Reporting your rent payments is a powerful and effective way to build a good credit score. For most renters, the monthly rent is their biggest expense, and a reliable track record is something creditors love to see. However, it’s not possible to report information directly to the big three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. So if you can’t do it yourself, the question becomes: How to report rent payments to a credit bureau?
Find a Trusted Rent Reporting Agency
With a credit card, many different behaviours affect your credit: how well you pay your bills, the frequency of your payments, whether you’re opening simultaneous new accounts, how long you keep your accounts open, and more.
This is because credit card companies report to credit bureaus on a regular, monthly basis. And the credit bureaus have vetted these entities, to be sure that the information that is being transmitted is accurate, valid, and secure.
To report rent payments to a credit bureau, you need help from a certified data furnisher. There is a rigorous verification process necessary to achieve this status, as each credit bureau has its own requirements.
Fortunately, this is a process that RentTrack has passed with flying colors.
It took more than half a year of vetting and approval with each of the three bureaus. Not to toot our own horn, but we did this in large measure by implementing and maintaining incredibly high standards when it comes to privacy and security. Read more about the lengths we’ve gone to and security systems we have in place here.
The Standards of Protecting Your Data
Before we delve deeper, let’s consider an example – credit card fraud.
Have you ever been in a situation where your credit card has been compromised? If so, what did the financial institution or network that issued your card do? Chances are they detected the malfeasance and blocked it, because your privacy and security are of the utmost importance to financial institutions.
Similarly, credit bureaus understand that the integrity of your credit history is crucial, because your credit score is what lenders rely on when deciding whether to grant you a loan or not, or extend credit to you. They take your files extremely seriously, and go to great lengths to protect your privacy.
This is why the government advises people to contact all three main credit bureaus when they fall victim to identity theft to place a “fraud alert” on their credit account.
Reporting Rent with RentTrack
At RentTrack, we uphold the high standards set by the three credit bureaus. This is why we are certified to report rent payments to credit bureaus.
All our users have to do is take a few simple steps.
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. This requires a driver’s license or other official form of ID.
It’s a quick and painless process, yet designed to allow us to maintain the accuracy and integrity necessary to get your rent reported properly and make your life easier.
Once we’ve verified your identity, we can start to report rent payments to credit bureaus. All three of them - Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. We were the first company to do this and remain one of the very few online rent-reporting companies out there.
You can relax knowing that your private information is safe and secure – and that your biggest monthly expense is building your credit for you.
