Your credit score is one of the most important numbers in your life. Anything you can do to build credit is a positive behaviour that will benefit you for years to come. One underutilized way to boost your financial future is to build credit with rent payments.
This won’t happen automatically, though. You need a certified data furnisher who can report your rent to the credit bureaus. At RentTrack, we were the first to gain the power to do this. We are still the only approved, certified data furnisher with all three bureaus.
Read on to find out how a service like RentTrack can help build credit with rent payments.
How rent reporting helps you build credit with rent payments
For many Americans, the monthly rent check is their biggest expense. That they make their rent payment, on time and every month, is a great indicator of their creditworthiness. However, traditional credit-reporting models have totally ignored rent payments. Rent reporting, a new form of alternative credit data, is correcting this.
Rent reporting is the logging of monthly on-time rent payments with credit bureaus in order to boost an individual’s credit score. When you report rent, this monthly expense will be taken into account by credit bureaus, and let you build credit with rent payments. The knock-on effect is positive impact on your interactions with lenders.
Through RentTrack, property managers can help their renters to build credit with rent payments. On average, residents who report their data with RentTrack see their credit scores increase by an average of 29 points after just two months of rent reporting.
How can I begin to build credit with rent payments?
Credit bureaus understand that the integrity of your credit history is crucial. This is why it is not possible for just anyone – including yourself – to report information to credit bureaus. The credit bureaus need to be sure that they are dealing with a certified credit reporting agency. They trust the data on credit cards, loans and so on because they have vetted the associated financial entities to be sure that the information they receive from them is accurate, valid, and secure.
It took RentTrack more than six months of vetting and approval with each of the top three credit bureaus to reach a point where we can report rent payments. We achieved this by implementing and maintaining incredibly high standards when it comes to privacy and security. (Read more about the lengths we’ve gone to and the security systems we have in place here.)
Now, renters can build credit with rent payments simply by signing up for RentTrack and letting us do the rest.
The verification steps are simple. We ask prospective RentTrack customers to provide the necessary information to ensure that their identities are authentic; that payments are going to valid landlords; and that the payment method is authorized for use. It’s a quick and painless process, and it allows us to maintain the accuracy and integrity necessary to get your rent reported properly.
Once we’ve verified your identity, we help you build credit with rent payments by reporting your rent (and utilities) to all three major credit bureaus. All you have to do is sit back and let the credit boost kick in. Remember: On average, residents who report their data with RentTrack see their credit scores increase by an average of 29 points after just two months of rent reporting.
