviction or owing damages can be reported on your credit report.  If the leasing company turns your account over to a collection agency to collect the unpaid rent or unpaid damages to the apartment, it will show up on your credit reports in the form of a collection.

Another way rental information can end up on your credit report is if the leasing company sues you for breaking the lease. This is a civil judgment and can be picked up by the credit bureaus since it’s a public record. Civil judgments remain for seven years from the filing date.

Credit Reporting Expert, John Ulzheimer, is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, founder of www.creditexpertwitness.com and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry.  You can follow John on Twitter here.

Categorised in: Credit Monitoring, Credit Report, Credit Score, Debt, Money & Identity

This post was written by John Ulzheimer